Dear colleagues,

As we continue to expand the global reach of UC Davis and internationalize our campus, we also have had to create new procedures and policies:

1. new international agreement procedures, approved by the Academic Senate, to streamline the process of partnering with international institutions and;
2. a new international travel policy to ensure trip registration and safety.

International Agreement Proposal and Approval Process

Often, international partnerships are spurred by faculty members, so this new International Agreement Proposal and Approval Process, which was reviewed through the Academic Senate, is designed for faculty members interested in embarking on such collaborations with an international university partner—ones that do not involve the commitment of university resources or binding contract provisions for utilizing intellectual property.

Agreements of Cooperation continues to be the term that refers to general agreements to collaborate or cooperate for the university as a whole. To alleviate confusion among international partners, Working Agreements, or the more specific agreements that stem from Agreements of Cooperation, are now referred to as Memorandum of Understanding. These agreements are approved by college/school deans or unit designates responsible for ensuring resource commitments before being forwarded to Global Affairs for signature.

The new International Agreement Proposal Form collects all the information we need in Global Affairs to process such an agreement—with five main steps to follow—simplifying the process and decreasing the time spent by faculty sponsors. This new process also ensures all relevant campus offices have been consulted before Global Affairs processes these types of international agreements across the university.

More information, including answers to frequently asked questions, is now available on the Global Affairs website. Databases with information on our current Agreements of Cooperation are also available on our website.

International Travel Policy

Per a new UC Davis policy, there are two new important updates to international travel: 1. all international travel on university business must be registered and 2. travel to “high-risk” destinations is subject to review. Please visit our International Travel Policy page on the Global Affairs website to see some of the benefits that come with trip registration and for more details on high-risk destinations.

More Information

If you or your colleagues have any questions, please contact Ermias Kebreab, associate vice provost of academic programs in Global Affairs, at ekebreab@ucdavis.edu, or Carl Reed, international partnerships agreement manager in Global Affairs, at carreed@ucdavis.edu.

I look forward to working with you as we continue to strategically align our international partnerships with the outstanding research, teaching, and service of UC Davis.

Very best wishes,

Joanna Regulska

Vice Provost and Associate Chancellor of Global Affairs
Professor or Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
University of California, Davis