Domestic Agreement Proposal and Approval Process

The Process to Develop a New or Renew an Existing Academic Agreement 

The process of developing an academic agreement ensures that the agreement meets with university policies regarding term of agreement, partner obligations, anti-discrimination, and credit transfer, to name a few.  The process remains the same for the renewal of a retiring agreement, with the exception of Steps 1 and 2.  

Step 1
Confirm with the appropriate Dean(s) and the Chancellor’s Office(s) that the proposed new academic partnership agreement is approved.  If it is not an already approved program, see Academic Program and Organizational Approvals | University Academic Affairs (rutgers.edu) for information on the process.

Step 2
Contact the Office of Academic Assessment and Accreditation (OAAA), to determine if there is an existing relationship with a potential partner or if a new agreement is needed, and to determine the appropriate agreement template. You may also discuss the need for approval by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education for written agreement/substantive change requests. Agreement templates are available for your use on this webpage.

Step 3
The originating department or program should follow the guidelines for their local program approval process (i.e., Faculty, Deans, Provost) during this initial phase of the agreement creation.

Step 4
Edit the Domestic Academic Agreement template as needed and send it to the OAAA for their and the Office of General Counsel’s (OGC) review and guidance.  If an external agreement partner has initiated the written agreement, send the document to the OAAA in lieu of our agreement templates.

Step 5
Review and revise the applicable Agreement in partnership with the OAAA, the OGC, and your partnering institution.

Step 6
Once the agreement is approved by Rutgers reviewers and accepted by the partner, the agreement is finalized. The OAAA will upload the final agreement to DocuSign to manage the signing process.