Guidelines for Developing Some Common Types of Academic Program Agreements

An Academic Program Agreement (APA) is any contract, including an expression of intent, between the University and another institution or organization to establish a joint educational program, a collaborative academic relationship, certain instances of executive education programs, or a research activity that is not a sponsored program.

All APAs are contracts and are therefore governed by policy FIN-036: Signatory Authority for Executing University Contracts, as well as policy FIN-035: Academic Approval and Signatory Authority for Academic Program Agreements. Only authorized signatories named by the Board of Visitors, or to whom signatory authority has been delegated in writing by authorized officers, can legally bind the University in a contract; the Executive Vice President and Provost has signatory authority for APAs.

You will find the following sections on this page:

1. Overview of common types of academic program agreements
2. General principles
3. Procedures for requesting an academic program agreement

An agreement need not specifically contemplate an academic program (e.g., a degree program) to be considered an academic program agreement. The following is a non-exhaustive list of common types of academic program agreements.

• All APA requests, whether to draft a new agreement or review an agreement draft provided by an external collaborator(s), must be submitted via the “APA Submission Form” linked on this webpage. Following submission of the form, the Provost’s Office will initiate a central drafting and review process, which at minimum involves an academic and legal review. The Provost’s Office may ask additional stakeholders, such as the International Studies Office or the Office of Risk Management, to review a draft APA.
• The person who submits the APA Submission Form will be the primary liaison between the central review process, the relevant UVA school or unit, and the external collaborator(s).
• In some cases, international external collaborator(s) may ask that an agreement is signed in both English and their home country’s language. In such cases, the requesting UVA school or unit will be responsible for identifying an individual fluent in the non-English language to certify that both the English and non-English versions use parallel language.

Schools and units wishing to develop or execute an APA must allow sufficient time for central university review and communication with other parties to the agreement. Typically, the time required for review, revision, and final approval of an APA is around six weeks; however, this period may vary depending on the complexity of the agreement and the number of involved parties. The following procedures should be followed whether UVA is initiating agreement drafting or has received a draft to review from an external collaborator.

APA Initial Request, Drafting, and Review Process:

1. To initiate the process of reviewing or drafting an APA, whether a new agreement or a renewal, the initiating individual will first contact their dean’s office to ensure there is support at the school-level; individuals outside a school should contact the appropriate vice provost.
2. After contacting the dean’s office or appropriate vice provost, the request must be submitted via the APA intake form (requires NetBadge). Note: submitting the form initiates a drafting and review process; requests should be submitted as early in the process as possible and must be submitted prior to commencing signatures.
3. Following submission of the APA intake form, the Provost’s Office will initiate a central drafting/review process, before returning a draft back to the individual who submitted the form. The central drafting and review process will include, at minimum, a review of legal and regulatory matters, compliance with the academic policies, and alignment with the University’s mission. For agreements that are international in nature, this review will include the International Studies Office.  
4. Once the requesting UVA school or unit has reviewed the draft provided by the Provost’s Office, they may share it with the external collaborator(s). If either the requesting UVA school/unit or external collaborator(s) requests further edits to draft, the proposed edits must be reviewed by the Provost’s Office prior to obtaining signatures.

Obtaining Signatures:

The signature process may only begin when all parties have agreed to the draft APA language. The requesting school or unit should contact the Provost’s Office for confirmation that the agreement has received all necessary approvals and can advance to signatures.

1. Whenever possible, the external collaborator should sign the agreement first. Once signed, the external collaborator should return the agreement back to the requesting UVA school or unit.
2. Upon receipt of the signed copy from the external collaborator, the requesting UVA school or unit will next obtain the signature of the dean(s) of the participating school(s) (as applicable).
3. Once the dean(s) of the participating school(s) have signed (as applicable), the requesting UVA school or unit will submit the agreement to the Provost’s Office, along with a brief cover letter addressed to the Executive Vice President and Provost that explains the rationale for the University entering into the proposed agreement. For non-school units, the cover letter should be from the unit director. Note: APAs, cover letters, and related correspondence should be sent to the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, not directly to the Provost.
4. The Provost’s Office will coordinate the Provost’s final review and approval of the agreement and distribute signed copies to all stakeholders. APAs are presented to the Provost in a single batch on a weekly basis, typically on Fridays. The Provost’s Office will also maintain an official copy of the fully executed agreement.

Questions about the APA process or whether a specific activity or type of agreement is an APA should be directed to the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.