Forming an International Partnership

In general, please keep in mind the following criteria when building and negotiating your agreement. To evaluate the potential benefit for UK and the partner institution, the UK International Center will consider: 

• Congruence with the academic, research, service priorities, and plans of the University of Kentucky as well as the Department and College proposing the agreement 

• Congruence with the University of Kentucky’s mission 

• Anticipated benefits to students, faculty members, the University of Kentucky, and university stakeholders 

• Evidence of institutional quality including, for example, reputation, international ranking, and accreditation status 

• Cost, feasibility, and sustainability of proposed activities 

• Possible risks to students, faculty members, the University of Kentucky, and university stakeholders (including, but not limited to, legal and financial risks, threats to safety and security, reputation, etc.). 

• Open the International Partnership Proposal Form available here. 

• Please complete the form with the most detail you can. For example, do not shorten your campus address, and include both room number and complete zip code. Also, please enter the complete contact information for the partner university contact person. If you have any questions with the form, please contact intlpartnerships@uky.edu. 

• After our office receives the International Partnership Proposal Form you submit in Step 2, the UKIC will generate the appropriate draft(s) of the agreements you have requested and send them to you for initial review. 

• After you have reviewed the draft for any inaccuracies, please return it to this office via intlpartnerships@uky.edu. 

• Once you have approved the initial review and returned it to this office, we will circulate it for internal review at the University of Kentucky by the appropriate offices. 

• After we have received the relevant approvals (the process should take about two weeks), we will then email you with permission to share the agreement with the partner institution for their review.  

• Once an agreement is reviewed by the partner institution, please return the agreement to our office via intlpartnerships@uky.edu. 

• After making the suggested changes, and if there are no substantive changes, the agreement is ready for signature. At this point, the Manager of International Agreements circulates the agreement to collect signatures of the designated institutional representatives for the University of Kentucky as well as for the partner institution.  

• The dean(s) of the relevant program(s), as well as the Associate Provost for Internationalization, must approve and sign all agreements. No one else can substitute for the Associate Provost for Internationalization. 

• After all relevant signatures are collected, the appropriate number of agreements are held at both the University of Kentucky and the partner institution. 

• The Manager of International Agreements will notify you and deliver the agreement to you. 

• The agreement is now fully executed and is active after the date of the last signature. 

• At this point, the agreement is entered into the University of Kentucky’s Agreement Database. (NOTE: UK faculty and staff can request access to the Agreements Database by contacting the Manager of International Agreements at intlpartnerships@uky.edu)