Collaborative Academic Agreements and Contracts

Welcome to the home for Collaborative Academic Agreements and Contracts for Clemson University!

When entering into academic agreements, the University must ensure:  compliance with applicable requirements of external entities (e.g., CHE, NC-SARA, SACSCOC) and with South Carolina law; appropriate review by University officials and units that oversee strategy or operations associated with provisions of the agreement; and signatures by University officials who are authorized to sign academic contracts and agreements.  The University also needs to: centrally house; collect, catalog, store, and govern the meta-data of academic agreements; serve and manage such agreements and contracts; and, often, provide signed copies of such agreements to CHE.

If you are exploring the development or approval of an academic agreement or submitting a pre-approved learning placement agreement for approval and execution or submitting an active agreement for central storage, governance, and cataloging, you can start this process below. 

For modifications/updates to active agreements (such as expiration terms and course listings), or any other inquiries regarding academic agreements and collaborations, please contact us here. 

  • Agreement Process Overview

    Any academic contract or agreement connected to an academic program, including corporate partnerships, is subject to review by at least the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Undergraduate Studies and/or The Graduate School, and the Provost. The current process consists of 7 stages:

    1. Initiation Phase: In this phase, an Agreement Sponsor requests to initiate a new agreement via the button above. An agreement or contract may not necessarily exist yet at this stage.

    2. Intake Phase: The submission is reviewed with all relevant stakeholders, including the Sponsor. Once the idea for the agreement is approved, the Sponsor can submit the agreement for formal review.

    3. Consultation Phase: During this phase, several entities review the agreement on an as-needed basis (dependent on the nature of the agreement) to ensure alignment with University protocol. The reviewers will do this simultaneously. The agreement will move on to the next phase once they are done or after 3 business days, whichever comes first. While each entity contacted does not necessarily need to approve of the agreement for it to move forward, they may indicate there is a reason to pause the process.

    4. Concurrent Review Phase: During this phase, all necessary parties must approve of the agreement before it can move forward. The reviewers will review the agreement simultaneously. Procurement will also work with the outside party to ensure alignment with University policy.

    5. Sequential Review Phase: At this stage, the agreement is reviewed for approval by the final parties, such as a College Dean and General Counsel one at a time.

    6. Signature Phase: Once all internal parties are satisfied with the agreement, it will be submitted to the outside party for signatures by OIEA, followed by the Clemson University Signatory. In most cases this will be the Provost.

    7. Storage Phase: Once all parties have signed the agreement, it will be distributed and stored by the Office for Institutional Effectiveness.

    Click here to see the full Academic Contracts and Collaborative Academic Agreements workflow.

  • Agreement Categories

    Academic agreements are contracts having terms and purposes aligned with the three common agreement types below OR any contract having terms related to any of the following: developing or delivering courses, curricula, or programs; awarding of an academic credential; transfer, transcripting, equivalency, or articulation of academic credit whether to or from the University; establishment of, use of, or services provided at instructional sites; admissions; student recruiting services and contracted test preparation services; learning placements/experiential learning (whether for credit or not); activities (including research under corporate sponsorship/partnerships) involving conveying or conferring academic credit. It is understood that contracts may have primary purposes or terms unrelated to the above; however, those that contain terms related to the above are considered academic agreements. There are currently 3 overarching types of academic agreements applicable to this process:

    Cooperative academic arrangement: A formal agreement between Clemson University and another entity (or entities) to deliver program content transcripted by Clemson University as its own. This includes, but is not limited to, joint academic awards, dual enrollment, and dual academic award agreements.

    Transfer agreement: An agreement among institutions facilitating the transfer of credits. This includes, but is not limited to, articulation, reverse transfer, and advanced placement agreements.

    Learning placement agreement: An agreement outlining the parameters of an experiential learning opportunity for students such as, but not limited to, clinical rotations, internships or student teaching. If you are not sure if your agreement falls under these categories, you can still notify us via the “Request to Initiate a New Agreement” button, and we will work with you on determining the best fit.

  • External Parties Information

    If you are part of an external party that would like to enter into an academic agreement with Clemson University, please contact Shontavia Johnson at sjj7@clemson.edu.