Home / Policies & Guidelines / Affiliation Agreement Approval Process
Tufts University, its schools, centers, departments, and units frequently enter into affiliation agreements with both domestic and international partners in order to expand the student experience, conduct and enhance the impact of research and scholarship, and provide opportunities for faculty development.
“Affiliation Agreement” is a general term that refers to any inter-institutional agreement between Tufts (or one of its schools or the HNRCA) with a Collaborating Institution or Entity in support of academic cooperation, such as academic programs, co-curricular or service opportunities, exchange of students, faculty, scholars, and staff. They can have different names: Memorandum of Understanding, Memorandum of Agreement, Affiliation Agreement, Exchange Agreement, Cooperation Agreement, Collaboration Agreement, and more.
All affiliation agreements require internal approval. Certain affiliation agreements require approval from the Office of the Provost, while others may only require approval from the initiating party’s school dean or director. More information can be found in the internal approval policy.
Step 1: Negotiate activity and obtain support from school dean or EAD
Step 2: Complete and submit the Affiliation Agreement Online Proposal Form
Step 3: Share document draft with partners
Step 4: Execute the Agreement
This approval process ensures coordination and compliance across Tufts’ schools, units, and departments. Specifically, it is designed to:
There are many instances in which an agreement that does not involve payments must be approved by the Office of the Provost. This includes agreements for faculty, scholar, staff, or student exchange, university-level agreements to host regularly occurring joint conferences or events, and agreements with any for-profit institution of higher education.
We do not accept scanned or PDF copies of the Affiliation Agreement Proposal Form. All Affiliation Agreement Proposal Forms must be completed through our online form.
For more information, please email affiliationagreements@tufts.edu or call the Office of the Provost at 617-627-3310.