Study Abroad
Study Abroad Agreements with international universities are arranged through Global Student Recruitment and/or Faculty Student Recruitment Hubs (FSRHs). The primary objective of developing a Study Abroad Agreement is to recruit fee-paying undergraduate or postgraduate students on a short-term, non-graduating basis.
Student Exchange
These are agreements with other universities to permit the exchange of undergraduate or postgraduate students for a period of study. There is no financial impact as tuition fees continue to be paid by students to their home institution. The initial point of contact for Student Exchange Agreements is the Global Opportunities Team in the Careers Employments and Skills (CES) Unit.
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Study Abroad Approval Procedures
Study Abroad Agreements are normally initiated at a School, Faculty or GSR level, where an international university may request an agreement in order to send Study Abroad students to Queen’s. It should be noted that subject areas covered in agreement requests may be specific to one Faculty or cross-Faculty.
In the first instance, GSR or Faculty will send the request to the relevant Dean of Internationalisation (DI) of the overarching Faculty indicated in the agreement request, accompanied by a brief rationale, which includes details such as: Full Institution Name, City/State/Country, Institutional Ranking and/or Strategic Interest, Subject Areas of Interest, Lead Contact etc. The Dean of Internationalisation will consider the request and rationale on behalf of the Faculty Executive Board (FEB) and, if approved, will forward an approval email to GSR, copying in relevant School(s) (Head of School and School Manager), Secretary to the Dean and Faculty Business Development Officer (and Deans of Internationalisation from other Faculties, as required).
GSR will draft an agreement using an approved and return to the requesting University for consideration and approval. Where a requesting university has provided their own template, a request will be made for the Queen’s template to be considered, or, alternatively, the Queen’s template will be incorporated in the requesting university’s agreement and duly verified with Queen’s legal team. Where the terms requested by the partner institution are outside of the scope of the standard Queen’s Study Abroad agreement template, GSR will also consult with the relevant Queen’s department, as appropriate (for example Global Opportunities, Finance, Student Services and Systems or the Immigration Support Service team).
Once the text of the template has been approved by the partner institution, the agreement will be sent by GSR or Faculty to the Chair of Education Committee (Quality and Standards) (ECQS), with accompanying rationale including email approval from the Dean of Internationalisation, for final approval and sign-off.
The signed agreement will be returned by the ECQS Chair to GSR or FSRH. The Study Abroad partner will then duly be issued with the signed agreement for their signature to be added.
A final report, accompanied by final agreement, signed off by both parties, will be provided by GSR or FSRH to Academic Affairs, copying Global Opportunities, Finance, Student Services and Systems and the Immigration Support Service Office, to ensure that the agreement is formally reported to ECQS and appropriately disseminated to relevant internal stakeholders.
The Agreement will be saved in a central Study Abroad repository, with access given to all stakeholders as required.
A flowchart summarising the above process is available.
- Student Exchange Approval Procedures - International Universities
Student Exchange agreements are initiated at School level with the aim of an identical number of students exchanging to undertake study at both institutions. Initial approval should be progressed in accordance with the International Partnership Triage Process in the first instance. Subject to the outcome of this procedure, the School should contact the Global Opportunities Team with details of the proposed partner institution, admissions requirements for both Queen’s and the partner institution and details of the related programme (and potential modules of study) which students taking part in the exchange will study at both Queen’s and the partner institution.
Schools should also follow the placement learning guidelines produced by CES when assessing a suitable exchange agreement and also undertake an effective due diligence/risk assessment of the external institution to assess status, pastoral support etc. A rationale for the establishment of the agreement should be forwarded by the School to the Global Opportunities Team.
The Global Opportunities Team will then engage with the School contact to assess the rationale of the agreement and determine if there is mobility in both directions. Normally agreements will apply to a set number of students over a five year period. The current role of the Global Opportunities Team is to comment on the agreement proposed by the School, assess its rationale and suggest changes where required. If no changes are required, the agreement is forwarded to the Chair ECQS for approval and signature. The Global Opportunities Team will also assess proposals/agreements sent in from external organisations seeking a student exchange agreement with the University.
The development of a student exchange agreement may be part of a wider International Partnership Agreement with one or more Schools within the University. Where this is likely to be the case, the Global Opportunities Team will liaise with Academic Affairs who will take the lead on developing an over-arching agreement. Schools should also consult the protocol for the development of an International Partnership Agreement. Where there is already an existing Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a partnership or articulation in place, The Global Opportunities Team will draft an addendum to the existing agreement for approval and signature by the Chair of ECQS.
Upon approval of the Student Exchange Agreement or MOA addendum, the Global Opportunities Team will inform Student Records, Finance, Global Student Recruitment, Academic Affairs, and the Immigration Support Service Office. Relevant stakeholders will be informed to ensure the details of the students involved in the agreements are detailed on QSIS for enrolment purposes. The Student Exchange Agreement or MOA addendum will be reported on the Collaborative Provision Register.
Queries regarding European and/or previous Erasmus agreements should be directed to the Global Opportunities Team.