Low Risk Activity

Approval Body

Partnerships Board has delegated authority to Faculties to approve the following list of activities only:

• Faculty to faculty memoranda of understanding
• Progression Agreements
• Articulation Agreements
• Student Exchange Agreements
• Staff Exchange Agreements
• Medical Elective Agreements
• Faculty specific Study Abroad Agreements

Process

The process for seeking approval for low risk collaborative activity is as below:

1. Initial discussions take place between the School/Institute and partner organisation, with input from the Global Engagement Office for international partners. Input should also be sought from Finance through the Faculty Business Partner regarding any due diligence on the preferred partner. If Intellectual Property is involved, then the JRMO must be consulted and endorsement received from the Global Engagement Executive to ensure strategic alignment. Commitments should not be made to the partner at this stage.
2. After consulting the risk frameworks, the School/Institute makes a decision on whether the proposal appears to fall into the low or high risk categories. For guidance on this, proposers should contact DGLS.
3. If the proposal falls into the low risk category, the proposer must complete the low risk proposal form and submit this, together with a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) / Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), to Faculty Executive for consideration through the relevant Faculty contact (see below). Completed forms should only be submitted once all of the relevant signatories are enclosed.
4. There are two potential outcomes from the Faculty Executive for a low risk proposal:
   • If there are no concerns regarding risk levels, financial due diligence and mitigation, the proposal will be approved (approvals will be noted at the next Partnerships Board meeting) and the proposer informed by the Faculty Executive
   • If there are concerns regarding risk levels, financial due diligence and mitigation, the proposal will either be rejected, or will be referred to Partnerships Board for a decision (rejections will be noted at the next Partnerships Board meeting)
5. Once approved, low risk agreements and proposal forms can be signed by the appropriate Faculty VP or VP International.* After this, and subject to any additional approvals that may be required (e.g. approval of PhD arrangements by RDPEB, and new taught programmes by the Faculty Executive and TPB), the activity can begin, with appropriate management and monitoring arrangements in place.
6. Copies of all signed MoUs and Agreements should be submitted to DGLS and (for international partners) either the Global Opportunities team or the International Partnerships team as appropriate. No programme may start, nor may offers be made to students, until the MoA or contract has been signed by both Parties.

*MoAs and contracts may only be signed by the Principal or a delegated VP.  

The Faculty will report low risk activities approved to PB for noting at each meeting.

Faculty approval collaborative activity approval flowchart [PDF 212KB]

Faculty contacts

Form

The Low Risk Proposal Form can be found below. Please ensure that it is completed in consultation with the risk framework. For guidance on risk levels and the most appropriate approval process, and for specific queries on completing the form, please contact DGLS.

• Low Risk Proposal Form [DOC 44KB]
• Low Risk Framework [PDF 160KB]

The information requested on the form is essential to enable the Faculty to determine whether the proposed partnership opportunity has sufficient merit and is in line with relevant Queen Mary strategies and policies, in particular the Queen Mary Strategy 2030. All sections of the form must be completed in full.