Academic Affiliation Agreements

This webpage provides a listing of the most current and up-to-date articulation agreements between the University of Michigan-Dearborn and other institutions. For the purpose of this webpage, an "articulation agreement" defines a relationship between the University of Michigan-Dearborn and another institution that enables students to more easily transfer academic credit to this campus. Articulation agreements are at the discretion of the colleges and are subject to change. If your current institution does not have an articulation agreement, you can still transfer to the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

For questions about a specific articulation agreement, please consult with the relevant college's academic advising office. 

The University strongly encourages students to also visit the Transfer Hubs webpage which provides the most commonly used transfer guides between community colleges and our campus.

University of Michigan-Dearborn International Agreement Templates:

1. Campus Wide Collaborative Education Agreement (International)
2. UM-Dearborn CSPS Affiliation Agreement
3. UM-Dearborn Unpaid Internship Agreement
4. UM-Dearborn Paid Internship Agreement
5. UM-Dearborn Articulation Agreement

UM-Dearborn units are encouraged to use the existing official UM-Dearborn templates (see above) to enter into a domestic or international academic agreement (e.g., affiliation, internship, student exchange).  If none of the campus templates serve the purposes of your intended agreement, please contact Sheryl Kubiak for resources ([email protected], 313-436-9188).

The following steps describe the process for creating and finalizing these agreements: 

1.  To create an agreement based on official UM-Dearborn templates, start by downloading the appropriate template, and fill in the information required.

     A.  If you make no changes to the official template (other than filling in the required information), proceed to step 2.

     B.  If you would like to make changes to the template to tailor it to your specific needs, please indicate any such changes using “track changes” and send the draft template to the Office of the Provost (Sheryl Kubiak, [email protected]).  The Office of the Provost will ensure that the template is reviewed by other UM-Dearborn offices as necessary (e.g. Financial Services, Financial Aid & Scholarships, Office of Research Administration) and the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel (OGC) for legal review/editing.  After it has been reviewed, the Office of the Provost will return the draft template to you for further action (e.g., responding to any questions the other UM-Dearborn offices or the OGC may have).  Please be aware a draft may have to go through some back-and-forth with the OGC before it can be finalized.  The Office of the Provost will notify you when the template is finalized and ready to be sent to the other party (Step 2).

2.  Send the UM-Dearborn template to the other party for its review and response.  Please ask the other party to make any changes and/or comments using “track changes.”

If the other party accepts the UM-Dearborn template and has not made any responsive edits and/or comments, then:

3.  Create a final version of the agreement, obtain the other party’s signature, and send the signed agreement to the Office of the Provost to process for the final signature*.

If the other party has made edits and/or comments to the UM-Dearborn template or insists that its own template be used, then:

3.  Make a thorough, careful review of the other party’s template (or its edits to the UM-Dearborn template) and mark the draft with internal comments (for U-M review only; do not send to other party) if:

• There are any provisions/edits that are not actually applicable to the intended relationship between your UM-Dearborn unit and the other party.
• The other party asking/requiring your UM-Dearborn unit to do anything or assume any responsibilities that your UM-Dearborn unit would not normally do or cannot do (e.g., conduct drug testing and/or criminal background checks, immunizations, health exams, etc.).
• Anything is missing from the agreement regarding the duties/obligations your UM-Dearborn unit expects/needs the other party to do.
• You have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding any of the agreement’s provisions.

4.  Send the revised agreement, including your comments, to the Office of the Provost for forwarding to the OGC for legal review.

5.  If the OGC finds that the document is legally unacceptable and requires additional edits (which is usually the case with the other party’s template)--or if the OGC has any questions or comments for either you or the other party--the OGC will indicate such in a revised version of the document (using track-changes) and send it back to the Office of the Provost for forwarding to you.  If the OGC has any questions for you, respond to those questions or comments and return the document to the Office of the Provost for forwarding to the OGC.

6.  Once you have resolved any internal questions/comments from the OGC, send the OGC’s edits and/or comments to the other party for its review and response.  It is your responsibility to act as a liaison between the OGC and the other party (although the OGC will deal directly with the other party’s legal counsel if absolutely necessary, particularly if the negotiations become complex and/or drag out).

Note:  The negotiation process may involve multiple back-and-forth iterations between the OGC and the other party.

7.  When both sides come to agreement, the OGC will notify the Office of the Provost that the agreement is ready to be finalized and signed; the Office of the Provost will then let you know.

8.  Create a final version of the agreement, obtain the other party’s signature, and send the signed agreement to the Office of the Provost to process for the Chancellor’s signature*.

*  Please Note:  The Board of Regents is the legal governing body for the University of Michigan (including the University of Michigan-Dearborn) and has delegated official signature authority for domestic and international agreements to the chancellor and, if applicable, the chancellor’s sub-delegate(s).  Any agreements signed by individual UM-Dearborn employees who do not have official signature authority for the Regents are not valid.  (The Chancellor signs international agreements; the Provost signs domestic agreements.)