SACS Accreditation

3.4.7 Consortial Relationships/Contractual Agreements

Comprehensive Standard:  The institution ensures the quality of educational programs/courses offered through consortia relationships or contractual agreements, ensures ongoing compliance with the comprehensive requirements, and evaluates the consortial relationship and/or agreement against the purpose of the institution.

X Compliance
    Partial Compliance
    Non-Compliance

Georgia State University has many relationships with other institutions to advance the university’s educational goals. These include exchange agreements with international and U.S. institutions, clinical and field experience placements for course credit, student internship programs, and cooperative education placements.

The international cooperation agreements policy (Guidelines and Procedures for International Cooperation Agreements) [1] was developed by the Office of International Affairs (OIA) in 2003 to guide the development, renewal and termination of international agreements. OIA's staff work closely with faculty (program directors) and college administration as well as signatory/support units (Study Abroad, Legal Affairs, ISSS, OIA) of the university to provide this service. One important aspect of this role is to ensure that to the extent possible, specific details of programs, including academic credits have been worked out and agreed upon prior to students arriving or traveling abroad. Consortia agreements with international institutions are developed by the faculty of the various colleges, schools and departments. They are reviewed by the Deans’ Offices and then by the Office of International Affairs. Contracts are approved by the Office of Legal Affairs before being signed by the deans of the Colleges. Credit earned through these opportunities is subject to prior departmental/faculty approval and considered for transfer credit on a course-by-course evaluation.  Ongoing compliance for international consortia is assured by the provision that all international consortia agreements expire in five years.  The complete list of international consortia agreements is maintained on the web by the Office of International Affairs. [2]  Sample contracts/agreements provide evidence of the way in which GSU ensures the quality of these programs.  [3] [3] 

At the University level, there is only one domestic consortium program, The Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education. [4] The member institutions are all SACS-accredited institutions. Ongoing compliance for this program is assured by the SACS accreditation process for each of these institutions.

At the college and departmental level, consortia agreements with domestic institutions are developed by the faculty of the various colleges, schools, and departments. These consortia are then usually reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs, which verifies that Georgia State can meet the educational requirements established under the agreement, and the relevant College, which ensures that the other party to the relationship exhibits the quality we require. Examples of these types of agreements/arrangements can be seen below. [5] [5] [5] [5] 

Ongoing compliance for department and college level consortia is assured by the review of all these consortia during the Academic Program Review process. [6]

1. Office of International Affairs International Cooperation Agreements Information
2. International Cooperation Agreements Database
3. Examples of international agreements, pdf.
    Savoie Agreement
    North American Mobility Grant
4. Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education
5. Examples of domestic agreements, pdf.
    AAS Service Learning Form
    COE Letter Brown
    Veteran Affairs Internship Contract
    Undergraduate Practicum Program
6. Academic Program Review