132-1 Contract Administration: Educational and Non-Revenue Generating Contracts

Procedures

EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS

General:

Educational Affiliations may include a contract that leads to:
1. The issuance of a VCC credential, a VCC course completion credit, a joint credential and/or course completion credit involving both VCC and another institution/body; and/or
2. The recognition of a credential or course completion credit offered by another institution; and/or
3. A joint applied research project agreed to at an institutional level between VCC and another organization(s) that involves employees, students, and/or publication of research under the College's name.

Educational Affiliations should enhance the quality, range, and relevance of VCC's educational and applied research offerings and should improve student access, transferability, and opportunities. Opportunities for affiliation should only be considered with organizations that share compatible goals and values with VCC and agree to abide by VCC's policies and procedures.

Contract Development:

Proposals may originate from any member of the College, including but not limited to Instructors, Department Heads, Associate Directors, Deans, or Senior Administrators.

During the exploratory and development phases, the proposer, in partnership with the appropriate Dean, should consult with institutional partners who may be affected by the partnership (e.g. International Education, Indigenous Education and Community Engagement, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Research, Facilities Management).

The Dean must approve exploratory discussions with a potential partner. The Dean should carefully consider whether the potential affiliation is aligned with the College's mandate, values, and risk tolerance.

The Dean must submit a Decision Note to the Vice President, Academic & Research for review and approval before moving forward in the negotiation process.

If the Vice President, Academic & Research considers the Affiliation appropriate, they may at their discretion request that the Dean, or their designate, develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the potential partner prior to an Educational Affiliation being developed.

If an MoU is developed, it may act as an umbrella document which covers multiple initiatives with the same partner. MoUs are not a legally binding document and must be signed by the Vice President, Academic & Research and kept within their office and in the online contract repository.

The Dean, or their designate, will develop the terms of the Educational Affiliation Agreement and ensure the agreement clearly outlines the purpose, roles and responsibilities of all partners, governance requirements, and financial or operational responsibilities.

The proposed Educational Affiliation must be reviewed by relevant parties at the College to ensure the agreement supports students and fits the College's strategic and financial plans. It must also undergo a risk assessment through the Department of Safety, Security, Risk and Privacy to minimize risks to students and the College.

All affiliation agreements must be reviewed by the Vice President, Academic & Research and presented to the Education Council and Board of Governors before they are signed.

Agreements containing indemnity clauses must be reviewed and approved by the Risk Management Branch before being presented to the Education Council and Board of Governors, unless they conform to a VCC-approved template.

Approval of Educational Affiliations:

All Educational Affiliation Agreements must be approved by the Board of Governors, except where the evaluation of transfer credit has been delegated to the Registrar under Policy 317 – Transfer Credit, or for Articulation Agreements between VCC and other post-secondary institutions included in the BC Transfer Guide.

Depending on the terms of the affiliation, the Education Council must either approve the Affiliation Agreement or provide advice to the Board prior to their decision.
1. In cases where the agreement determines whether courses, programs, or course credit from another institution are equivalent to courses, programs or course credit at VCC the agreement must be approved jointly by the Educational Council and the Board of Governors as set out in the College and Institute Act.
2. In all other cases, the Education Council provides advice to the Board prior to their decision.

After governance approval, the Educational Affiliation Agreement is signed by the Vice President, Academic & Research. The official copy is kept in the office of the Vice President, Academic & Research, as well as the College's online contract repository.

Review and Reporting:

The Vice President, Academic, or delegate, is responsible for reviewing all educational affiliations at the time of renewal, or no less than once every five years.

The Vice President, Academic will provide an annual report to the Education Council on all active or recently completed Educational Affiliations.

WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING AGREEMENTS

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) partnerships should be formalized with a Work Integrated Learning Agreement between the College and the work integrated learning host. Under these procedures a Work Integrated Learning Agreement, is required for activities that meet all of the following criteria:
1. Integrated within a program of studies
2. Supervised by an employer, preceptor, or instructor
3. Occurs off-campus or within a real-world environment
4. Monitored
5. Evaluated by the College
6. Identified as a gradable component.

Departments are encouraged to utilize the Partnership Development Office's Work Integrated Learning Process Staff Manual to standardize the WIL process across the College.

Contracts with WIL hosts may be utilized by any Department at the College without requiring an additional Work Integrated Learning Agreement.

Departments that have programs which contain a WIL component should identify a designate staff or faculty member(s) to manage the administration of contracts with WIL hosts.

Either program staff or students may identify a potential WIL host, however the Department Head, or designate, must assess the suitability of the placement, approve the host, and verify whether a Work Integrated Learning Agreement is already in place at the College through VCC Works.

Departments should use the VCC approved Work Integrated Learning Agreement template. Use of a non-approved template requires the review of the Department of Safety, Security, Risk and Privacy and potentially the Risk Management Branch.

Department Heads are the Contract Authority for Work Integrated Learning Agreements on behalf of the College.

Copies of signed Work Integrated Learning Agreements must be stored by the responsible department and on the VCCWorks platform.

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

A non-revenue generating Partnership Agreement is one that usually has no monetary value, but which focuses on mutual academic, cultural, community, or administrative benefits. Non-revenue generating partnership agreements are usually Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), academic collaborations, community engagement initiatives, or student exchange programs.

Non-revenue generating Partnership Agreements may not have pre-approved templates due to the diverse nature of the agreements.

Memorandum of Understanding:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is an agreement to explore formal opportunities with a partner or partners. An MoU can be an umbrella document for a variety of agreements which emerge from the initial MoU.

A MoU is not a legally binding agreement; however, proposers should engage the Department of Safety, Security, Risk and Privacy while developing the MoU to identify any risks associated with the agreement. Additional reviewers may be identified depending on the nature of the MoU.

The responsible Dean/Director is the Contract Authority for MoUs. Contracts resulting from the MoU may be subject to a different Mandatory Reviewer and Contract Authority depending on the nature of the contract.

Copies of executed MoUs will be stored in the College's online contract repository and in the office of the appropriate Vice President.

Other Partnership Agreements:

Any member of the College may present a partnership opportunity to their Dean/Director; however, the terms of the agreement must be negotiated by the Dean/Director or their delegate.

These agreements are usually legally binding and must be reviewed by the relevant Dean/Director, the Department of Safety, Security, Risk and Privacy, and any other relevant department.

The Contract Authority for all other Partnership Agreements is the responsible Vice President.

Copies of executed Partnership Agreements shall be stored in the office of the appropriate Vice President and the College's online contract repository.