Senate Committee on International Activities: Policy and Proposal Procedures
International Activities at SFU are subject to GP 23 - University Policy on International Activities. The policy applies to all international activities undertaken in the university's name except where explicitly excepted, such as research activities requiring the approval of the vice-president, research and international.
Examples of international activities to which the policy applies, include:
- Cooperation agreements between institutions;
- University arrangements governing graduate and undergraduate student exchanges, study abroad opportunities for domestic students (including field schools) and non-credit international study tours;
- Study abroad opportunities for international students coming to SFU;
- Education and training programs for international clients, including English language training provided outside of ongoing approved programs such as the English Language and Culture Program;
- Arrangements for the delivery, sale or licensing outside Canada of the university's credit and non-credit courses, and degree completion programs;
- International service contracts;
- International development assistance projects;
- International development projects funded by the International Development Research Centre; and
- Commercial, joint-venture partnerships that use the university's resources or that trade on the university's name and reputation.
Unless otherwise indicated in the University Policy on International Activities (GP 23), all International activities that are proposed in the name of the University must be submitted to SCIA for approval. This includes affiliations with other organizations/institutions (ex. an institutional MOU with another university), and international activities (ex. a field school program abroad). Affiliations may be formalized through a number of legal tools as referenced in Appendix A 2.0.
Any required faculty and departmental approvals must be obtained before the proposal can be submitted to SCIA. Where Senate or the Board of Governors approval is required, such approval must also be obtained before the proposed activities can begin.
Please first review the Developing a partnership or activity page and contact the appropriate SFU International regional manager for support and guidance in proceeding with your proposed activity and/or agreement.
Asia and South Pacific – Sarah Ngo
Europe and Americas – Yukino Mori
Africa, Central Asia and Middle East – Mirranda Cross
Types of Submissions
Proposals are submitted For Approval, For Information, For Recommendation or For Discussion.
- For Approval: Any new agreements with international partners, or proposals for new international activities and program must be submitted For Approval
- For Information: Informational updates relevant to SFU's international engagement, such as minor changes to international programs that have previously been approved by SCIA (such as the changing of a Field School location), updates on the progress of international programs, Expressions of Interest for international programs and projects, seminars and workshops being provided abroad, and updates from SFU staff related to SFU policies or government policies are submitted For Information. Also, when proposals have been approved by Delegated Authority due to urgency, they are then submitted For Information at the following SCIA meeting
- For Recommendation: Proposed changes to University international policies or practices
- For Discussion: International strategic plans or new international initiatives are submitted For Discussion to SCIA
Note that extensions or renewals of existing agreements and programs that have previously been approved by SCIA do not need to be resubmitted to the committee unless there are substantive changes to the nature of the initiative. Please contact the appropriate regional manager listed above with any questions on requirements to submit initiatives to SCIA.
Documentation Requirements
A document submission form (linked below) is required for all proposals.
SCIA Risk Assessment Guidelines
If you need assistance in completing these forms or have any questions, please contact the appropriate regional manager.
If you are unsure whether the proposal requires SCIA approval, please contact scia@sfu.ca.
Proposal Approvals
For items submitted For Approval, all pages of the submission form must be completed, including all signatures as indicated in the final page of the form.
- We advise that you discuss your proposal with your Chair/Dean earlier in the development process. The Dean and Chair signatures must be obtained before submitting proposals
- Where applicable, administrative signatures from International Services for Students and/or Work Integrated Learning must be obtained before submitting proposal
- SFU International staff can advise you on whether signature from legal council is required for your proposal. Legal counsel review is necessary when the agreement is not based on SFU template or when the template has substantive changes
- The signature of the Executive Director, SFU International, will be obtained by the SCIA Secretary
For items submitted For Recommendation, For Information, or For Discussion, only the initial page of the SCIA Proposal Cover Sheet is required. A signature sheet is not required.
If the activity requires approval by other Senate committees, these approvals must be obtained before submitting to SCIA. These approvals must be indicated in the proposal.
Submission Deadlines
Proposals must be complete and submitted to scia@sfu.ca by the deadline for submissions (see SCIA web page for the annual list of deadline and meeting dates).
Completed proposals submitted after the deadline date, but prior to the SCIA meeting will not be considered.
Updated on November 15, 2022