International Initiatives Launches Online Guide for Responsible Global Activities

Posted September 23, 2019

The Office of International Initiatives announces the launch of the Georgia Tech Guide for Responsible International Activities, a new online resource regarding guidelines, policies, and procedures around the Institute’s global activities and partnerships.

This summer, the Office of International Initiatives convened a working group of members of the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and the Office of the Provost to develop a resource to guide educational and research activities that happen abroad. The major deliverables of the working group were designed to help Georgia Tech make decisions and ensure proper planning, compliance, and transparency around all international activities.

“Georgia Tech is proud to engage with researchers, scholars, and institutions all over the world as an expression of the Institute’s motto of Progress and Service,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, Georgia Tech’s executive vice president for Research. “We remain wholeheartedly committed to those important global collaborations, but we must safeguard the Institute, and ensure all activities are fully transparent and in compliance with Georgia Tech policies, as well as applicable government laws and regulations.”

Site users can find direct links to Georgia Tech resources, policies, and relevant campus contacts for offices and units that manage a variety of issues, including export control; managing conflicts of interest; appointments at other institutions; intellectual property; materials, data, and confidential information; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); international agreements; disclosing foreign relationships; lab tours; hosting foreign visitors; and international travel.

“Georgia Tech promotes a culture of global engagement and believes that our community is enriched through opportunities to study, work, serve, or do research abroad,” said Rafael L. Bras, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “Thanks to the working group, the guide now provides access to Tech’s standing policies and procedures governing international activities in one centralized location.”

The guide will be maintained by the Office of International Initiatives and will be available on faculty and staff resource pages at several touchpoints, including global.gatech.edu, research.gatech.edu, and provost.gatech.edu, among others.

The working group also refined Georgia Tech’s Guiding Principles for International Activities, a standard set of objective criteria used by the Office of International Initiatives for measuring each international activity’s impact on academic activities, value to the Institute, compliance with applicable policies, sustainability and viability, and risk assessment and mitigation concerns.

Georgia Tech is also in the process of creating an International Advisory Committee comprised of representatives of the administration, faculty, and staff. The committee will be chaired by Yves Berthelot, vice provost for International Initiatives, and will provide guidance and advice regarding how Georgia Tech engages internationally (e.g. research, MOUs, master research agreements, etc.).

“Our success in international activities must be assessed in full consideration of geopolitical factors, as well as current and potential state and federal regulations and legislation,” said Berthelot. “With those considerations in mind, the work of the committee will prove vital for Georgia Tech as we continue to grow our relationships across the world and explore new opportunities to engage globally.”

Nominations for the committee are currently being accepted through Oct. 7. Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit self-nominations or nominations for a colleague. Details on the final committee roster will be made available via the online tool, once finalized. To self-nominate or nominate a colleague for the committee, or for more information on the working group’s activities, contact Monique Tavares, director of Global Operations at mtavares@gatech.edu.