RECTORIA
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
(MOU)
BETWEEN
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE
UNIVERSITY
BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
AND
UNIVERSIDAD DEL BIO-BIO
CONCEPCION, CHILE
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (hereafter referred to as Virginia Tech), represented by its President, Dr. Paul E. Torgersen, and Universidad del Bío-Bío, represented by its Rector, Mr. Roberto Goycoolea Infante, have agreed to the following terms:
1. That this MOU is intended to facilitate all exchanges and cooperative initiatives between the universities in the area of instruction, exchange, development research, and community service.
2. That the parties recognize that implementation of any agreement will depend upon the academic interest and expertise of individual faculty members and upon the availability of financial resources. Accordingly, joint institutional goals will be accomplished in accordance with separately negotiated College and Department level Implementing Agreements (IA).
3. A variety of cooperative approaches shall be employed, such as:
¬ Exchange of undergraduate and graduate students
¬ Exchange of faculty members
¬ Exchange of research personnel
¬ Technical assistance and/or training
¬ Exchange of scholarly and pedagogical materials
¬ Joint Research
¬ Other cooperative efforts set forth in separate Implementing Agreements.
4. That the initial focus of this linkage agreement will be on exchange of faculty and students and on development of a Master of Science programme at Bío-Bío in the field of Wood Science and Technology.
5. That each university will appoint a Liaison Officer to develop and coordinate specific programmes.
6. That financial and/or funding considerations shall become the subject of specific discussion and agreement within the framework of a separate Implementing Agreement negotiated at the College/Departmental level. No financial commitment whatever on the part of either signatory to this document is intended or implied.
7. That specific projects to which this MOU may lead will be subject to joint and periodic evaluations by appropriate authorities within the respective universities.
8. That this MOU replaces one dated 9 July 1990 at Virginia Tech and 23 July 1990 at Bío-Bío, the results of which are listed in the Annex of this new Agreement. This MOU will be in effect for a period of five years and is subject to revision or modification by mutual agreement. It is also understood that either institution may terminate the agreement upon giving one year's notice. It is assumed that such action would be taken only after mutual consultation in order to minimize potential inconvenience to the other party.
9. That such MOUs are not intended to be legally binding documents. Rather, they are meant to describe the nature and cooperative intentions of those institutions involved, and to suggest guidelines for cooperation. Nothing, therefore, shall diminish the full autonomy of either institution, nor may any constraints be imposed by either upon the other.
President
Rector
Virginia
Tech Universidad del Bío-Bío
Date: 16 December 1997 Date:
AN N E X
It is intended that this agreement will build on and extend accomplishments under the original five-year agreement initiated in July 1990. Examples of such accomplishment are as follows:
1. Robert Youngs, of the Virginia Tech faculty, visited Bío-Bío to confer with university officials and participate in a workshop on application of new technology in the forest industries (1990).
2. Steven Sinclair, of the Virginia Tech faculty, visited Concepción to confer with university officials and participate in a workshop on marketing of forest products (1991).
3. Aldo Ballerini of the Bío-Bío faculty, came to Virginia Tech to undertake Ph.D. study in wood science. Degree granted in 1994.
4. Walter Kauman, a Visiting Professor at Bío-Bío, visited Virginia Tech to confer with Wood Science faculty and lecture on forest industry and wood research in Chile (1993).
5. Cynthia West, of the Virginia Tech faculty, visited Concepción to participate in a seminar on international trade in forest products (1994).
6. A.L. Hammett of the Virginia Tech faculty visited Chile to represent USA and participate in the FAO Conference on Forestry Education, where he met with representatives of several Chilean natural resource educational institutions (1996).
7. Aldo Ballerini of the Bío-Bío faculty visited Virginia Tech to review activity under the previous agreement and make plans for further collaboration (1997).
8. Virginia Tech, Bío-Bío and National Pingtung University in Taiwan are collaborators in a tripartite project on university affiliation being developed with the US Information Agency (1997).