Any faculty member inviting an international Visiting Scholar to conduct research on campus must request visa documentation (DS-2019) or approval for the scholar to arrive on campus on alternate visa documentation from the Visa & Immigration Service Advising Office. The responsible faculty member and international scholar will complete and submit the exchange visitor packet to the VISA office. The packet will include an agreement regarding intellectual property, created by the Office of Research. Visiting Scholars and Volunteers who come to the University to work with faculty must also be reviewed and approved by the Dean of the appropriate college and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. In the case of sponsoring units that report to the Office of Research, approval must come from the Vice President for Research.

Each unit of the University shall be responsible for identifying all international Visiting Scholars and Volunteers involved in the development or improvement of intellectual property. Once an international Visiting Scholar or Volunteer is identified, the unit must have the Visiting Scholar or Volunteer sign the sample agreement, which is included in the Exchange Visitor packet. Non-citizen scholars residing in the US are required to comply with this policy. The agreement will provide that the University shall control the disposition of all intellectual property resulting from the research, and shall strictly comply with all Federal Export Control laws and regulations. To this end, international Visiting Scholars or Volunteers will be subject to background checks to ensure that they are not on a sanction list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control; any background checks that are indicated will be charged to the sponsoring unit.

Proposed visiting scholars from countries identified as being at “high risk” for espionage by the FBI must provide credentials for review and written approval by the Office of Research before the university will submit Visa and other applications on their behalf. The Office of Research will periodically update a list of those countries for use by Academic Affairs and International Programs.

The unit shall maintain a copy of the agreement and the original shall be sent to the Office of the Vice President for Research where the documents are to be maintained

No Volunteer or international Visiting Scholar shall be issued a visa document (DS-2019) or approved to arrive on campus with alternate documentation until the agreement has been approved by the Dean, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Vice President for Research and executed by a University representative authorized to bind the University.

The Office of Research shall monitor the implementation of the policy and provide training to affected units.