Documents Page

The UW–Madison International Projects Office (IPO) was established in 2017 to facilitate the development and management of internationally focused projects and partnerships requiring collaboration between two or more UW units with diverse institutional partners. More broadly, IPO develops and facilitates work that benefits organizations worldwide while forging international ties to build and maintain robust foundations for cooperation and collaboration between UW and other organizations. Since its establishment, the office’s work has included several different types of partnerships—other higher education institutions, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and foundations. To guide its partnership engagement, this chapter specifically highlights IPO’s theories of partnership and change which it utilizes to guide its partnership development engagements. These theories were built on learnings from existing partnerships and are grounded in UW–Madison’s organizational values, mission, and institutional culture. Utilizing these theories has also enabled IPO to explore a diversity of potential partnerships and respond to emerging opportunities in contextually relevant and flexible ways.