Faculty & Staff

Operational Modalities

When establishing a new international project, the principal investigator (PI) may choose among several operational modalities in foreign countries, depending on the nature and scale of the project:

• Short-term visits by University personnel or consultants, providing technical assistance, or otherwise working with local partner organizations, requiring no University bank accounts, leased office premises, or locally hired staff.
• Small-scale, ongoing field operations involving locally financed activities, where the project may require local-hire staff or consultants, University bank accounts, and/or a field office (i.e., leased office premises).
• Major, ongoing field operations, typically over several years and requiring local registration, bank accounts, locally hired staff, and a field office – perhaps even a Country Office with a main office and satellite offices.

The modality of short-term visits likely will not require using the services of local legal counsel, obtaining country registrations and tax-exempt agreements, and establishing an office. However, modalities with ongoing operations may require these elements, as described in other parts of the Operations section. Those establishing international projects with the short-term-visits modality should skip to Other Legal Matters.