Even when all attempts are made to establish a robust and mutually beneficial research partnership, circumstances may arise that require the project partners to revise or discontinue their collaboration agreement.

There are a number of reasons why a partner community or researcher may need to revise the tenants of an existing research partnership, including changes in leadership, bureaucracies, project personnel, community goals, political winds, personnel, health status and leadership.

It is important to discuss the process for revising a collaboration agreement, and revision expectations for the collaboration, prior to the start of the project.

Establishing a Protocol

Please use the following worksheet to establish a protocol for revising your collaboration agreement plan with community partners.

• If a member of the project team chooses to discontinue their role on the project, how will that be communicated to the rest of the project team? What is the agreed upon timeframe for that type of notification and transition to occur?
• Do each of the research partners have specific communication preferences for changing the collaboration agreement, including expectations for the partnership (e.g., a formal meeting, email, letter, or revision to a memorandum of understanding or other agreement)?
• How could the revision, or discontinuation of the research partnership, impact the nature of the work and the management of project materials (e.g., photos, curriculum, handouts, project-related documents and data)?
• How will decisions be made about collaborators’ preference for amending plans for sharing, managing, storing and disposing of existing project materials? How will this information be communicated to the project stakeholders?
• Are there specific tribal, university or funder requirements or approvals needed before for revising or discontinuing the research partnership?
• How will changes to the research partnership be communicated to external stakeholders and community members outside of the project?