In today's world collaborating is critical, and collaborations, while always essential, are not always easy. It may be important to focus on exactly what this term means. What we have found is that what is often labeled "collaboration" may instead be simply a partnership or one of several levels of a working relationship in which different parties invest different degrees of involvement and time (Montiel-Overall, 2005). This article discusses a variety of partnerships, each defined by a particular level of involvement; it notes the characteristics of collaborations and the process involved in maintaining these collaborations.