Internships and Service Learning

Internships

The following policies will pertain to all courses or programs designated as academic internships.

Definition
Internships integrate the students’ academic study with practical experience in cooperating organizations. Through the integration of practical and academic experience, students enhance their academic knowledge in their area of study, their personal development, and their professional preparation. The teaching faculty and the on-site supervisors share in the educational process of interns.

Any academic department/program/unit/faculty can develop their appropriate guidelines and procedures and structure regarding internships. However, for the purposes of legally minimizing the risk of liability and ensuring a safe and effective internship program for the University, students, faculty and partner organizations, the following policy should be incorporated into any university-related internship program.
All internships should:
1. *Include a signed agreement with a senior representative of the partner agency or corporation and the University procurement officer as designated signature authority. In this agreement, it must be stated that the university assumes no risk or liability and that the sponsoring agency/corporation assumes full responsibility for the liability of the intern, affirming that they have requisite insurance to cover any potential harm to the intern, and include basic information such as location, contact person, and organization description.
2. Include a learning agreement signed by the student, sponsoring faculty, and placement supervisor listing the learning goals of the internship and the duties and responsibilities of each party, notifying the student of the assignment of liability, terms and conditions and the listing of relevant agency policies, and the date the internship begins. This includes mention of whether the intern is paid and conditions for receiving academic credit.

Faculty and/or programs must maintain a file of the aforementioned signed forms. The Dean of Faculty will also retain a sample copy of internship forms that are used.

*This requirement is pursuant to Executive order 849, page 6: “Student placement agreements must be in writing and shall specify minimum insurance requirements applicable to the contracting parties and appropriate hold harmless provisions based upon the needs of the contracting parties. The following hold harmless provisions may be used as a minimum: Hold Harmless Provision: CI shall be responsible for damages caused by the negligence of its officers, employees and agents. Trustees shall be responsible for the damages caused by the negligence of its officers, employee and agents. The intent of this paragraph is to impose responsibility on each part for the negligence of its officer’s employees and agents.”

(SP03-17)

Service Learning Policy

The complete policy text can be found on the CI website http://senate.csuci.edu/policies.htm.

(SP03-16)