– Working with Minors –
All students engaged in service-learning classes involving minors must sign the TN Law on Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse reporting form prior to the service engagement.
Signed reporting forms should be housed securely in the department main office. It is recommended that students who will be working with minors also complete the Tennessee Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse training prior to the service project. The training course is free, and only takes about 25 minutes to complete. Students can log in with their UT ID and password, and select the module entitled “Child Abuse Reporting” from the drop down menu.
Some service-learning courses involving minors MAY be considered “Covered Programs” under the University of Tennessee System Safety Policy SA0575 (Programs for Minors Policy). If so, additional requirements apply. Contact Brian Browning, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services, at 974-3061 or safety-minors@utk.edu with any questions about the policy.
– Compliance Measures –
Academic departments housing service-learning courses are responsible for overseeing risk management compliance measures associated with these experiences.
Faculty teaching service-learning courses should also familiarize themselves with their community partner organization organization’s requirements for volunteers. Service-learning students must comply with both community partner organization requirements as well as requirements set forth their college, department, or program housing the service experience.
– Background Checks –
Some academic departments and/or community organizations require pre-service screening measures such as background checks, drug tests, or sex offender registry checks for service-learning students.
If the department or college housing the course currently has requirements and/or processes in place for screening students, instructors should observe these requirements and utilize these processes. If screening processes are required by the community partner organization and the home department/college does not have an existing process in place for overseeing screenings and addressing findings, the instructor should acquire permission from the department head prior to confirming the partnership with the organization.
– Liability Insurance Options –
The University of Tennessee System Office of Risk Management has both Student Professional Liability insurance coverage and General Liability insurance coverage. For more information, please click “Learn More” below.
The University of Tennessee provides optional professional liability and general liability coverage for student professionals at the Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, UTSI, and Health Science Center campuses. In order to obtain this coverage, the student must pay the Student Professional Liability fee of $20. This coverage is intended to protect the student while they are out working in their field of study as part of their degree requirement.
Currently the following professional disciplines are covered under this policy:
Athletic Trainer, Audiologist, Clinical Lab Tech, Counselors (clinical/rehab/mental health), Cytopathology, Dental Hygienist, Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Science, Health Educator, Kinesiologist/Kinesiotherapist, Medical Lab Tech, Nurses (RN/LPN/LVN, Anesthesia), NP, Nutritionist, Occupational Therapist, Pharmacist, Phlebotomy, Physical Therapist, Physician Assistant, Psychologist, Recreation Therapist, Social Work, Sports Medicine Therapist, Vet Tech, Child & Family Studies, Criminal Justice, Interior Design, Service Learning, Human Resources Management, Modern Foreign Language, History, Retail Consumer Science, Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, Master of Public Health program, Public Health student volunteers and Music Therapy students.
If you do not find your professional service listed above or need more information, please contact the System Office of Risk Management at (865) 974-5409 or email riskmanagement@tennessee.edu.
Policies regarding Risk Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville are subject to change. For additional information about risk management in experiential learning contexts, and to access and download tools for mitigating risk in experiential learning courses and co-curricular experiences, such as the Experience Learning Risk Management Handbook, please visit the Experience Learning Risk Management webpage.