The University-Agency Agreement

After the initial discussion and risk assessment, the faculty member or service-learning staff should have all the information necessary to initiate the University-Agency Agreement for Service Learning (UAA-SL). The UAA-SL contains the terms and conditions commonly found in out-of-classroom placement agreements. Campuses can use either the UAA-SL template (docx) or the existing UAA template developed by their campus. Additionally, some learning sites may have an agreement that they are required to use. If this is the case, consultation with the campus risk manager and/or contracts and procurement officer will be needed to develop an agreement that meets both parties’ needs.

The learning site should be given time to review and recommend any amendments to the UAA. If no amendments are necessary, the designated signatory (typically a staff member from procurement) can execute the agreement and move to the next step in the process. If the learning site requests an amendment, then the contract office’s designee, the risk manager and the service-learning director should review the amendment so that the legal campus representative can determine if the suggested changes are acceptable; if so, the amended agreement should then be executed per campus procedure.

Workers Compensation: One common area of concern for both parties is how to respond if a student is injured or becomes ill while participating in a learning activity. The UAA states that neither the university nor the learning site is responsible for providing Workers’ Compensation insurance to students (as they are not employees of the university or learning site, and Workers’ Compensation is a program designed for employees). The Student Service-Learning Participation Guidelines (docx) inform students that they are personally responsible for paying the costs related to the treatment of any injury or illness they may suffer while participating in a learning activity. For this reason, students are encouraged to maintain health insurance (in addition to the basic care they can receive at their student health center) for the duration of their placement.

If the learning site requires that the university provide students with Workers’ Compensation insurance as part of the service-learning activity, you must review this request with your risk manager and/or contracts and procurement department. Please note that extending Workers’ Compensation to students is very rarely done and should only be considered if the placement site will not allow the placement without it AND the placement site offers an opportunity that is essential to the student’s curricular program and cannot be found in another setting. To learn more about Workers’ Compensation and service-learning placements, visit the California State University FAQ* section.

Campus Placements: Please note that a UAA is not required if student placements occur on campus and within a CSU entity, as the University’s liability insurance program would cover students under such placements. It is recommended that a document outlining what the student will be doing and how it connects to course objectives be used (an example is the Learning Plan (doc) which is often used by faculty as an educational document in service-learning). However, placements on a CSU campus, but within a non-CSU entity (e.g., auxiliary services, an external high school housed on a CSU campus, etc.) are considered external organizations and will require a UAA-SL.

TIP: 
It is recommended that each campus develop a process when there is disagreement among service-learning staff, faculty and/or risk manager as to whether a placement should be approved.

Note: On most campuses, service-learning directors and individual faculty members are not authorized to sign the UAA. A few campuses, however, have given signatory authority to the service-learning director. SL directors with signatory authority who have questions about an agreement should always consult their contracts and procurement office before signing a UAA.University-Agency Comprehensive Agreement for All Programs Covered Under SAFECLIP (UAA-Comprehensive): In general, a UAA-Comprehensive template can be developed to include all campus programs covered under SAFECLIP for out-of-classroom placements. The template includes recommended language around placement parameters. View the comprehensive agreement template (docx) (revised in June 2023).

*link available to CSU staff, faculty only