The University and the Internship Agreement
University support of internships is a key component to student satisfaction, as well as to post-graduation success. However, the value proposition to organizations who might host interns is often mixed: good internship programs require a lot of time, energy, and funding and are not usually likely to result in employee-like contributions to the organization. To mitigate some of the risk of bringing the intern aboard, a host organization may ask the university to sign an internship agreement.
When does it make sense for the university to be party to an internship agreement?
When an internship is a necessary part of a student’s education—a required part of a course or a capstone project, or in connection with a dissertation—an agreement between the host institution and the university (or the host institution, university, and student intern) may make sense. For example, the university may have an interest in ensuring that the student preserves sufficient intellectual property rights in their internship work to carry out their academic obligations. However, the university’s interest in the particulars of a student’s extracurricular internship is less clear. While a summer internship involves a university student, it does not really involve the university. The university may therefore wish to decline to sign internship agreements unless the internships are for credit or otherwise required for coursework. Many host organizations will accept this and allow the internship to go forward.
Unfortunately, notwithstanding a university’s limited involvement, some government and quasi-governmental organizations will still require an internship agreement. The university’s negotiating strength with those kinds of host organizations will be limited; not only is the agreement likely to be sine qua non for the internship, but the host organization may not accept changes to their form. In these cases, the university should make sure that the agreement accurately reflects the parties’ respective obligations, and that the university has a plan for carrying out its obligations. For example, the host organization may require the university to provide the intern with certain policies or training; the university should have staff or faculty members assigned to this task.
If the university is a party, what should be in the agreement?
Below are some thoughts on some specific terms a university may find in an internship agreement. As in any agreement, if the university will have obligations under the internship agreement, either to the host organization or the student intern, those obligations should be stated clearly.
1. Health insurance. It should not usually be problematic for a university to agree to offer health insurance coverage to current students or even to ensure that they have health insurance coverage for domestic internship programs. For international internship programs, the university will want to confirm that its offered coverage is adequate for the proposed internship, offer additional options, or make execution of the internship agreement contingent on the student providing evidence of adequate insurance.
2. Recommending vs. Selecting Interns. While the host organization may wish to receive recommendations for interns from the university, the university should generally leave it up to the host organization to select the interns. Selecting the interns may leave the university vulnerable to a claim from the host organization that the (poorly performing or badly acting) interns were negligently or recklessly chosen.
3. Warranties for the Intern’s Work Product. Hopefully it will be rare for a host organization to demand that a university provide a warranty for its student’s work product, but for so many reasons: No.
4. Indemnification for the Intern’s Actions. Indemnities should shift risk to the party that has control over outcomes. When the university has no control over how the student performs in the internship, as is almost always the case, indemnifying the host organization for the student’s actions is not appropriate.
5. Confidentiality. In cases where the university and host organization will need to provide one another with information about the student intern or the student intern will need to share host organization proprietary information to carry out course obligations, a confidentiality provision may be appropriate. However, the university should not be responsible for ensuring that the student intern complies with confidentiality obligations imposed by the host organization.
6. Intellectual Property. The university cannot transfer rights in the student’s intellectual property unilaterally and, generally, the host organization should not need any of the university’s intellectual property to carry out the internship. The university may wish to be clear in the internship agreement that it is not transferring or licensing any intellectual property, including any rights to use the university’s name or marks, to the host organization.
7. Expenses. When a university is covering a student’s travel or room and board or is providing a stipend in connection with an internship, those contributions might be mentioned in the internship agreement, but it is likely going to be more appropriate to describe them as an obligation to the student rather than the host organization. Ideally, the university’s policies should govern its obligations to the student, not the internship agreement.
8. Host Obligations. The university has an interest in making sure the host organization is prepared to treat the student intern well and provide a worthwhile internship. For that reason, the university may want to include in the internship agreement that the host organization must train and orient the intern, assign a supervisor, and provide an appropriate workspace and equipment. Depending on the purpose of the internship, the university may also want to require the host organization to provide formal feedback to the student and/or the university about the student’s performance in the internship.
