(A)
Purpose
Ohio university is committed to
providing the best experience possible for minors. The university community,
including faculty, staff, appointees, administrators, undergraduate and
graduate students, volunteers, interns employees of temporary employment
agencies and independent contractors/consultants is expected to uphold the
highest standards of conduct when interacting with minors, and to be informed
on their reporting obligations in instances of suspected or known abuse or
neglect of minor children. This policy establishes requirements for those in
the university community who work in activities and programs with minors, with
the goal of promoting the safety and well-being of minors. Non-university
affiliated program requirements will not be outlines in a university agreement
(contract) with each respective program pursuant to operational
guidelines.
Ohio university expects parents,
teachers, or legal guardians to provide appropriate supervision of minors on
university property unless they are involved in a covered program. Parents,
teachers, or legal guardians should not leave minors unsupervised on university
property. The university is not responsible for unsupervised minors on
university property.
(B)
Scope
(1)
Any faculty,
staff, appointees, administrators, undergraduate and graduate students, student
employees, volunteers, interns, employees of temporary employment agencies and
independent contractors/consultants who work with activities and programs with
minors fall within the scope of this policy. Individuals that work in
activities and programs for minors, but not with the minors themselves, are not
within the scope of this policy.
(2)
All activities
and programs with minors are within the scope of this policy except as
explicitly excluded in paragraph (B)(3) of this policy. This includes, but is
not limited to:
(a)
Activities and programs with minors the university
operates on or off university property including but not limited to overnight
camps, instructional programs, day camps, academic camps, grant funded
programming, and sports camps.
(b)
Activities and
programs with minors the university operate on or off university property
including but not limited to outreach, mentoring, and community service
activities.
(c)
Virtual activities and programs with minors the
university hosts on an online platform.
(d)
Any university
owned and/or operated transportation that is used to transport minors to, or
during, any activity or program covered by this policy.
(3)
This
policy, in its entirety, does not apply to:
(a)
Persons under the
age of eighteen who are enrolled for academic credit or have been accepted for
enrollment.
(b)
Events on university property open to the general
public, which minors attend.
(c)
Institutional
review board (IRB)-approved research.
(d)
Student
organizations operating, facilitating, or sponsoring activities and programs
with minors where a parent, teacher or legal guardian is present and
supervising the child.
(e)
Authorized adult who invites a minor to university
property or interacts off campus where the minor is an intern, volunteer or is
being mentored if a parent, teacher or legal guardian is present and
supervising the child (e.g. assisting a minor with a science fair
project).
(f)
Minors working for the university as
employees.
(g)
Activities and programs with minors operated,
conducted, or organized by non-university entities which take place on
university property including but not limited to facility rentals to third
party organizations.
(h)
Medical care given to minors in a patient-care setting
in the hearing, speech and language clinic, the psychology and social work
clinic, or other university patient-care settings,
(i)
Ohio university
child development center and kids on campus after school programs which are
programs independently operated by the university and whose continuous
operation is subject to state and/or federal compliance and accreditation
standards.
(j)
University employees conducting regularly supervised
routine recruiting activities as part of official university enrollment
practices and who have been background checked in accordance to the minors on
campus policy guidelines are exempt from the policy unless the activities
involve transportation and/or overnight stays. Official recruitment activities
will follow minors on campus guidelines established by the office of risk
management and will be managed separately from this policy.
(C)
Definitions
(1)
"Activities and programs with minors" - any:
(a)
Event, operation
or endeavor operated or organized by the university that includes minors;
and
(b)
During which parents, teachers or legal guardians are
not expected to be responsible for the care, custody or control of the minors
and/or virtual covered program directed at minors and hosted by the university
on an online platform during which parents, teachers or legal guardians are
expected to maintain care, custody and control of the minor(s) but not
participate in the event, operation or endeavor. Activities and programs with
minors can be in-person, virtual or a hybrid of both.
(2)
"Appointee" - an individual deemed to have an affiliation with the university
who receives no compensation while in that capacity.
(3)
"Authorized
adult" -means any individual who is at least eighteen years old, paid or
unpaid, who supervises, chaperones, accompanies or is otherwise responsible for
the direct care, custody or control of minors during a covered program. This
includes but is not limited to the program administrator, faculty, staff,
appointees, administrators, undergraduate and graduate students, volunteers,
interns, employees of temporary employment agencies, and independent
contractors/ consultants.
(4)
"Care, custody or control" - when an authorized adult
who is not a licensed medical provider providing professional services to a
minor is present and had primary responsibility for supervision of minors at
any given point throughout the covered program. At least one authorized adult
must have care, custody and control of minors at all times during the covered
program.
(5)
"Child abuse or neglect" - when a child has suffered or
faces a substantial threat of suffering any psychical or mental wound, injury,
disability or condition that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect. This also
includes any conduct of a sexual nature that may be harmful to a minor's
mental, emotional, or physical welfare.
(6)
"Covered program"
- any activities or programs with minors within the scope of this policy except
as explicitly excluded in paragraph (C)(3) of this policy.
(7)
"Minor" - means
any person under the age of eighteen, or any person under the age of twenty-one
years old who is incapable of self-care due to a mental or physical disability,
who is participating in a covered program.
(8)
"One-on-one
contact" - is personal, unsupervised interaction between an adult and a minor
without at least one other adult, parent or legal guardian being present. For
purposes of this definition, another adult will be deemed "present" if within
the line of sight of the adult interacting with the minor. One-on-one contact
extends to all interactions and communications including those by telephone,
mail, texting, social media, or any other means or medium.
(9)
"Program
administrator" - means a university affiliated individual approved by the
appropriate authority and designated to coordinate, plan, implement or commit
the use of university facilities for the covered program.
(10)
"Unit" - the
sponsoring university college or administrative planning unit.
(11)
"University
property" - any land, grounds, buildings or facilities owned, leased or used by
Ohio university per formal contractual or legal agreements. Included are the
Athens campus, regional campuses, and other university property outside of
Athens. Location does not necessarily determine whether an activity or program
falls within the definition of activities and programs with
minors.
(12)
"Volunteer" - any individual assisting in an unpaid
capacity for a covered program with university sanction, which includes interns
or practicum students.
(D)
Summary of policy
requirements
The following requirements are an
overview only. Detailed instructions are in the operational guidelines located
on the minors on campus website.
(1)
All covered
programs must register annually and at least two months before the program
start date.
(2)
Those working in covered programs who witness child
abuse or neglect, or have information that would lead a reasonable person to
believe a minor faces a substantial threat of such abuse or
neglect,
(3)
Planning units are responsible to ensure authorized
adults have the appropriate background check conducted in accordance with
operational guidelines before working in covered programs and regularly
thereafter.
(4)
Units must ensure that authorized adults working in a
covered programs complete annual training approved by "Enterprise Risk
Management and Insurance."
(5)
All authorized
adults must sign and abide by the program code of conduct before working in
covered programs and on an annual basis thereafter. The code of conduct
prohibits one-on-one interactions with minors unless otherwise authorized in
accordance with this policy.
(6)
Unites and
authorized adults must cooperate with investigations when they
occur.
(7)
The program administrators must ensure that all
volunteers for covered programs complete and execute the volunteer agreement
release form.
(E)
Operational guidelines
The office of enterprise risk
management and insurance will create and maintain operational guidelines for
covered programs setting forth implementation and reporting procedures. These
guidelines are hereby incorporated into this policy and adherence is
required.
(F)
Exemption process
(1)
If a unit leader
or their designee(s) of a covered program with minors deems that a section of
this policy would place an undue hardship on a covered program with minors, an
exemption can be requested by the unit leader or their respective designee(s)
by submitting an exemption request form.
(2)
Absent
extenuating circumstances, an exeexemptionquest form must be submitted to the
director of enterprise risk management and insurance no later than eight weeks
prior to the covered program taking place and will be reviewed by enterprise
risk management and legal affairs. Approval or denial will be communicated at
least four weeks prior to the event. If an expedited process is required
because of an extenuating circumstance, contact the office of enterprise risk
management and insurance immediately.
Notes
Ohio Admin. Code
3337-3-10
Effective:
9/5/2022
Promulgated Under:
111.15
Statutory Authority:
3337.01
Rule Amplifies:
3337.01