SMTD’s Policy for Sponsored Activities Involving Minors
This policy sets a framework that keeps SMTD faculty, staff, and the non-student minors we interact with protected. It is critical that we follow this policy very carefully. Students will need to follow the same policy but the SMTD office of Student Affairs will be taking a hands-on approach to monitoring compliance with background screening and training.
Sarah Rau was instrumental in crafting this policy and is our in-house expert on this subject. Outside of Engagement & Outreach activities, one of the most frequent places where faculty and students are in contact with non-student minors is when teaching private lessons. Anyone teaching private lessons to minors in our buildings as a “sponsored activity” is considered a Supervising Adult and must:
- Complete a background screening every two years
- Complete the Children on Campus training every year
- Comply with SMTD’s Policy for Teaching Private Lessons (PDF)
Resources for background screenings and training can be found on U-M’s Children on Campus website.
For faculty and staff, teaching private lessons to non U-M students is only considered a “sponsored activity” if lessons are being taught by someone who is hired by U-M as an expert in that area. For example, our Director of Finance and Operations was not hired by U-M for his bassoon skills, therefore he should not be teaching bassoon to minors in our facilities. There are important legal and insurance reasons for this.
Please feel free to reach out to Sarah Rau with any questions about this policy.