[NHCOLL-L:1055] Interns & legal issues

[Linda Ellis]

APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS.

Dear Colleagues:

As Director of the MA in Museum Studies at SFSU, I am currently 
researching potential legal issues surrounding the work of university
students as interns for museums.  My goal is to develop more explanatory
internship agreement forms, to enhance student awareness of these issues, 
and to maintain good university-museum relations.  Does anyone have
samples of internship forms, either from museums or universities, that
they would be willing to share with me?  I would also be interested in
learning about museum experiences with interns that relate to the issues
mentioned below and how they were resolved or not resolved.  I would be
more than pleased to share the results of this research which will
probably be completed in January. Feel free to reply to me either on or
off the list.

The types of issues I am examining are intellectual property issues in
student research, development of publications and web sites, work on
exhibits, OSHA and general insurance issues, participation in off-site
programs, liability for automobile use, access to collections, employee
vs. volunteer status, as well as any other relevant topics. 

As we all know, museums rely heavily on volunteers, including student
interns, and the relationship is becoming more complicated.  I do know
about the excellent volunteer agreements and books about volunteer
management.  But interns from Museum Studies Programs are usually given
different types of responsibilities and there are 2 agencies involved (the
university and the museum) as well as the student and therefore standard
volunteer agreements, unless they are very well written, may not cover
certain issues.  Your valuable input is appreciated!  Thank you for your
time!

Dr. Linda Ellis
Director & Professor, Museum Studies Program
College of Humanities
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA   94132

www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/
ellisl at sfsu.edu