Youth Protection (Minors On Campus)

The most up-to-date information can be found on the main OU policy website: ou.edu/resources/policies. This page is intended to provide an overview of the steps needed to host an event involving minors. However, it might fall out of date if there are changes in the process. Please also consult the policy website, and let me know if any of this information needs to be updated.

If your event involves minors on campus, it is typically easiest to have me (Daryl Nagode) set up online registration for you. This way, I can gather the youth release forms via registration.

A faculty member will need to be listed as the event supervisor and provide a phone number where they can be reached during the event for emergencies. Some faculty have listed their cell phones, but you can use another number that will be attended during the event. Daryl will need this information before he can set up a registration form.

The event supervisor should complete the form on the main OU policy website (click the button titled Report Your Event).

After reporting your event, risk management will request that you complete a spreadsheet detailing the event staff. This list only needs to include those will supervise minors (see below for more info). For some events, it may be deemed necessary that at least one of the event staff is trained to be a Campus Security Authority. Risk Management will make that determination and assign you Clery training if necessary.

OU Faculty, OU Staff, and staff from outside the University who will supervise minors at the event must have had a background check within the last year.

• Each standard background check costs $47.50. Some background checks may be significantly more expensive. We have seen amounts as high as $143.50 recently. We believe this might be because the background checks are international (non-US citizens).
• Due to the significant expense of these background checks, it is best to minimize the need for them by working in group settings for these events. So if someone will only be working with students in a group setting with another background-checked person, they may not need one. Ultimately, it's the event supervisor's call on who needs background checks. If you have questions about this, you can contact youthprotection@ou.edu.
• Complete this spreadsheet and submit it to Tusneeya Tecimer by 3 weeks out from the event. Note: if a person is not affiliated with OU, you can leave both OU ID fields blank.
  
• Note that these background checks will require direct action by the person being checked (a company called Sterling will contact them directly).

Any students on your event staff list will need a University Student Conduct check within 6 months of the event start date.

• The event supervisor should email to studentconduct@ou.edu an Excel spreadsheet with the students' first name, last name, and OU ID number (without spaces or dashes). You can use the following template file: Student Conduct Template.
  
• These checks typically take 1-2 business days to complete
• When you receive notice that student conduct checks are complete, forward that notice to youthprotection@ou.edu.

Everyone on your event staff list will also need to complete Form B - Event Policy and Acknowledgement Form. This form is required for each event (even if the person already had a background check or student conduct check on file).

It is your responsibility to distribute the Attachment B forms to your event staff and to email the completed forms to youthprotection@ou.edu in advance of the event.

All event staff must also complete the university's Youth Protection Training within a year of the start day of the event.

• Youth Protection training for OU faculty, staff, and students is completed online through the OnPoint system, using the link below.
  • Youth Protection (OU faculty, staff, and students)
    
• All others (from outside the university) will use the PDF linked below. The final page of the PDF should be compled, signed, and returned to the event supervisor. The forms should be submitted to along with the youth release forms, either by Daryl or by the event supervisor (similar to procedure in #3).
  
  • Youth Protection (Third Party)
    

Form C (youth release) forms must be completed by a parent/guardian for anyone who will be under 18 at the time of the event.

• Online registration for the event was set up by Daryl
  • Youth release forms will be gathered digitally during the registration process
  • A day or two before the event, Daryl will submit all release forms to Risk Management at youthprotection@ou.edu. The event supervisor will be CC'd in this email.
    
• No online registration for the event, or Daryl was not involved
  
  • It will be your responsibility to gather release forms for all students.
  • You can download the Form C available on the main OU policy website. Or, if you would like a fillable PDF version, contact Daryl. He will need to know what to list for Event Supervisor name and phone number (see #1).
    
  • It will be your responsibility to gather completed release forms and submit them to youthprotection@ou.edu in advance of the event, along with all completed Form B forms (see #3).
  • These files can be sent as attachments. Or if you have too many files to attach, you can provide a link to a cloud storage system where the files are stored (Dropbox, etc). They prefer that everything is sent in a single email.