What is an Affiliation Agreement?

An Affiliation Agreement is typically a contract between an educational institution and another organization that establishes the terms under which students from Penn State can engage in experiential or other learning experiences with the organization. Affiliation Agreements typically involve clinicals, unpaid internships or practicums where the student receives credit from Penn State. Affiliation Agreements are also utilized to allow students from other educational institutions to participate in experiential learning experiences at Penn State.

Affiliation Agreements are particularly common in departments where experiential learning is a required component of the degree program, such as education or health care fields. However, any department can request an Affiliation Agreement when needed to support a students’ experience or to host students from other educational institutions for experiential learning.

For accredited clinical academic programs, a signed Affiliation Agreement must be in place prior to assigning students to any clinical site. Students are required to submit evidence that they meet all requirements stipulated in the affiliation agreement prior to starting any clinical rotation or internship.

An Affiliation Agreement can also facilitate dual enrollment where a high school student can schedule Penn State course work while enrolled in high school.

When should a campus facilitate an Affiliation Agreement?

  1. When offering credit for students engaging in practical experiences external to Penn State;
  2. Hosting students from other colleges and universities for practical experiences that will earn the student credit at their school of enrollment; or
  3. Having received a request from a student who is seeking a signature on an affiliation agreement requested by an organization.

What University policy applies?

FNG02, titled "Limited Delegation of Contract Approvals," outlines which individuals have the authority to approve contractual documents for the university, including agreements, contracts, leases, and more. https://policy.psu.edu/policies/fng02

What are the roles of the OVPCC and the campus clinical/internship coordinators?

Campus internship or clinical coordinators must evaluate the external site to ensure that the site can provide an effective learning environment and the opportunity for students to achieve course objectives.

Commonwealth campus affiliation agreements should be submitted directly to the Office of the Vice President of Commonwealth Campuses; who will coordinate submission to the Office of General Counsel who reviews all agreements and secures the institutional approval and signature. Individual students whose placements or internships require an Affiliation Agreement should submit their request to their academic program who then submits the agreement to OVPCC.

The OVPCC compliance team meets weekly with the Office of General Counsel to ensure that campus agreements are reviewed and approved by OGC and signed by the Office of the Controller.

The OVPCC will maintain a clinical placement affiliation agreement database and will routinely review the database for expiring agreements. The OVPCC will contact the respective campus health program clinical coordinator to verify the desire to renew an expiring agreements and will initiate renewal per the direction of the clinical placement coordinator.

How to request an affiliation agreement?

  1. Verify Affiliation Agreement Status
    1. Clinical Placement Coordinator's Role: Before placing any students in a clinical facility, the coordinator will verify whether an active affiliation agreement is in place.
    2. This can be done in two ways:
      1. Accessing the Clinical Agreement Database (database access can be requested by emailing [email protected]).
      2. Contacting the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses (OVPCC).
  2. Understand Standard Agreement Templates
    1. Umbrella Agreements: Penn State may have umbrella affiliation agreements with certain health care systems. These may be maintained either by OVPCC or the College of Nursing, with updates handled collaboratively.
      1. For questions regarding umbrella agreements, contact OVPCC at [email protected].
    2. Pre-approved Agreement Templates: OVPCC has several pre-approved affiliation agreement templates that have been reviewed and approved by the Office of General Counsel (OGC). These templates are for academic programs (health and education) that regularly place students at external sites for training.
  3. Clinical/Internship Coordinators' Responsibilities
    1. Request a Standard Agreement:
      1. Submit the "Request for PSU Standard Student Affiliation Agreement" form.
    2. Forward Site-Specific Agreements:
      1. If the clinical site requires a customized agreement, forward the site-specific agreement along with the site’s contact details (name, email, and phone number) to OVPCC via email at [email protected].
  4. OVPCC's Role
    1. Provide Templates: OVPCC will provide the standard affiliation agreement templates to all new clinical/internship sites.
    2. Review Site-Specific Agreements:
      1. OVPCC will forward site-specific agreements to OGC for review.
    3. Address Any Issues: If there are any problematic terms in the agreement, OVPCC will coordinate with OGC to review and propose revisions. OVPCC will then send the proposed revisions to the organization.
    4. Coordinate Signing: Once both parties agree on the terms, OGC will facilitate the signature process.
      1. OGC will coordinate with the Controller’s office for signature from the authorized parties and return the signed agreement to OVPCC.
      2. OVPCC may either procure the organization’s signature or, in some cases, delegate this task to the campus.

  5. Final Steps

    1. Campus Finalization: Once signed, the campus will receive a final copy of the agreement.

    2. Recording the Agreement Retention: OVPCC will maintain copies of all signed agreements.

      In summary, to request an affiliation agreement, Clinical/Internship Coordinators must submit a request for the standard agreement, forward site-specific agreements to OVPCC, and OVPCC handles the review, revision, signing, and record-keeping process.

    Submit your request using the: 
    Standard Affiliation Agreement form