Educational Project Agreements
Christine L. Bedillion
Contracts Officer
Office of Sponsored Programs
What are Educational Projects?
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Sponsored student projects for a course.
Sponsor involvement in the project may vary.
A student or student team works on “real-world” cases
These are not the same as Executive Education Agreements
Educational Project Agreements
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CMU template agreements
• Some program specific (Heinz, MHCI)
• Signed by three parties
• Sponsor
• CMU, and
• Student(s)
• Discourage negotiation
Fee/Financial Contribution
Students always retain ownership of any coursework they prepare for
the class.
• Students may grant a limited license back to sponsor
• If a sponsor wants broader license rights, they can ask each
student at the conclusion of the course.
Educational Project concerns
Sponsor’s Confidential Information
• Provide our template agreement to sponsor without confidentiality
terms. (Don’t offer confidentiality terms as an option).
• Discourage sponsors from providing students with the sponsors’
confidential information
• Is use or access to the sponsor’s confidential information both
necessary and appropriate?
• No project should require a student to take receipt of a sponsor’s
confidential, proprietary software and then make modifications to
it – this would mean the students’ coursework would be
proprietary work for the sponsor and could not be used and
disseminated.
• If it is determined confidential terms are necessary and appropriate,
only CMU’s template with confidentiality terms will be used.
Educational Project concerns
Not Sponsored Research
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Student educational projects
Project descriptions are not statements of work, but statements of
project goals or objectives.
There are no deliverables to the sponsor.
Not student “work-for-hire.”
Not providing consultative services.
Educational Project concerns
Obligations to our Students
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Full disclosure.
If a capstone course or the course is required for graduation –
Instructor must clearly provide an equivalent project alternative.
Is there anything that could hinder or delay the student’s ability to
complete the course? graduate?
Project Agreements should be finalized before the semester begins.
• Students sign the Agreement before the project begins (usually
first week of class).
No modifications to the agreement after the project has begun
(requirements of the course cannot be changed once the class has
begun)
Sponsor Fees/
Financial Contributions
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No appearance of a “private benefit”
Set fee structure – consistently applied
• All nonprofits vs. for-profits
• Small vs. large businesses
• Can vary by semester, year, course or faculty.
• Examples of structured systems
• Heinz – Tiered System (Tier 0, Tier 1, Tier 2)
• MHCI - $80,000
Should be defined before the course/semester begins.
Things to consider when defining your program
• Does the fee structure compete with other programs? courses?
• Payments through SPA or billed directly through department?
Conclusion
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Avoid need for sponsor confidential information.
Must be careful when we’re dealing with students – how does this
affect their ability to graduate?
Each department, college, program, etc. should decide how its
educational project programs will be structured in their respective
area (competing programs?).
• What is our fee structure? How will you consistently apply it?
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