Early exposure to higher education, athletics, and university environments benefits participating Minors* while supporting the university's mission to serve the community. In all such programs where Minors are in the care and custody of the university, ensuring the safety of Minors is a priority. 

*Minors are persons under the age of eighteen (18) who are not enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the university.

University members interacting with Minors must follow university policy 4.00 [pdf] to protect Minors, the university, and university personnel. Program staff must pass a criminal background check and be appropriately trained in working with Minors. Other requirements include appropriate training, consent and disclosure, insurance, safety practices, and procedures for detecting, preventing, and reporting suspected child abuse, injuries and adverse events involving Minors. 

Use this decision tree [pdf] to guide you in determining if your program/activity needs to be registered.

Program Requirements 

Program directors are responsible for ensuring compliance with all aspects of university policy. We strongly recommend starting early (4 months in advance) to make sure that you have adequate time to implement the plan. Use this checklist [pdf] as a guide for planning your program.

1. Compliance with policy

First, review the university policy documents on the protection of Minors and plan your program/activities to comply with the requirements.

• UNIV 4.00 Programs Involving Minors [pdf] 
• Additional Requirements for Designing and Operating Programs Involving Minors [pdf] 

2. Program/Activity Registration

Use the online registration form to register your program with the Minors Protection Office*. Programs that are repeated year after year must be registered each year. Programs that are repeated within the same year must be registered independently. No program/activities may begin before the registration is approved.

3. Background Checks for all Program Personnel (18 years of age and up)

Before interacting with Minors, program staff and volunteers including students, faculty, staff and non-USC personnel must successfully pass a background check in accordance with HR 1.90 [pdf]. Related forms for USC Columbia campuses are available on the HR website. 

Contact background@sc.edu with any questions about the process, timeline and associated costs, and to check whether a background check is on file for any member of the program staff. Other USC campuses should contact their HR representative for guidance on conducting and documenting background checks. 

4. Appropriate Training 

Program directors should ensure that all personnel are appropriately trained to work with Minors. In addition to program specific training, program directors should review the staff code of conduct [pdf] with all personnel who will interact with Minors. A required short foundational online training will also be available soon. Program directors should document the training and completion for all personnel.

5. Use of Approved Forms 

Use of standard and approved participant information and consent forms ensures that a shared understanding between parents/guardians and the university about the child’s participation. To ensure consistency, program directors must ONLY use the forms available on this website for participant enrollment, and review all completed forms to ensure that they can plan for any special considerations regarding participants. The language in the forms is approved by USC Office of General Counsel and must not be altered.

• Consent, Release and Authorization Form [pdf]
• Health Disclosure and Consent Form [pdf]
• Optional Participant Code of Conduct [pdf]: Where appropriate, use or modify this document to get participant consent on a code of conduct as a condition of participating.

6. Use of Campus Labs

All programs in which Minors will/may work in labs must be approved in accordance with the Minors in Labs (Teaching or Research) policy. Contact jlocke@mailbox.sc.edu for guidance.

7. Transportation of Minors

Minors can only be transported in university vehicles and only as determined by the program director for the program related activities. You can submit an online request to be authorized to drive a university vehicle or request for a bus/shuttle/driver service. No personal vehicles can be used to transport Minors.

8. Emergency Planning

All programs should have an emergency plan. A suggested emergency plan template will be available soon. The emergency plan document should be part of training and accessible to program personnel.

9. Documentation 

Program directors must have procedures for keeping participant documentation secure for seven (7) years after program completion. All medical documentation must be maintained following HIPAA requirements. 

10. Non-Discrimination

Employees must comply with USC’s Policy Against Discrimination, Harassment & Sexual Misconduct. Employees must report suspected or alleged discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, or related retaliation to the Office of Civil Right & Title IX.

11. Help/Reporting 

• Injury: Call 911 for emergencies. Any injuries that occur during the program/activity should be reported immediately to the Program director. 
• Suspected Child Neglect/Abuse: Any program/activity staff or other individual who has reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or simply has an idea or uneasy feeling about a possible abuse situation, should contact the university Office of Civil Rights & Title IX.
  By doing so, you are not necessarily making an accusation; you are merely reporting facts for trained professionals to evaluate and investigate.
• Other dangers or threats: Call the USC Police Dispatch at 803-777-4215 for USC Columbia campus; all other campuses should contact their local police dispatch. 
• All such reports should also be sent to minors@email.sc.edu.

12. Required Contractual Terms for Facility Leases

When third parties lease university facilities for programs/activities that do not involve university personnel, they must agree to contractual terms regarding appropriate protection of youth under 18 who may participate in those programs/activities. USC General Counsel has approved the language in the Addendum [pdf] that must be added to all facility leasing contracts. 

*The USC Office of the General Counsel has delegated the review process to the Youth Programs Office on an interim basis until the Programs Involving Minors policy, UNIV 4.00, is revised and updated.