By default, students completing experiential learning projects own their work, meaning the intellectual property generated through the activity. Occasionally, for the learning objectives to be achieved through a project, it will be necessary for the external partners to provide confidential information. In those instances, they might request that students sign a Non-disclosure Agreement. It is also possible that they will expect students to transfer ownership of the intellectual property generated based on that information to them. That can be done using a Work Product Agreement. In rare cases, faculty might also be asked to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement.
When an external partner requires students to sign either a Non-disclosure Agreement and/or a Work Product Agreement, faculty must give students the option to complete an alternative project to avoid requiring them to enter into a legal agreement. In addition, if an external partner offers to provide funding to support the completion of the project, they cannot also require transfer of the ownership of the intellectual property generated through the project to them (exceptions can be made if approved by IU’s legal counsel). When funding is offered, the Development team should be informed so that the ALIGN and Development teams can determine how best to structure the payment.