To: Vice Presidents, Deans, Directors, and Department Heads

From: Del Dunn, Vice President for Instruction

Please circulate the following as appropriate.

The University requires that all off campus field trips must be approved by the Department Head and Dean. It is advisable to secure this approval prior to scheduling a field trip and before the drafting of a waiver.

Waivers of liability for voluntary field trips are generally upheld by courts in the State of Georgia. Key elements involved with waivers include that the participant enters into the waiver voluntarily and that the participant is well aware of the activities and possible risks involved in the field trip. Therefore, each waiver, although similar in content, must be specifically customized to fit the specific facts of each field trip.

All participants in voluntary field trips in which the University provides transportation should be required to sign a waiver of liability as a condition of participation. In other situations which may involve potential dangers or the University provides items such as meals, housing, equipment, etc. the instructor should consult with the Office of Legal Affairs about the advisability of using waiver forms. The Office of Legal Affairs drafts the waiver once the instructor provides the necessary information. This information includes:

* Name of the department and the faculty/staff member who is requesting the waiver * The dates of the field trip * The name and number of the course associated with the trip * All activities associated with the field trip o Include what will be provided (transportation, meals, etc.) by the University o Include detailed description of the activities * Any possible risks that you might foresee associated with the field trip (no matter how trivial you feel the risk might be.)

Instructors who need a waiver drafted by the Office of Legal Affairs, or who have any questions regarding waivers of liability, should contact Arthur Leed, Associate Director for Legal Affairs, Lustrat House at 542-0006 or at aleed@uga.edu. A request for a waiver should be made at least three (3) weeks in advance of the date of the trip to ensure that the waivers are available in time.

After receiving your requested waiver from the Office of Legal Affairs, please have all participants sign an original for you to keep in the instructor’s files and also make the participants a copy of the signed original for their records.