Volunteers and Unpaid Interns

A volunteer is a person who freely offers to contribute to a UMSI activity, task, or service without being paid. Examples of volunteers may include members of advisory boards, mentorship programs, guest speakers, and event volunteers.

An unpaid internship is an education or training program designed to provide a person with educational and practical experience and is purely academic and for their express educational benefit only. 

To ensure we are following US Department of Labor Laws, please email umsi.human.resources@umich.edu if you have a person who will be volunteering their services to you or a student who will be working with you in an unpaid internship or as a volunteer.  Unpaid Interns and Volunteers are not employees of the university. Nevertheless, they are required to comply with all applicable UMSI and university policies and procedures and any training programs the university deems necessary to enable them to safely and efficiently perform their internship activities. Additionally, they may have access to confidential or proprietary information that you must protect, and they are prohibited from disclosing or using it for any unintended purpose. They will not receive any financial benefits or compensation and they are not entitled to a job at the conclusion of their unpaid internship or work as a volunteer.

The following policies apply to all volunteers and unpaid interns: 

• Standard Practice Guide 601.38, Required Disclosure of Felony Charges and/or Felony Convictions applies to all volunteers and interns. SPG 601.38 may be accessed online at https://spg.umich.edu/policy/601.38.

• Standard Practice Guide 303.04, University of Michigan Technology Transfer Policy, applies to all volunteers and interns. SPG 303.04 may be accessed online at https://spg.umich.edu/policy/303.04. Any inventive, material contributions that the consultant makes would be subject to UM IP Policy and considered a joint work. 

In general, students (including international students) may work as volunteers or unpaid interns, where this does not violate any labor laws. The work must be at least 20 hours per week for students on post-completion OPT. These students must be able to provide evidence from the employer that the student worked at least 20 hours per week during the period of employment. 

The following six criteria must be met for an internship to be considered a legitimate unpaid internship (and not employment below minimum wage, in violation of Department of Labor laws):

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation on the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;

2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;

3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;

4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion, its operations may actually be impeded;

5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and

6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship

If UMSI HR can verify the criteria can be met, then they will work with you to produce a letter for the volunteer to sign.