International Travel Experiences for Students: Faculty Guide on how to begin to set one up

1.  Contact International Program Liaison – Dr. Donna McLean –  to begin the process

2.  Decide on a course If new course, must go through course approval process

A.    Unit approval process for course (if applicable)

B.     Educational Policies Committee (if undergraduate) or Graduate Affairs (if graduate) or both if cross-listed course.  If cross-listed, undergraduate and graduate syllabus must be differentiated in terms of work required, assignments, degree of difficulty, etc.

C.     All campus remonstrance process (must be posted for 30 days).  Academic Affairs facilitates the posting and the remonstrance process.  Please note that the remonstrance process is taking about 5 plus months from start to finish so plan accordingly. 

3.  Begin work with Office of Overseas Study.  For final approval, you will need to include the following in your packet:

A.    Course Approval Form (items A through M)

B.     Syllabus of the course(s) containing

1.      Description of activities prior to departure including orientation

2.      Description of activities while overseas including cultural events, educational activities, etc.

3.      Description of activities after returning home

C.     Vita of faculty members involved in the course.  Note that the office holds faculty teaching international graduate courses to a higher standard.

D.    Letters of recommendation from your chair/dean AND someone who can speak to the campus wide issues (usually someone from Academic Affairs). 

BEFORE course proposal goes to the Office of Overseas Study, it first must be submitted to and approved by Dr. McLean.  Proposal will then go to Kathleen Sideli (Associate Vice President for Overseas Study) and after her approval, to the Overseas Study committee.  Only when ALL approvals have been secured is the course available for offering.  Plan on at least one year to 15 months in advance of the proposed trip.  Additional information can be found at http://www.indiana.edu/%7eoverseas/policies/develop/index.shtml

A decision must be made at some point on whether or not community members and/or IU employees can participate in the trip

4.      AFTER approval by Office of Overseas Study, begin planning the trip.  Can use a tour company (vendor) or the faculty member can do it themselves

A.    If using a tour company:

1.     Pros:  For every X students, a faculty member will travel for free.  The company handles the logistics, provides guides and interpreters, etc.  Can perhaps offer the course to community members to make number needed for faculty travel.  

2.     Cons:  Students will likely pay the most for the trip.  Limited flexibility on activities and events, especially if the vendor decides to combine IU Kokomo group with other groups. 

3.      Some recommended agencies:  Casterbridge or Accent

4.      Vendor agreement must be processed by Purchasing and approved by VC of Administration and Finance.  Vendor agreement will include deadlines for payment and deadlines for setting final number of students – faculty in charge of the trip must abide by those deadlines. 

B.     If doing it yourself:

1.      Pros:   Most likely the cheapest way to travel.  Most flexibility in setting the agenda for the trip

2.      Cons:  Must do all leg/work/paperwork/budget reconciliation yourself.  Can take time to find best rates for airfare/hotel/etc.  IU will insist upon very detailed receipts and reconciliation processes.  Must figure out costs so that faculty travel is also covered. 

NOTES that apply whether using a vendor or doing it yourself:

C.     Any costs not covered by student payments or trip fees will belong to the unit sponsoring the trip.  If, for example, a cost is higher than expected, then the unit will responsible for the cost. 

D.    The unit sponsoring the trip will be in charge of facilitating all paperwork, finalizing the trip, handing the budget, and so on.  E.     Anyone directly handling money must be certified by Financial Management Services – contact the Bursar for additional details. 

F.      All programming, activities, and so on should be designed with student safety in mind. 

G.    Equity in recruiting and admitting students to the trip is expected. 

H.    An application process for student selection is highly recommended.  Students need to be mature enough, both age wise and course preparation wise, for the demands of the course/trip.  Develop Behavioral Expectations Forms applicable to your trip. 

I.       Trips that are part of any exchange process will have additional constraints imposed by virtue of being part of an exchange. 

5.     Figure out scheduling of the course. 

A.    IF offering during summer, expectation is that there will be 15 or so students per faculty member for the faculty member to draw a salary.  The academic unit will make the final decision on whether or not the course goes, subject to the unit’s summer budget and credit hour constraints.  If a faculty member is willing to travel and not draw a salary, then the number is less of a concern. 

B.     IF offering during academic year as part of a faculty member’s load, the minimum required will be determined by the unit in consultation with Academic Affairs

C.     Need to work with the IU Kokomo International Program Liaison to determine optimal timing of the class as there is a limited demand for overseas travel.  The office of Academic Affairs will keep a master list of all approved trips and likely future trips for scheduling purposes. 

D.    Work with Registrar/Bursar to add international studies fee to the course in the appropriate semester and to ensure that fee is collected and deposited in correct account.

6.      Recruit, advertise and work to attract students

7.      Fundraising must be approved by both the Office of External Relations and Academic Affairs. 

8.      Students must have: 

A.    Travel insurance to cover cancellations, etc.  Suggested vendors are: InsureMyTrip.com and any other IU approved vendor. 

B.     Medical insurance – IU has short term insurance for this.  Some travel insurance includes medical insurance

C.     Signed Behavioral Expectations and Release of Liability forms

9.      Ensure that all appropriate documentation and monies are collected and left at IU Kokomo

A.    Copies of all traveler’s passports and insurance contracts

B.    Copies of all travel itineraries including contact information for hotels, etc. 

C.    Copies of contact information for all travelers including a home contact

D.    Copies of signed Codes of Conduct and Release of Liability forms

10.   TRAVEL.  Instructor should have with them: 

A.    Copies of all traveler’s passports and insurance contracts

B.    Copies of all travel itineraries including contact information for hotels, etc

C.    Copies of contact information for all travelers including a home contact

D.     Copies of appropriate medical information including any medicines participants are taking, health conditions, etc. for all travelers. 

E.     Copies of signed Codes of Conduct and Release of Liability forms

F.    A credit card with enough of a limit that the faculty member can handle any event or emergency that might arise.

11.  TRAVEL – Enjoy the trip

12.  Debriefing and return activities. 

A.    Have students fill in instructor evaluation forms

B.     Have students fill in Office of Overseas Study evaluation forms

C.      Discuss trip

D.    Finish budget reconciliation activities

E.     Prepare final report to International Program Liaison and submit approved report to the Office of Overseas Study. 

F.      Mandatory final campus meeting in the fall after the trip with the International Program Liaison.

13.  Be aware of exchange rates and how they will affect the pricing of the trip.  If using a tour vendor, then they will usually “eat” the cost of any exchange rates; if doing it yourself, the cost of the trip may change significantly during the planning and traveling periods. 

14.  Cash advances – IU Travel will issue cash advances if necessary (e.g., trip to DMZ that only can be paid with US dollars).   They will issue a check to the supervising faculty member (made out to that faculty member).  However, please note that the checks need to be requested AT LEAST 30 days in advance for processing time but can only be issued 2 WEEKS prior to departure.  Upon return, travel will require documentation of the expense and the disposition of the cash. 

15.  Credit Cards – these are group travel credit cards that are for use ONLY for student group travel trips

A.  Long standing trips such as Innovation Symposium and the Korean trips will have their own designated credit cards. 

B.  Rotating trips such as France (2011), Spain (2012), etc. will use one of three designated group travel credit cards for use for student group travel.  There will be Group Travel accounts for these credit cards set up in SMI, Business and Humanities for the 2012 trips.   

C.  The credit cards for the rotating trips will be signed out from the Office of Academic Affairs.  See the attached form for the signatures that are needed before a credit card is checked out. 

16.  Course fee – note item 5D above – Be sure to work with the Registrar and Bursar so that the course has the course fee of $110 added to each students’ tuition fee.  This money can go into the correct account for use by the trip. 

17. While on the trip, the supervising faculty member must collect all receipts and ensure that each receipt has the date and an explanatory note on it (feel free to use the back of the receipt for this).  It is also helpful if the faculty member keeps an account book with them to record spending, including the date, the type of expense, and for whom.  (Nothing is harder to reconcile than receipts written in a foreign language with nothing written on them for explanation or no date and in a country where the exchange rate is fluctuating daily). 

A piece of advice:  Take “dummy” receipts so that if you pay for something in cash (e.g., taxi, street vendor, etc.) from someone who does not normally give receipts, you can have them sign one of your receipts – this will make the reconciliation easier when you return.

18.  When reconciling the account (and the exchange rate is fluctuating) you can use the US State Department exchange rate site for a set of official exchange rates. They can be found at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/current/. 

19.  The unit sponsoring the trip will bear any losses if the trip is mispriced so plan accordingly.