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Faculty-Led Travel Courses

Students on a trip

Developing and leading an international study experience for your students can be a daunting but also be a professionally rewarding one task! Many UW-Green Bay students find that faculty-led travel courses help them experience the world in a different way, learn new skills for future careers, and also allow them to create and strengthen relationships with student and faculty colleagues.

Where to start? Many faculty members research and create courses on their own or with colleagues, however the Office of International Education can also provide resources and guidance for budgeting, accommodation, travel regulations, itinerary planning, student recruitment, etc.

Please contact the Study Abroad Program Manager at oie@uwgb.edu or (920) 465-2190 if you would like to meet about your travel course proposal.

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COVID-19 Faculty-led Travel Course Updates

The Office of International Education is working to review and reopen study abroad safely at UW-Green Bay. We have implemented an internal review matrix of all programs to help determine risk and adjustments needed to run programs safely. You can learn more general information on our student COVID-19 updates website. Our new process timeline is as follows for faculty-led travel course proposals/implementation:

  1. Faculty leaders submit travel course proposal to Academic Chair and Dean for approval by stated deadlines. This is the academic component of the proposal.
  2. Once approved, the OIE will work with faculty leaders to complete an initial program review for safety, risk management, and other factors.
  3. Once approved by the OIE then the program will be reviewed by the UWGB Travel Safety Committee, then the Provost Office.
  4. Once all approvals have been obtained planning can move forward and program can be advertised to students and applications can open.
  5. A secondary review will take place before any financial commitments to the program need to be made (i.e. non-refundable airline deposits, non-refundable housing charges), approximately 90 days before planned departure. A final review will take place within two weeks of departure. These secondary reviews are meant to check in on the program for any changes and continually review for safety of faculty and students.

Policy Updates
Considerations
Recent Articles
Proposal Form/Deadlines

Policy Updates

To assist with risk management, planning during a pandemic, and updates to best practices for faculty-led programs, the OIE has implemented the following updates in faculty-led travel course policy:

  • All programs are required to have at least two faculty/staff leaders.  These leaders must be identified on the proposal form. This policy would be to address a scenario in which one or more members of the group develops COVID-19 and be forced to quarantine or remain in place while the rest of the group returns or travels on. This policy also helps ensure continuity of programming/academics should one of the faculty leaders become ill. Leaders both must be professional staff or faculty members who have the ability to interchange duties and the capacity to lead both operational and academic portions of the course. This is an opportunity to expose new faculty to this experience or involve staff with expertise in this type of program. 
  • Continual program reviews. Due to the constantly changing travel situations here and abroad there will be at least 3 reviews of each travel course (initial, mid-way, final). These are to help be on top of changes in border entry policies, restrictions on the ground, and to help update responses that are unknown at time of proposal. Program reviews are strategically placed to help UWGB reduce any financial losses if a program needs to be adjusted or cancelled.
  • Domestic faculty-led travel courses are now an option for UWGB! Please complete the same proposal form below to begin the process for a program within the U.S. These programs are subject to different billing policies and will still be reviewed for risk management.

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Things to Consider

Though the OIE is implementing changes above, these are to assist in having a safe reopening of study abroad programming at UWGB. We hope that these changes are not considered barriers, but guidelines to ensure successful programs. As we navigate our new normal and reinstate travel, consider the following as you plan your course:

  • Consider limiting locations visited (especially across state or country borders).
  • Collect accommodation and activity (tours, etc.) contact information ahead of time, this will be needed for program reviews.
  • Students may be limited to single or double rooms for accommodation.
  • Think about travel ethics and what locations might be safe to both travelers and locals (i.e. some providers abroad may want and need work, but local population isn't comfortable with tourists yet). 
  • Think about back-up plans for activities and itinerary if changes need to be made to location or daily plans due to unplanned restrictions.
  • Look up current airfare and public transportation COVID-19 regulations to be familiar with policies.
  • Understand that additional costs may be added to program budgets for additional insurance, testing, quarantine costs, PPE, etc.
  • Consider using a study abroad provider (ex. CEA, CIEE, or CIS) for your program. Costs may be higher, but there are more resources/support on site. The OIE can help you find the right partner through our contacts.
  • Utilize existing UWGB domestic and international university and organization partners to help with increased support on the ground and local insight to conditions or new opportunities. We have partners in most U.S. states/territories & around the world.

The OIE is here to help! Please contact us while you are thinking about and planning your course. We can work with you and provide information & policy guidance from the CDC, Department of State, World Health Organization, Universities of Wisconsin Administration, and local sources to help plan itineraries and answer questions you may have.

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Faculty-Led Travel Course Proposal Form

Please complete the form below and submit to your Academic Dean by the deadline below. The Office of International Education will contact you once your proposal has been approved to talk about next steps in planning for your program.

Download Travel Course Proposal Form
Firm Deadlines for Travel Course Proposals


*Deadlines to submit proposal to Academic Deans:

  • Summer 2022 - Due October 1, 2021
  • Fall 2022 - Due October 1, 2021
  • Winter Interim/Spring Break 2022 - Due April 1, 2021
  • Spring 2022 - Due April 1, 2021

Proposals for later terms may be accepted earlier, however the next future term proposals will have priority for planning. Late proposals may be accepted with prior OIE approval, pending timing and and other factors.

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