Why don't more students travel as part of their coursework?
When should I begin working on an International Travel Course, and submitted the proposal form?
Do I need to know all costs for the program up front?
Does an International Travel Course automatically receive Gen Ed “I” credit?
Do the students go online to enroll, or speak with their advisor?
Do I need to file a travel request for my travel through my department?
How many students can I take overseas?
Do I need to travel with someone else helping to coordinate the course?
Am I responsible for the safety of these students while traveling abroad?
Do I need to go through Outreach or my department to offer a travel course?
When will we know if we have enough students for the course to make?
Do I need to know everything I’m going to do overseas by a certain date?
Do I need to provide student orientation?
Do you purchase VISAS for countries that need them?
How might I make my course successful?
What type of course promotion does Outreach do?
Why don't more students travel as part of their coursework?
The biggest reason students at OSU don’t enroll in study abroad courses is usually related to one of two factors:
- High costs
- The travel course is not relevant to their degree plan or future career plans
When should I begin working on an International Travel Course and submit the proposal form?
A year in advance or more would be a good time frame to consider a course. The Course Proposal deadline is May 1 for the following year. All courses take some time to be approved, and to work with international hotels or agencies and get all of the paperwork necessary for OSU approval of funds.
The current state travel warning system has ratings of 1-4. If your country is a 4, you cannot go there. If it is a 3 (for example, Russia is a 3), then you will have to do extra paperwork with OSU Risk Management to get approval to go, your students will all have to do the extra paperwork as well, and it is subject to approval from CAS.
Do I need to know all costs for the program up front?
We will help create a budget, but we need an estimate of any hotel/university/tour company that you plan to use. This will help speed up the approval process. We must know the price before advertising and signing up students.
Does an International Travel Course automatically receive Gen Ed “I” credit?
No. Unless the course is already approved for the "I," the department will have to apply for the "I" or any other general education designation. Gen Ed credit of any type, (not just the "I") greatly increases the chance students will find the course relevant and helpful to their career and degree plans.
Do the students go online to enroll, or speak with their advisor?
A student must speak with Shane O’Mealey in Arts and Sciences Outreach. All sign up/billing/waivers are handled through Outreach. However, they should check with their academic advisor to make certain that the course will fit into their degree plan. Students must enroll in Banner once enrollment opens up, after Outreach clears their enrollment hold.
Do I need to file a travel request for my travel through my department?
No, CAS Outreach will file this for you (and possibly purchase airfare) once we know you have met the minimum required number of students for your course to go.
How many students can I take overseas?
OSU is working on guidelines, but currently we don’t recommend more than 10-12 per instructor/coordinator. This may change in the future with OSU policy changes.
Do I need to travel with someone else helping to coordinate the course?
OSU recommends that there always be two instructors, or one instructor/one coordinator, on each course. Right now, it must be someone employed by OSU, so that person is covered by OSU liability insurance. The guidelines may change but for now you should have at least one other instructor, staff member, TA, or employed coordinator along with you. If you are working with a foreign university or have a tour guide on the ground coordinating the course, they can often fill in as the second coordinator.
Am I responsible for the safety of these students while traveling abroad?
Each participant digitally signs a Rights and Responsibilities form, and must still conduct themselves as OSU students. They also digitally sign a Risk and Assumption form, to take responsibility for their safety and health, and don’t hold OSU or its employees liable. They also watch mandatory safety orientation videos. That being said, our instructors/coordinators should do their best to be with the group and make them aware of any travel precautions for their destination. Also, each instructor will be given the OSU Emergency Response Guide so they can contact OSU/Police if something happens. OSU faculty are covered under OSU’s liability insurance, but be cautious if you have non-OSU students or adults accompanying you, since they are not always covered by OSU and can cause more liability issues for an instructor if something happens to them. Students and parents often have an expectation that program leaders will be available at all times in case they need them or there is an emergency. OSU really advises that now, as well.
Do I need to go through Outreach or my department to offer a travel course?
All travel courses need to be approved as Outreach Exception courses (OUTE), which go through Outreach. Also, we are the designated users for OSU’s Study Abroad system, which tracks each course and all participants and is required for any traveling students to be logged in to.
When will we know if we have enough students for the course to make?
Most deadlines are dictated by the hotels/universities/tour companies that we use. For example, if a location says they need final count or payment by Jan. 1 for room reservations, then we have to know our final count before January 1.
Do I need to know everything I’m going to do overseas by a certain date?
We need to have a good idea before we start enrolling students. Budgets must include everything needed for the course. So if a later hotel is needed or some sort of travel or excursion pops up, if there is not room in the budget it might not be possible. Plan ahead and overestimate to make room for the unexpected.
Do I need to provide student orientation?
All of the students will go through mandatory online orientation provided by OSU. However, it is expected that you will meet with the students before the trip, with some pre-trip planning or orientation information, because they will have a lot of questions!
Do you purchase VISAS for countries that need them?
We do not purchase VISAs for students, so they are responsible for getting those on their own, which they will need to consider in the course costs, and to make sure we give them plenty of time to do that paperwork. Passports are also the responsibility of the faculty and students.
How might I make my course successful?
The most important thing you can do is recruit your students and help advertise the class. Successful courses depend on the instructor’s ability to get the word out to students, coupled with Outreach promotion.
When designing your course, also consider:
- Is the course relevant to a wide population of students, as well as in line with degree requirements and career goals?
- Is there a way to cut some costs? (There are scholarships available as well).
- Am I offering courses that appeal to both upper division and lower division classes?
- Can I work with other faculty or CAS departments to offer more than one course to the same location, and pool our resources?
- Are the students familiar with that country? Once you travel out of European countries, it may become a little harder to recruit students who have never traveled out of the country, or even the state! Wherever you would like to go, please make sure you are speaking to your students as much as possible to get them interested and break down some of those barriers to travel they might have built up in their mind!
What type of course promotion does Outreach do?
CAS Outreach will use several means of advertising, including flyers, on the website and social media, posters, and browse sessions on campus.
Please contact shane.omealey@okstate.edu if you’re interested in proposing a travel course, or if you have any questions.
