If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em :

Helping student organizations with international travel

Natasha Adams Soulé, Penn State UniversityLotte Buiting, Drexel UniversityBeth Osterlund, Northwestern University

Northwestern University Basics

Midsized private research institution

Approximately 8,000 undergraduates and 8,000 graduate students

Three campuses NU-Evanston, NU- Chicago, NU-Qatar

Undergraduates traveling abroad on NU-affiliated travel must complete health & safety pre-departure requirements and request permission to travel to areas of heightened risk (US D.O.S Travel Advisory Level 3 and 4 countries)

Graduate students must purchase health insurance and complete waiver for higher risk countries (overall advisory Level 3 and Level 4)

Faculty and Staff members are covered under blanket medical insurance policy; no waiver or registration required

Global Safety and SecurityMission

Supporting the health, safety and security of students, faculty and staff who travel abroad

Reports to the Provost’s Office

Daily operations/regular activities

Monitoring world events/assess & mitigate security risks

Providing pre-departure training and preparation

Responding to student incidents/needs here and abroad

Characteristics of Registered Student Organization (RSO) International Travel

Short term international travel over winter break, spring break or summer

Travelers do not earn NU credit

Group of students with one or two student Trip Leaders

Generally travel without at faculty or staff leader

Work in advance with RSO Advisor in Student Engagement, Office of Global Safety and a vendor in destination country.

Who traveled in past 5 years?AIESEC

Alternative Spring Breaks

The Dolphin Show

Engineers without Borders

Fiedler Hillel

Formula Racing*

Global Brigades

Global Medical Brigades

GlobeMed

International Student Association

Medlife

Northwestern Crew

Northwestern University Community for Human

Rights

Project Rishi

Purple Haze

Reformed University Fellowship

Rotaract Club

Sheil Catholic Center

Thunk a capella

Treblemakers

University Campus Ministry

Wildcat Connection

RSO Advisor’s RoleInternational Travel

Meet with trip leader(s) to discuss international travel plans

Discuss implication of going to a areas of heightened risk, if applicable

Reach out to travelers if deadlines for completing health and safety requirements are missed, as requested by OGSS.

Check-in and de-brief as needed

Tracey Gibson-Jackson, Associate Director of Student Organizations & ActivitiesCampus Life

(Student) Trip Leaders

Schedule a meeting with your RSO Advisor to discuss trip plans at least a quarter in advance of your proposed departure

Complete a Risk Management Plan and submit to OGSS

Communicate individual health & safety pre-departure requirements to team members and follow up as necessary

If trip leader is a faculty or staff member, attend Trip Leader Training

Risk Management Plan

I. Resources - Provide students with links to information about destination (such as U.S. DOS, CDC, OSAC, University Security Assistance Provider, sample RM plan)

II. Trip Information - Students provide information on trip such as activities to be undertaken, Student Trip Leader information, accommodations for Clery Reporting, etc.

III. Vendor Information - Students provide detailed information about their vendor or local provider

IV. Risks and Responses - Section is divided into by categories including Health, Crime, Political Unrest, Environmental Conditions, Transportation, Road Conditions, Water Safety, Working Conditions, Cultural Differences, Special Needs travelers, Terrorism or War

I. Description of risks

II. How will the students mitigate risks

III. Response plan if impacted by risks

Registered Student Organizations Webpage:

https://www.northwestern.edu/global-safety-security/travel-policies/undergraduates/registered-student-organizations.html

Upasana PathakNorthwestern StudentTrip Leader, Project Rishi to India

Trip Participants

OGSS enrolls students in Canvas course “Before you Travel: Health & Safety Requirements” to complete health and safety requirements at least two weeks before departure.

Next Steps

Consider mandatory training for RSO advisors

Enhance RM plan to incorporate working group recommendations on ethical practice for community-engagement

Incorporate ideas from session

Penn State Context – Natasha Soulé

Large public university – over 100,000 students across the state

Travel registry is mandatory for students, faculty and staff; policy ties completion to reimbursement/funding

Restricted countries for students (different set for faculty) require an approved petition

Travel policy requires faculty/staff to accompany student orgs abroad

A number of student organizations travel internationally regularly and are required to register with us (usually Spring Break and summer) Global Brigades (Honduras, Ghana, Nicaragua)

Engineers Without Borders (Honduras)

Bridges to Prosperity (Bolivia)

Ski club (Canada)

Global Safety Office

3 full-time and 1 part-time professionals

Part of Global Programs – report up to Vice Provost for Global Programs

Support all students, faculty, and staff traveling internationally

Vision: Supporting Penn State’s global presence by preparing and assisting students, faculty, and staff engaging internationally

We review over 8,000 university-affiliated international trips a year by students, faculty, and staff to over 140 countries; 5,000 of those trips are non-credit (the majority of that is individual faculty travel)

Tasked with enforcing international travel policy – must manually review each travel record for compliance

Student organization travel abroad

2017 & 2018: 90 non-credit student group trips abroad

University-sponsored student group travel includes: athletics teams, choir, Alternative Spring Break, some faculty-led non-credit experiences

Where did they go?

This slide has a map of the world with faculty traveler numbeBahamas

DRMexicoBelizeHondurasNicaraguaCosta RicaPanama

AustraliaNew Zealand

PeruBolivia

South KoreaChina

Canada

ColombiaEcuador

Finland

Germany

GhanaTogo

Iceland

India

IrelandUKNetherlandsPortugalSwitzerlandAustriaSpainItalyMorocco

South Africa

KenyaUgandaRwanda

Malaysia

Brazil

Argentina

Japan

How do you capture in your travel

registry? What information do you want?

Name of org

Group leader and roster of all participants

Contact information for leader, co-leader

Description of program and itinerary

Flight, lodging, and local transportation info

Waivers (including liability)

Verification participants attended required training

Travel petition, if applicable

Work flow

Final approval in your system?

Steps completed by group leader and steps completed by individual participants

Insurance enrollment/coverage?

Explain steps and timeline

Example of a student org trip in registry

High risk travel

Which countries require a petition?

Are there other types of activities that could trigger review?

Who submits the petition?

Review timeline?

Criteria for review?

Additional safety measures you could put in place?

What happens if group’s petition is NOT approved?

Our process

1. If a student group wishes to travel to a restricted country, the group leader will complete one petition for the entire group inthe travel registry.

All communications regarding the petition will go to the trip leader

Review Process can take 2-6 weeks

2. In the petition, the Group Leader & Co-Leader should demonstrate

Understanding of Risks

Provide measures to mitigate these risks

3. Petition is reviewed by the International Restricted Travel Committee

4. Group should not purchase tickets/lodging until notified travel petition is approved. Once approved, group leader is notified and group continues with the remaining pre-travel requirements

High risk travel – example (Honduras)

Troubleshooting/lessons learned

Read petitions carefully! – students may say they will be in only one major city but are actually traveling and overnighting elsewhere

Late notice site selection – Global Brigades and some other organizations do not provide final volunteer site information until a few weeks prior to trip

On-site support – ask specifically whether each on-site staff member will be with the students the entire time

Transportation – often the biggest risks are long drives on bad roads to/from a more rural volunteer/program site

Program deposits – find out when students must pay non-refundable deposits for travel

Lotte Buiting

Private research university in Philadelphia

Co-op school; on quarter system

About 24,000 students total; 15,000 undergraduates, 9,000 graduate students

Drexel University

Office of International Programs (OIP)

Study Abroad (part of OIP): 7 full time staff members

OIP: 4 full time staff members, including the Director of International Health, Safety and Security

AY 2017-2018: 229 non-credit travelers (and counting…)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

GhanaGuatemala

BelgiumGreece

New…Indonesia

CanadaIndia

GambiaChinaIreland

BrazilGermany

Equatorial…UK

AustraliaSouth Africa

CubaDenmarkArgentina

SenegalAustria

ItalyFrance

SwitzerlandNetherlands

JapanNepal

RwandaPolandMalawi

PeruZambia

SpainLesotho

SwazilandCosta Rica

KenyaMongolia

IsraelSouth Korea

BoliviaHonduras

SwedenPortugal

Number of students

Non Credit Education Abroad (NCEA)

Who?

What?

Where?

How?

Non Credit Education Abroad (NCEA)

Who?Everyone participating in Drexel-affiliated travel registers travel: faculty, staff, graduate students, undergraduate students.

Faculty/staff: GRAND (online system – no approval required; sometimes outreach to provide additional support)

Graduate/undergraduate students: TerraDotta

Non Credit Education Abroad (NCEA)

What?

Conference travel

International research

International service learning

Student orgs traveling internationally

International workshops

Athletic competitions/trainings

faculty-led international programs that are not for credit

Non Credit Education Abroad (NCEA)How?

Conference travel: simple registration in TerraDotta

All other trips: 1. International Experience Approval Form2. registration in TerraDotta (more questionnaires and signature documents)

International Experience Approval Form

International Experience Approval Form

Pre-Departure Orientation

Student Organizations:

- Student leaders go through extensive training with Student Life

- Student leaders meet frequently with their group leading up to the trip. Chaperone often joins the meetings at least once or twice leading up to the trip.

- In-person Pre-Departure Orientation is scheduled about 2 weeks prior to departure. Facilitated by the Office of International Programs. Sometimes facilitated via zoom, so the presentation can be recorded and made available to those students unable to attend the in-person meeting.

Pre-Departure Orientation

Topics covered in the PDO:

What to bring (packing tips, medications, change of clothing, sense of adventure!)

Money Matters (currency; customs regarding cards/cash; transaction fees; bank notifications)

Communication(cell phones; not relying on WiFi; preparing friends/family for limited communication)

Pre-Departure Orientation

Topics covered in the PDO:

Health and Safety:Petty crime; safe sex/sexual assault; the law and serious consequences; recommended immunizations and medications

Health and Safety (continued)Zika: symptoms, consequences, and ways to be proactive

Health and Safety (continued)STEP; ER numbers, 24/7 (On Call Emergency Assistance Provider; Drexel International Emergency phone number)

Pre-Departure Orientation

Topics covered in the PDO:

CultureCulture shock; questions about the host country/research host country; language; experiencing local culture respectfully; understanding your own culture

PDO: Intercultural Training

Intercultural Training Workgroup:

Members from OIP; Fellowships Office; Center for Civic Engagement; Student Life

Objectives: to create value added to non-credit bearing opportunities, by better preparing and training students in global competencies and intercultural awareness

Currently:Feedback survey from past NCEA studentsCreating online module on BlackBoard (not for credit)Creating in-person training, to be incorporated in Student Life’s Student Leader Training Conference (facilitated four times a year)

When students go rogue…

You have a process: Great! Now what do you do when students don’t follow your process?

When students go rogue…

Case study:

Public Health Brigade, Drexel Chapter

- how I found out

- next steps:

individual meeting with the student leader; administrative meeting with Director of Intl Health, Safety and Security, Legal Counsel, Risk Management, and Student Life

When students go rogue…

Case study:

Outcomes:

- Students had to submit proposed program to the Travel Risk Review Committee (approved

- Students had to bring a chaperone (OIP funded the chaperone’s travel expenses, and part of their Global Brigades program fee)

- We wanted the students to travel, but also for them to follow process, prepared for their trip, and supported while abroad