Faculty-Led Travel Courses

If you are creating an ISU course abroad for the first time, we recommend you contact us. We will suggest a meeting where we can discuss the dynamics of your course and the kind of service you are interested in. We can discuss program timeframes, details and make some lists of next steps. You need to have the idea of what you want students to learn and how you want them to learn it, then we can discuss how to make that happen in another country. Contact: Shelley Taylor, 294-5393.

 

 

Tips for Faculty for Creating International

Field Trips: Creating a Faculty-Led Travel Course101

One of our experienced faculty leaders, Warren Dolphin, biology, created the timeline and tips you will find below. It is a step by step guide for developing an international field trip.

• 9-12 months in advance of trip - Program Vision and Curricular Issues/Translating Concepts to Reality
• 6-9 months in advance of trip - Forming the Group
• 3-6 months in advance of trip - Administrative Issues
• 4-5 months in advance of trip - Pre-departure Orientation
• 1-2 months in advance of trip
• Field trip
• 1-2 months post trip - Wrapping it up

9 to 12 months in advance of trip

A. Program Vision & Curricular Issues

• How will students receive credit for the international experience?

  • Setting up a travel course with academic goals focuses on what is to be learned and directs you away from planning a vacation trip
  • Offering experience as a course separates you from being a travel agent and invokes liability coverage for you as an instructor
  • If course is approved by University Curriculum Committee, it will satisfy the International Perspectives requirement for graduation, adding an incentive for students to take class
  • If approved by departmental curriculum committee as counting in major, then it satisfies other requirements and adds another incentive
  • If summer course, you may be eligible for a summer salary
  • Establish true prerequisites that limit site-seers but which are not too limiting and create problems of clientele
  • Create a list of academic outcomes for the experience and adjust goals of trip to achieve the outcomes
  • Decide number of credits to be granted (1 credit per week of travel is a reasonable standard), can combine pre-departure course contact hours and field trip contact hours

• Develop a rough syllabus for a pre-trip seminar or course

  • Academic background topics so students can appreciate goals of travel
  • Possible language instruction in amenities of travel
  • Information on what to take, how to pack, and how to act
  • Consider using guest lecturers on campus who can add expertise to student preparation

• Identify resources on campus

  • College International Office
  • Study Abroad Center
  • Faculty Partners (co-leaders, know the host country)
  • Experienced Program Directors
  • Service Providers

• Identify resources overseas

• Faculty Partners
• Host Institution
• Service Providers

B. Translating Concepts to Reality

 

• Begin organizing logistics. Basically three ways:

• You are a general contractor making all arrangements for travel, hotels, buses, etc.
• Contract with a commercial travel agent to provide basics of travel and living and you fill in with more specific instructional activities
• Use contacts at universities or agencies in country and have them set up the entire experience with your input on academic content
• CALS faculty should schedule an appointment with the Ag Study Abroad office, 294-5393, 111 Curtiss Hall, to learn services. Non CALS faculty should check with own college international office or study abroad office.
• Revisit outcomes of the course and consider the kinds of activities and/or visits that will achieve those outcomes

 

• Tips:

• Look at a map of country or region to be visited and decide on a travel route (with alternatives) to and through region, specifying key locations and people to be visited
• Decide on approximate itinerary-- inclusive dates, cities and events to be visited; anticipated activities and sites to give students a sense of what the trip is about.  Try to set some concrete goals for each day, e.g. travel from xxx to xxx; or "to see the interior aspect of a rain forest and to investigate the concept of canopy biology"
• Lay out a tentative itinerary with one third day resolution; do this for morning and afternoon and evening. Set up instructional goals and list in itinerary. Look at itinerary and determine what is needed to accomplish goals, e.g. bus from xxx to xxx, guide in forest, and return transport. Pay attention to how you will feed, bed, instruct and transport group during each day. Group meals are nice in some remote locations or when itinerary requires it, other times students can get meals on their own so that they have a chance to mingle in culture. If the duration of your trip allows, try to balance program time with free time students will have on their own. That way they are more receptive to group activities that follow. Click here for a sample developed by a former group leader. Click here for a sample developed by the Ag Study Abroad office.
• Begin to develop cost estimates by creating a spread sheet in which you list each day and items/services to be purchased, i.e. 3 meals each day, hotel rooms, bus transport, etc. Enter price estimates. For example, you can develop four columns in spreadsheet: one for cost per person, one for number of people, one for total and one for on-own expenses such as meals. Take into account foreign exchange rate history of currency being used. Choose a figure for conversion that is conservative. Better to estimate high costs at this point rather than low. 
• Do risk assessment on each phase of trip and review activities for potential liabilities taking steps to minimize. If nothing else, add disclosures in itinerary to cover "workers right to know" test that could be applied should a problem develop. Use licensed carriers where possible.

• Then:

  • Meet with the Agriculture Study Abroad Office to discuss:
    Contents of application form that students will submit;
    Setting up an account to receive student payments;
    Assistance in developing Program Planning & Approval Form;
    Help in advertising;
    Information on insurance and student ID cards;
    Work out how bills will be paid from trip account;
    Find out about how students can apply for scholarships to reduce their trip costs.
  • Submit a Planning & Approval Form to the Education Abroad Committee for approval. Dates for required submission of proposals are about 9 months in advance of going abroad.  Check http://www.studyabroad.iastate.edu/EAC/home.html.  If nothing else, this makes your trip an approved ISU course offering and invokes Attorney General's coverage if there are any legal problems. Seek funds from your department and college to defray some trip costs.
  • Decide what students will submit with application to help you in your selection.
    
    
    

6 to 9 months in advance -Forming the Group

• Recruiting:

  • Prepare one page flyer with description of trip, estimated costs, time of informational meeting for students to attend and your E-mail address.
  • Go to appropriate classes to advertise trip
  • Send short announcement of the trip to appropriate departmental/program newsletter editors and post it on appropriate WWW sites. Audience is not only students who will take trip but should be parents as well who will have questions about trip.
  • All courses will have an electronic brochure created for them as part of the application. Jodi Cornell creates this for all programs using the information in the Planning & Approval Form. Feel free to provide additional information for Jodi to enhance the description of the program (photos, links, testimonials, etc.). If you prefer, you can also set up a simple WWW site for trip with photos of places to be visited and short descriptions of each segment. It is possible to set up a “virtual” trip by creating a list of links to hotels, museums, cities to be visited. Please share this link with the Ag Study Abroad office so we can refer students.
  • All advertising materials should have your E-mail address on it with note to contact you immediately so that students can be put on an E-mail list for further contact information. As list grows, send periodic announcements to keep students interested. Schedule at least two information sessions on different days of week, late in day to give trip overview and answer questions. Include the website for ISU Abroad http://isuabroad.iastate.edu/ so students know where to apply.
  • As you define clientele start developing concept that going on the trip is a privilege, not a right. Emphasize idea that your job is to choose the right mix of people so that a synergy develops. During period after application forms have been released but before they are due, massage the potential applicants by send tips to them via E-mail
    

• 
  At the same time:
  

• - Establish Study Abroad Account. Decide on an administrative calendar for application dates and fee payment. Application fee or not? One approach is to upon acceptance, ask for several hundred dollars to establish a reservations fund. Make airfare costs due on date that you will get air line tickets. Make remainder due about a month before trip. All funds should be paid to Iowa State University and deposited into your study abroad account. When planning costs, you want to build in a surplus so that some monies are recovered to fund future scouting trips to other areas. At some point, you have to decide what is not refundable as you make advanced deposits and so inform students.
• - Students register for pre-departure course (if separate) and for field trip. Can be done online or manually through the registrar’s office.
• - Letter of notification of acceptance should include information about getting a passport, checking on health insurance, and when you may contact them again with the orientation class meeting date, time, and place. Click here for some of the information go with the letter of notification of acceptance.

3 to 6 months in advance - Administrative Issues

• Talk to Department Chair and College about a summer salary for you and other co-leader covering period of trip and some time before and after when you will doing paper-work related to trip
• Contact contractors (hotels, buses, airlines, guide services, etc) and get firm estimates of costs with amount due to make reservation and date of full payment. Investigate refund policy and latest cancellation dates. Inform students about refund policies and that late cancellations may well forfeit earlier deposits.  Always ask about free of charge policy because many hotels will give a free room of leaders if group size is 20. This also applies to airline tickets. The Ag Study Abroad office can get airline quotes fro you. Contact Jodi Cornell for assistance with this. Update spreadsheet with latest prices.
• You may need to make deposits at this time. All payments must go through the Purchasing system, and advance payments can be made with credit cards (University P cards or Am Ex), wire transfers, or checks. The Ag Study Abroad office can assist you with all these things.
• To determine exact cost of trip, sum up group expenses to get a total budget. Subtract from total any funds that you have raised on campus such as group leader grants. Divide remainder by number of students paying to arrive at per student cost. This is the program fee and will be added to the students’ U Bills the semester of travel. Program fees are put on through Ag Study Abroad. Ag Study Abroad will confirm fee amounts with you by accounts receivables deadlines (Fall billing due – first week of July; Spring billing due – first week of December; and Summer billing due – first week of April). When students pay their bills, money is automatically routed to your study abroad account. In addition to program fee, there are also tuition/fees (for summer programs and will be charged to students' Ubills too), and out-of-pocket expenditures.
• Consider how you want to evaluate the trip. If you need a baseline, consider doing some pre-trip evaluation during the orientation. If you are interested in using the post-trip evaluation developed by the Ag Study Abroad office, please contact Difei Shen.
  
  
  
  

4 to 5 months in advance - Pre-departure Orientation

 

• At a minimum, the pre-departure orientation must cover health, safety and risk issues. The Ag Study Abroad Office can assist with this preparation. General travel tips, money issues, local language and cultural preparation are important as well. Technical background will help them develop a context for what they will experience and learn on the trip. You can do this alone or invite in guest speakers. The seminar allows group to get to know each other and allows you to set the tone for the trip, i.e. it is course not a vacation.
• Previous leaders have built in student ownership by having students complete assignments on trip locations, flora, fauna, geology, weather, politics, economics, and general tourist stuff. Send URLs to you and insert in a trip WWW page that you develop. Some groups have had student “reporters” that take responsibility for weather reports, current events and interesting news from the host country.
• For example, Warren Dolphin, former international field trips in Biology program director, had students prepare a 10 page research paper with 10 references on some topic that relates to trip. These are called 10 X 10 papers. He suggested topics but was open to students proposing one. One page outline was due in third week, 6 page outline in 6 week and paper is due about tenth week. Papers are read and commented on and returned to students before end of seminar. Students prepare a 20 to 30 minute talk on based on their paper. Talks are delivered on-site in country to group (sometimes with outsiders listening in) at a location that is appropriate to topic chosen, e.g. those choosing a Great Barrier Reef topic deliver their talks on the fore deck of the dive boat during a rest period between dives.
• As trip date approaches, have students fill out a health history form which is submitted to you. They must check on their medical coverage in a foreign country and supply you with contact information in case of an emergency. Require them to take supplemental medical evacuation insurance (can be bought with air line tickets) and to see their doctor for appropriate shots, e.g. tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis, other as CDC recommends.
• Share with students your concerns about the trip and have them participate in developing a sensible code of conduct for the trip. Responsibility should be on the students and not always on the leader. Be sure to address alcohol problems and disruptive behavior.
• Arrange extracurricular meetings so that group members can get to know one another. Have a student social committee to plan some games. Use it as an opportunity to share travel tips: packing, phone cards, gear to bring, extending trip afterward, etc.
• Layout a detailed itinerary with objectives, logistical information and day-to-day activities. Include phone and FAX numbers of locations where appropriate. This list can be shared with parents, etc. before you go on trip.
• As trip dates get closer watch currency exchange rates. You might want to prepay by credit card for some services if exchange rate changes in your favor or act defensively if it starts to work against you.
• If visas are needed for the country visiting, begin paperwork process for this. One service we have used successfully in the past is Perry Visa International, http://www.perryvisa.com if you need a service.

 

1 – 2 months in advance

 

• Using the information in the application forms to prepare emergency packet of information: Emergency contact information for all students (part of application form); Medical information for all students (part of application form); copy of passport/visa of all participants (can help with replacement if lost); contact numbers of all places visiting/hosts/lodging, US Embassy number and address and contact numbers back at ISU in case of trouble (Departmental Chair, CALS Study Abroad, Dept of Public Safety (can reach an emergency coordinator 24/7)).
• Purchase or collect gifts for hosts
• Consider what your financial needs will be on the trip
• Apply for a study abroad purchasing credit card
• Decide how much cash you will need (university cash advance before trip or P card cash advance in-country)
• Finalize any advance payments, take receipts or confirmation with you
• Submit final itinerary and contact information to the Ag Study Abroad office
  
  
  
  Field Trip

 

During trips, keep students informed of each day’s activities and the goals of those activities through daily morning briefings

Consider reflection activities throughout the trip to maximize learning

Keep excellent records on expenditures (with all receipts – take some along if necessary)

Keep excellent records of incidences (review emergency handbook to be prepared. Please go to http://www.studyabroad.iastate.edu/Faculty/Faculty.html and click "Emergencies")

• In the event of an emergency situation, it is the first responsibility of the Program Director to provide for the immediate safety and security of all participants.
• In the event of an emergency situation, it is the second responsibility of the Program Director to immediately contact the SAC at ISU via the Department of Public Safety 24-hour service at 001-515-294-4428.
• The Program Director should refer to the Emergency Response Guidelines and Procedures developed for all ISU study abroad programs.(From Appendix 5 of the ISU Study Abroad Center Emergency Response Guidelines and Procedures).
• Evaluation during the final day or on the trip home
  
  
  
  
  1 – 2 months post trip - Wrapping it up
  
  
  
• - Submit receipts to appropriate book-keeper and reconciliation upon return
• - Post photos and comments on appropriate WWW site. Helps to bring closure for group and sets up advertising for next group
• - Submit a narrative report that summarizes the trip activities and suggests any changes that you might make for next time. If unexpected risks were encountered describe with suggestions for future minimizations.  Be sure to evaluate educational value as well as travel arrangements.
• - Organize a reunion picnic to share photos and stories when convenient