Offering a Travel-Learning Course
Process Overview
Travel-Learning Courses consist of a 1 or 1.25 credit Parent Course normally combined with a .25 credit Travel Component. Travel-Learning Courses are applied for on an annual basis, for the following academic year. The Committee on Academic Programs reviews the applications and submits its recommendations to the Administration, which selects the courses to be offered.
The deadline for applying to CAP to offer a Travel-Learning Course for the 26/27 academic year is 4:00 PM on January 12, 2026 .
If the Parent Course is not already in the catalog, the instructor, with approval from the academic department/program, will need to submit a proposal to the Committee on Academic Programs to add the course as a temporary addition to the catalog.
A complete proposal consists of 3 parts: (1) a Travel-Learning Course Proposal Form including an uploaded Course Narrative file, (2) an uploaded Budget Worksheet, and (3) information from the faculty member's department chair. Proposal instructions are found on the CAP website.
Course Narrative Instructions can be found attached here (PDF).
Information from the faculty member's department chair is to be completed and submitted separately using the on-line Travel-Learning Proposal -- Information from Department Chair Form.
Part-time faculty are eligible to apply for a TLC, but there are restrictions based on annual course load--contact the Provost office for more information.
For general resources on developing and implementing a short-term study away experience, please see below.
Travel Planning
In an effort to manage risk and provide a consistent student experience across the TLC program, we request that all TLC faculty utilize the support of one of our approved travel providers. This should include all travel (flights/ ground transportation) and lodging. They may also include some meals, planned excursions, cultural and site visits, and/or possible academic lectures/ seminars.
To solicit travel quotes, please contact one or more of the following travel providers:
- Basic Travel Support (flights & hotels)
- Preferred Travel Support (flights, hotels, ground transportation, site visits/ excursions)
- Specialized Academic Support (agencies that provide a high level of logistical and academic support)
*ALL FINALIZED TRAVEL CONTRACTS SHOULD BE PROCESSED BY IOCP
Budgeting Guidance
- Once you have an itemized per traveler quote from one of our preferred travel providers, you will need to supplement any expenses not included in the initial quote. Budgets should include transportation (both air and ground), accommodations, meals (3 per day), entry/activity fees, and all other costs for the program. Students while travelling are only responsible for incidental and personal expenses, extra food, souvenirs and the like.
- The full cost of travel for the faculty leader and the faculty/staff co-leader is covered by the institution.
- Initial budgets must also include a 10% per-traveler contingency.
- International insurance / crisis support - $150 (up to two weeks).
- For converting foreign currency into US dollars, you use an on-line currency converter such as www.oanda.com/currency/converter/ . When converting to US Dollars make sure you use the interbank rate (+2 % or +3%).
Academic and Financial Policies
- Travel must be completed within the semester in which the TLC is offered or, at the latest, must be completed within 21 weeks of the first day of classes, in order to comply with Federal Financial Aid (Title IV) regulations.
- Information about students staying in OWU residence halls prior to and after a TLC: Students will not be charged for staying in their rooms before or after a TLC during Spring Break. Students will not be charged for stays of a reasonable length in the residence halls after graduation in May, but they may be required to relocate to another room and will have to make arrangements for their property to be moved out or stored prior to departure. Students must follow the instructions Residential Life gives them about break registration. It is best to have May travel commence within a few days after graduation. Contact IOCP, if students in your course will need to stay in the residence halls after graduation.
- The OWU Academic Calendar with dates for breaks can be found here.
- Some students may want to request a deviation to their flight routing (returning from a TLC to their hometown, not Columbus, for example). This might be possible in some cases and any additional cost for the deviation is the traveler's responsibility. Contact your travel provider for more information. Columbus, CMH, is the airport from which all deviations are defined.
- Faculty leads will receive a $3,000 total course development budget. Unused development funds may be applied to off-set costs associated with the course itself.
- Student billing, financial aid and refund information can be found here.
- Those participating in the travel portion of a TLC, who are neither students nor faculty leads, will be charged the full cost of their participation, normally twice the student charge. Prior approval is needed for non-students & non-faculty to participate in any aspect of a TLC.
Best Practices & Risk Management
- The IOCP Office provides services and resources to help, for these, please see: Menu of Services (PDF)
- The Forum on Education Abroad has published standards for short-term programs: ForumEA -- Standards for Short-Term Programs . The Forum also offers resources for those developing courses: ForumEA -- Resources . (A log-in and password are needed for some parts of these sites - contact IOCP for access).
- TLC Rubrics have been developed by faculty. Please see:
- In depth country safety, health and security reports are available upon request. Updated ones will be provided prior to departure. All international travel must comply with institutional guidelines.
- Students travelling internationally are required to complete two training modules -- Pre-Departure Essentials and Cultural Essentials. Other pre-departure support for students is also available, including peer advising for first-time travellers, travel medicine consultations, passport and visa support and a pre-departure safety and risk management presentation. Contact the IOCP Office for more information.
- Faculty are required to:
- Schedule a Creating a Community Agreement session with the director of IOCP, Lisa Ho prior to departure.
- Create and hold pre-departure travel information sessions and to provide travel and destination resources that are specific to their own course.
- Share the travel itinerary (and any other schedule), accommodation lists and flight information as soon as it is available and to provide updates to these in a timely manner.
- Provide packing guidance and list of recommended supplies.
- Support while travelling is provided by the IOCP Office. All people travelling on OWU-sponsored programs are covered by accident, sickness, and evacuation insurance and have access to emergency support world-wide. There is a crisis plan and desk-top scenario exercises for faculty and staff leads.
- Certain activities are prohibited by our institutional insurance policy. These include: skydiving, parachuting, hang gliding, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, pot-holing, zip-lining, motorcycle riding, scuba diving (unless scuba diving is an assigned part of the curriculum of study for course credit) and certain athletic activities.
- Please note that part-time faculty may need the permission of the Provost in order to participate in the TLC Program. Please contact the IOCP Office first at extension 3075 to learn about restrictions.
- Please also note that individuals classified as non-exempt must be paid for all hours of activity related to the course and are eligible for and must be paid over-time. Permission of the supervisor and the Provost are needed for members of the staff to participate. Please see the Staff Handbook for more information.
- Travel to countries/regions with a U.S. Dept. of State Level 4 Travel Advisory is prohibited. Travel to countries with a U.S. Dept. of State Level 3 Travel Advisory will be reviewed by the University administration.
Once Your Course Is Selected
If your proposed course is not currently in the catalog you will need to fill out the Temporary Course Proposal form. This will be available on the CAP website.
All Travel-Learning Courses will include a .25 unit Travel Component section* (for example, the travel component section associated with ASTR 110 is ASTR 110 TL). Students will be registered for the TL section in addition to registering for the parent course. All accepted courses will need to fill out the Travel Component Proposal Form which will be available on the CAP website.
Because of the extraordinary issues involved in traveling with students, there are many practical reasons for requiring the separation of the .25-unit Travel Component's credits from the Parent Course's. These include:
- Seniors traveling in May cannot graduate if a full-unit Parent Course's grade is outstanding
- Separating the Travel Component from the class allows a student who is unable to travel due to unforeseen circumstances (health, finances, etc.) to still receive fair credit for work completed during the semester—they can drop or withdraw from the .25
- Separating the Travel Component allows faculty to fail students for the .25-unit course in case of misbehaviour, failure to participate while traveling, or other breaches of rules/conduct. It also allows faculty to specify requirements for preparation for and participation in travel prior to the start of the trip.
- Separating the .25-unit Travel Component allows faculty the opportunity to grade travel on an S/U basis, which can alleviate parts of student anxiety about situations where we are asking them to take larger academic or social risks. (If there is a compelling reason that your course should not include a separate .25-unit Travel Component, or why the grade for the full course should include the travel, you may make a case for that in your initial proposal.)
- All students travelling must be enrolled in the .25-unit Travel Component credit. If the course is approved not to include the .25 Travel Component, students must be enrolled for the full unit of credit for the course. Travel-Learning Courses cannot be audited.
Travel-Learning Course Timeline
Spring (one year prior to travel):
- January – CAP and Administration approval and selection of TLC's
- Mid-February – Faculty notified, courses announced via IOCP/ Provost Office
- 3rd Thursday in February – Connection Conference TLC Faculty Panel
- March – TLC Faculty Meeting #1 w/ IOCP
- Remainder of Spring semester – further TLC planning by faculty
Summer:
- June/July/August
- Facutly TLC planning & research (including, if chosen, travel)
Fall:
- August / September:
- Faculty training on student application system.
- Student recruitment:
- 4th Thursday of September -- Travel Learning Course Session during OWU Connection Conference.
- Student recruitment in classes other venues
- September 1 -- TLC student application system opens
- Planning meetings as needed with IOCP staff
- October:
- October 1 – Student Application Deadline
- October 10 – deadline for faculty processing of student applications
- Selection of TLC students by late-October
- November:
- Student notification of accept/deny/wait-list status for TLC Courses
- Student registration for Spring courses
- Travel forms shared with students
- December:
- December 1 – Students billed for Spring tuition including all TLC fees and travel forms due
Spring (term of scheduled travel)
- All participants will complete mandatory pre-departure training
- Each course section will participate in the Creating a Community Agreement Session (faculty included, facilitated by Lisa Ho)
- Faculty pre-departure meetings with IOCP staff (preferrable w/ both faculty/staff leads).
- March or May - Travel!
Additional Resources:
Education Abroad Faculty Toolkit - The University of Kentucky.
A general resource about international faculty led courses from our partner AIFS - FacultyLed.com
Innovating Faculty-Led -- Podcasts that discuss innovative ways to develop and lead programs and "explore programs from the genesis of an idea through program development and implementation."
Information about responsible, ethical and sustainable study abroad: Responsible Travel resources from Transitions Abroad, Sustainable Study Abroad from Middlebury College, Sustainable Travel Checklist from Sustainable Travel International, also the Ethical Traveler website.
Mobility International USA - an organization advocating for international exchange for people with disabilities.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection - information about re-entering the USA.
US Department of State - see links to International Travel and to information about specific countries information, also has a section for US students studying abroad.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - information about health issues and immunizations by country.
