University Sponsored Student Travel Policy

Approved by the President
February 23, 2021

Policy Contacts

Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Controller
607-436-2081

Policy Statement

All university-sponsored student travel must be registered and approved, as appropriate, by the university. University-sponsored student travel takes place off campus and is organized, supported, led, or financed by a faculty member, staff member, office, department, or division of the university.

Travel Covered by Policy

  • Credit-bearing travel (e.g., overnight class field trips, domestic and international faculty-led programs, independent study research, or any other course-associated activities that require travel)
  • Non-credit travel (e.g., any overnight research/creative activity [CA], conferences, volunteer travel, and any other non-credit travel)

Travel Excluded from Policy

  • Athletic team travel
    • Athletic travel follows NCAA guidelines.
      Note: For international athletic team travel, travel leader must contact the Office of Global Education (OGE) at least two months prior to travel and complete required SUNY forms for international health insurance enrollment and risk management purposes.
  • Student Association (SA) travel
    • SA travel is governed by SA guidelines.
  • International study abroad placements
    • Students must contact the OGE to complete required forms prior to participating in a study abroad program.
  • Domestic and international internships
    • Domestic internships: students must contact the Career Development Center to complete required forms prior to commencing internships.
    • International internships: students must contact the OGE to complete required forms prior to commencing internships. Students must participate in a SUNY-approved international internship in order to receive academic credit for it.
  • Education field experiences
  • Credit-bearing day travel (e.g., day trips for a class)

Rationale

The university supports and encourages experiential learning in the form of off-campus courses, field trips, service learning and volunteering, research/CA, professional development (e.g., conference attendance), and other credit- and non-credit bearing activities with and/or by students. The university has a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of participants, promote high-quality academic experiences, and demonstrate budget and fiscal responsibility.

Applicability of the Policy

This policy applies to all faculty, staff, offices, departments, and divisions of the university who conduct, organize, support, or finance any university-sponsored travel with and/or by SUNY Oneonta students.

Policy Elaboration

  1. All overnight university-sponsored student travel must be entered into the Student Travel Registry by the sponsoring faculty, staff, office, or department. The registry must include:
    1. Itinerary including all dates, travel locations, and the names, addresses, and contact information for all accommodations (if applicable).
    2. Roster of participants including the name, contact information and emergency contact information of all student participants and travel leader(s).
      For day travel, the roster only needs to include a list of participant names.
    3. Emergency plan including:
      1. Accommodation information (if applicable)
      2. Flight/transportation information (if applicable)
      3. Travel leader(s) and/or office contact information
      4. Nearest hospital/emergency medical facility address and contact information for each travel location
      5. Alternate meeting place and instructions in case of emergency
  2. All campus policies including those within the Student Code of Conduct apply to university-sponsored student travel. Additional conduct expectations may be added for specific types of university-sponsored student travel.
  3. The President and Provost, upon consultation with Finance & Administration and the sponsoring office/department, reserve the right to cancel any program or activity that is deemed unsafe or to require substitution of an activity. Reasonable safety standards must be met at all times.
  4. Alcohol/Other Drugs/Weapons:
    1. Alcohol: the abuse or unlawful use, consumption, transportation, possession of alcohol, or inappropriate behavior resulting from the use of alcohol is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
    2. Drugs: the use, possession, or distribution of drugs, drug paraphernalia, or controlled substances that is unlawful under local and/or host country laws; alteration of a drug prescription; or inappropriate behavior resulting from the use of drugs or other substances is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
    3. Weapons: Possession and use of weapons or explosive devices of any kind are prohibited.
  5. Student Injury/Hospitalization: In the event of a student injury that involves hospitalization or emergency/urgent care, the program/travel leader or designee is responsible for staying with the student until another university official or family member/representative relieves said party from responsibility (if student is traveling with a program/travel leader).
  6. Clery Reporting: For student travel led by faculty and/or staff, program/travel leaders must provide appropriate documentation as outlined in the procedures in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20USC § 1092).
  7. Liability Limits: Before and after the designated program/travel start and end dates, this policy does not apply to program/travel participants and the university no longer assumes responsibility.
  8. Each type of university-sponsored travel has specific procedures and required approvals; see “Procedures” and “Approval Matrix” sections below.

Definitions

University-sponsored student travel: Any student travel that takes place off campus that is organized, supported, led, or financed by a faculty member, staff member, office, department, or division of the university. See “Exclusions” above.

  • Credit-bearing day travel: any travel occurring within the same day connected to a course. This includes off-campus activities that do not include vehicular travel, e.g. hiking from campus to College Camp or a nearby location.
  • Non-credit domestic travel: any travel not part of a course occurring within the United States with at least one overnight stay.
  • Credit-bearing domestic faculty-led program: a course in which the faculty member and the registered students travel off-campus for one or more nights.
  • Credit-bearing international faculty-led program: a course in which the faculty member and the registered students travel outside of the United States for one or more nights.
  • Non-credit international travel: any international student travel not part of a course that is organized, supported, led, or financed by a faculty member, staff member, office, department, or division of the university.

Student Travel Registry: A virtual portal through which university-sponsored student travel information is submitted for risk management purposes, so the appropriate departments, offices, and emergency management officials (UPD) may access vital information in case of emergencies.

Off campus: Any location other than SUNY Oneonta’s main campus and the Cooperstown Satellite Campus (Cooperstown Graduate Program and the Biological Field Station main laboratory). College Camp and Thayer Farm are considered ON campus locations.

Program leader: Instructor of record on an approved credit-bearing faculty-led off-campus program.

Secondary program leader: Typically, a SUNY Oneonta faculty or qualified staff member who travels with the FLP off-campus.

Travel leader: Leader of approved non-credit off-campus travel.

Program/travel participants: Oneonta faculty, staff, and students participating in a program/travel.

Service provider: A third party organization under contract to provide or coordinate services such as housing, transportation, field trips, meals, etc.

Student: An individual enrolled at SUNY Oneonta (including students from other institutions who participate in programs as non-degree students).

Emergency: Any circumstance that poses an immediate or potential risk to, or has already affected the safety, security, or health of program/travel participants. Emergencies include, though are not confined to, the following types of events and incidents:

  • Disappearance or kidnapping of a participant
  • Criminal assaults against program participants
  • Sexual assault or rape
  • Serious illness, physical or emotional, injury or death
  • Hospitalization for any reason
  • Arrest, incarceration, or deportation
  • Terrorist threat or attack
  • Local political crisis
  • Natural disasters
  • Sudden evacuation of a participant or faculty member in response to a stateside emergency
  • Travel Warning issued by the U.S. State Department specific to a country, region or world-wide

A "perceived emergency" results from events that are not immediately threatening to the health or safety of students or staff, but which may be viewed as such by family and friends at home, or by the media. In many instances, a perceived emergency must be treated as a real emergency.

Non‐Emergency: Non‐emergencies are situations that do not require an immediate call to UPD but must be reported to the sponsoring office/department upon return. Please use the incident report form. This includes, but is not limited to, the following type of incidents:

  • Violation of Student Code of Conduct
  • Unusual behavior that does not reach a crisis
  • Alcohol or drug violation that does not reach a crisis
  • Illness or accident that does not reach a crisis

If you are questioning whether you should call, always err on the side of caution and call.

Procedures

Credit-Bearing Domestic Faculty-Led Programs

Credit-Bearing International Faculty-Led Programs

Non-Credit Domestic Travel (Overnight)

Non-Credit International Travel

Approval Matrix


TYPE OF TRAVEL

Credit-Bearing Overnight Domestic Faculty-Led Program

Credit-Bearing International Faculty-Led Program

Non-Credit International Travel

Approval Submission Timeline

At time of scheduling the course

1 year prior to program start date

3 months prior to travel

Approval Required

Chair & Dean

  1. Syllabus Approval Form: Chair & Dean
  2. Program Proposal: Director of Global Education, Chair, Dean, & Provost

Chair & Dean or sponsoring office director

Required Approval Documents

Request Packet

  • Request Form
  • Itinerary
  • Syllabus
  • Budget

Post-approval documents required (see Procedures)

  1. Syllabus Approval Form & Syllabus
  2. Program Proposal
    • Proposal Form
    • Itinerary
    • Syllabus
    • Budget
    • CVs

Post-approval documents required (see Procedures)

Non-Credit International Student Travel Approval Form

Post-approval documents required (see Procedures)

Filing

Approval Docs: Filed with Department Chair, Dean, & OGE.

Post Approval Docs: Filed with OGE

Student Roster/Emergency Contacts & Emergency Plan: Filed with UPD, OGE, & Dean

Approval Docs: Filed with Department Chair, Dean, & OGE

Post Approval Docs: Filed with OGE

Student Roster/Emergency Contacts & Emergency Plan: Filed with UPD, OGE, & Dean

Approval Docs: Filed with Department Chair, Dean or sponsoring office director, & OGE

Post Approval Docs: Filed with OGE & Dean or sponsoring office director

Student Roster/Emergency Contacts & Emergency Plan: Filed with UPD, OGE, & Dean or sponsoring office director

Forms

See “Contacts” below for the appropriate contact information and website links.

In addition to submitting travel information to the Student Travel Registry, additional forms may be required by offices in advance of travel depending on travel type and funding.

Contacts

Policy Owner

Finance and Administration Office – Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Controller – (607) 436-3114

Non-Credit Domestic Travel (overnight)

Credit-Bearing Domestic Faculty-Led Programs

OGE – Director of Global Education – (607) 436-3369

Credit-Bearing International Faculty-Led Programs

OGE – Director of Global Education – (607) 436-3369

Non-Credit International Travel

OGE – Director of Global Education – (607) 436-3369

Effective Dates

Approved by the President on 2/23/2021

Back to top