Design A Study Abroad Program
If you are interested in taking a group of students on a faculty-directed study abroad program, the USU Office of Study Abroad is here to assist you with the details. You may already have a destination and site location in mind, or you are just in the initial preparation stages.
USU has many potential site locations with Partner Institutions , ISEP or Affiliates. It is possible to use facilities such as residence halls, or classroom space at one of our partners, or co-teach with a colleague from one of the partner institutions. Or you may want to consider another kind of location option, such as a small hotel or hostel with meeting room space. Past faculty leaders, with the knowledge and expertise that comes from completing a successful program, are very good resources.
At any point in your pre-planning activities, the Study Abroad Director is willing to meet with you and discuss the options and what needs to be done to build a study abroad program. In order to allow enough time for advertising, it is essential that spring break or summer short-term program details be finalized by the Study Abroad Fair in early September.
Here are some activities that the Office of Study Abroad can assist you with:
- Setting a program fee and determining program costs. Please see the budget expense sheet to begin planning the itemized details of your program expenses.
- Prepare program brochures and flyers, as well as disseminate information to students campus-wide via the web, hard copy promotional materials, Study Abroad Fair in September and January, information sessions, classroom visits, e-mail lists, study abroad walk-ins, and more.
- Provide information on medical insurance coverage for study abroad.
- Establish accounts for money transactions for program costs.
- Handle student inquiries, the application process, student program payments and registration and application of financial aid to the program fee.
- Arrange for many of the additional program payments for faculty expenses, tuition expenses (if needed), housing, meal and transportation costs. Please note that tuition expenses occur when the faculty-led program uses onsite teaching programs.
- Provide a pre-departure handbook for Semester/Year or Summer and pre-departure orientation sessions for students and faculty.
- Prepare an acceptance packet with liability forms and waivers as well as a student evaluation form to ascertain student satisfaction with the program.
- Arrange for group airfare options. Although the airfare is not built into the program fee, the Study Abroad Office researches the best fares, and assists students in getting the lowest airfare possible. This may result in a fare that many students decide to take advantage of, and this becomes the "group" fare, especially when the faculty director chooses this option.
Faculty Responsibilities
Faculty directors will be solely responsible for developing the academic portion of the study abroad program. Faculty directors will also be responsible for course and credit approvals by their department head for the semester during which the study abroad program will take place. Faculty directors must provide a copy of the approval, in writing, to the Office of Study Abroad for final approval at the Provost level. Any new course approvals will have to be first approved through the appropriate university channels before department approval is possible. Faculty directors should prepare a program prospectus with the course approval, and submit that along with the completed budget to the Office of Study Abroad.
Faculty leaders will also be expected to promote their own program, recruit students, and notify colleagues about the opportunity. It is possible to recruit students from other universities to participate on a study abroad program sponsored by Utah State . For a small additional fee, off-campus students can be registered for one term, the study abroad term, without completing the full admission process for USU.
In conclusion:
For more information, contact Kay Forsyth in the Study Abroad Office TSC 313, 435-797-1253
or Kay.Forsyth@usu.edu.
We are here to help you make the process go smoothly and efficiently.
Please note that to use our services; there will be a Study Abroad Application fee of $100 charged to each student applicant.
