Travel Approval
Guidelines for Unit Applications
The University of Minnesota encourages its students to participate in education experiences abroad. To minimize health and safety risks, University policy requires students, or faculty leading students, traveling to countries on the U.S. Department of State's travel warning list to seek special permission.
The International Travel Risk Assessment and Advisory Committee will review requests to travel to these countries. Applicants are encouraged to apply early. The committee review process commonly takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Approval Criteria
The application must be strongly linked to academic program goals and the concerns raised in the questions below must be adequately addressed and documented. In the absence of a compelling case and justification, it is unlikely that the committee will approve the request.
Note: If a proposal is approved, it is approved under the conditions at the time of approval. If a new travel warning is issued, the proposal must be reconsidered. If the program is ongoing and the country remains under a travel warning, the program must be re-approved each time an individual or group of students plans to participate.
Application Contents
See below for detailed information about each requirement
- Proposal
- Program overview and/or syllabus
- Safety, emergency, and evacuation plan
- Letter of endorsement from the department chair
- Letter of endorsement from the dean of the college
- Additional materials to support the petition, as needed
Proposal Submission
The proposal should be submitted electronically six to eight weeks before proposed travel to Stacey Tsantir at stsantir@umn.edu
If electronic submission is not an option, submit hard copies to:
Education Abroad Suspension Committee
c/o Stacey Tsantir
Office of International Programs
100 University International Center
331 17th Avenue Southeast
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Application Details
The proposal must generally show the academic value of the program and how the structure of the program and safety procedures in place mitigate the concerns of the travel warning. Requests associated with sites not affiliated with a university or established sponsoring agency and requests to countries with high-level State Department warnings require substantial documentation.
- Proposal
The proposal, a written rationale stating the need for the proposed program in the specific site, should be written in essay or letter form and should include the answers to the following questions:- How many students do you estimate will participate?
- What are the proposed dates of the program?
- Is this opportunity intended as a one-time event or a continuing program?
- What are the compelling academic reasons for the experience in the specific location?
- What alternative sites were considered and why will they not meet academic needs?
- Will the program count as credit toward the degree or toward meeting a general requirement for the degree?
- How does the structure of the program and safety procedures in place mitigate the concerns of the travel warning?
- Program overview
and/or syllabus
- Safety, emergency, and evacuation plan
U of M units should provide documentation and procedures regarding safety, security, and evacuation. If working through the Learning Abroad Center or education abroad office on your campus, please attach the evacuation plan you create with them. If traveling independently, please use the sample template (PDF) as a model for creating your own plan.
- Letter of endorsement from
department chair
U of M units should submit a letter of endorsement from the department chair.
- Letter of endorsement from dean
U of M units should submit a letter of endorsement from the dean of the college that is leading the program. If the group will include graduate students, a letter from the dean of the Graduate School is optional. This letter need not endorse the safety of the location but simply the academic value of the program.
- Additional materials
U of M units should submit any additional materials appropriate for support of the petition. These would include any additional information that would be useful for the committee as background in making a decision, such as any prior relationships that have been established with a site or host institution.