Getting ready

Classroom visits provide potential participants with a brief glimpse of the program and usually will invite them to an information session. Students are very responsive when professors talk about their own programs, however, when necessary, the Global Learning team is happy to help with these as well.

Visits can be as short as 5 minutes – just enough to give a brief overview of the program and provide follow-up materials containing follow up information and links to the program webpage.   

Your Global Learning Advisor will work with you to design and print marketing materials (such as posters and postcards) that authentically and attractively represent your program. We will order the print materials for you and deliver them to your office at the beginning of September so that you are ready to provide them to your students and colleagues at the beginning of the fall semester. We will also be able to provide you with digital materials that you can share with your colleagues and students on D2L. 

In order to take the guess work out of your marketing materials creation, we work closely with UCalgary Brand to ensure that all print and digital materials meet UCalgary visual identity standards. 

In an effort to reduce paper waste and conserve resources, we will be reducing the quantity of print materials that we use going forward. We are currently working on ways to expand our selection or digital resources that will help you to promote your program to students on and off campus. 

Your Global Learning Advisor will help you develop your individual program webpage. These pages are designed to show detailed information about your program, answer common questions, and link students to other important resources. It will also allow students to apply for your program through our registration system, RAISA. 

The Global Learning homepage has a program finder that will help students to search programs available each academic year. Your page will be included in the selection of programs searchable in the finder when your webpage is live. 

The three most commonly used platforms by students are Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Our advisors and past instructors have found social media to be a useful tool to connect with prospective students and market upcoming events.

While highly engaging and widely used by many students on campus, social media is limited in its reach, as not all students will have an account or be active with all platforms. For this reason, it is best to use social media in partnership with other marketing strategies.

Within UCalgary: 

Using channels within your department is a good strategy to find potential students that would be interested in the courses offered on your GSP. You can work with your Global Learning Advisor to develop language or digital posters that can be distributed to students by email, newsletters, or posted to a D2L page. 

Outside UCalgary: 

We encourage you to use your professional connections outside of the institution to promote your program. We welcome students from other post-secondary institutions from within Canada -- especially other Alberta institutions. Your Global Learning Advisor can walk you through the process of accepting students from other institutions if you have non-UCalgary students interested in joining your program. 

Once recruitment for the program is full, you and the students will receive instructions by email for purchasing your flights. The email will include a travel information form that you must fill out and return to the travel agent in person or electronically.

All flights must be arranged through our designated travel agent. Everyone is required to travel together from Calgary for risk management reasons 

The cost of instructor flights and insurance are built into the program budget. We work with the travel agent to book and pay for instructor flights for all in program flights. The budget covers the equivalent of an economy round trip between Calgary to the destination. You may also wish to change your dates in order to stay on longer after the program ends. Be aware that you will be responsible for any deviation of price from any upgrades or change of return dates.

Students are permitted to travel on after the end of the program but they must book their return flight to Canada through the travel agent assigned to your program. If your students travel on, they are responsible for communicating their plans to the travel agent at the time they submit their air letter (travel information form). They are also responsible for submitting their assignments by the dates on the course outline unless an extension is provided by you.

Your Global Learning Advisor will host one mandatory pre-departure session that will include you as an instructor, teaching assistants (if applicable), and students. This session will focus on intercultural capacity development, safety abroad, conflict resolution, and group dynamics. The nature of this session will vary based on the nature of your program and the region of the world that you may be visiting. We will work with you to design an orientation that meets the needs of your program - both online and/or travel. 

Students will also be required to complete online modules on D2L, organized by UCI Study Abroad, before their departure.

Your group may also need additional sessions depending on your programming. This may include, first aid training, travel clinics, or even swim assessments. Your Global Learning Advisor will work with you and our stakeholders to make these arrangements for your students.

You will be provided with instructions to input your request for travel advance into the PeopleSoft system by the GSP Operations Specialist approximately four weeks prior to departure. When there is more than one instructor, the cash advance is usually given to just one instructor. When setting this up, you will be asked to identify how much cash must be insured if you must travel with currency on your person. All accounts regarding finances must be settled, after your program ends, as soon as possible with the GSP Operations Specialist.

Managing cash advance funds while in the field in crucial to the program’s success as all programs are cost recovery.

Before departure you will receive a cash advance breakdown detailing the different categories that the money you have been advanced is intended for. This will likely mirror the remaining expenses to your vendors. 

Departmental Responsibilities

Communicating with your department to make sure your courses are timetabled can be done at this point. Your Global Learning Advisor will need to know the name of the department contact responsible for helping with student registration as well. Lastly, you will need to make arrangements for any classes you plan on having on campus before departing on your program.

You Global Learning Advisor is more than happy to help you navigate this process. Reach out if you have any questions.

Academic Work

You are welcome to hold academic sessions to prepare your group for their in-field experience as you see fit. However, group study programs are not allowed to have work assigned to students that will count towards their grade prior to the start of the semester dates in which your program falls into. In the past professors have hosted a meet and greet, packing sessions, an in depth program overview, or a discussion or readings (just to name a few activities) with students in six to eight weeks leading up to their departure.

If you would like to set an academic foundation for your students before they leave, you can assign readings, discussions, and D2L activities. Some professors even take the week before their departure to conduct classes with their students.

A comprehensive Emergency Response Plan must be completed and submitted to Study Abroad at least two weeks prior to departure. It should include: 

• a detailed accommodation itinerary
• identification and management of hazards
• in-field phone numbers

You may request a travel briefing from Risk Management and Insurance if submitted 3 weeks in advance through the following link. This is highly recommended. You can also request a risk assessment from International SOS when you are putting together your response plan. Risk Management can provide you with our access code for International SOS when you are putting together your Emergency Response Plan. 

In addition to the travel briefing, you may use the details from the Risk Considerations section of your proposal as a start. We also recommend using Global Affairs Canada, International SOS, and any other information sourced from relevant organizations (World Health Organization, Centre for Disease Control, etc.) to create an informed and up to date plan with the current conditions of your destination(s) close to your date of departure. 

An entire term could go by between when you talk to a student in an information session to when the group needs to travel together. We encourage instructors to keep in touch with them and give students the chance to meet each other in some capacity. Holding meetings and facilitating group discussions online are great ways of doing that! This also has the added benefit of bolstering students' excitement for their program, and making the travel experience smoother for everyone as the group is familiar with each other in advance.

You will need to make sure you complete any additional items required from UCI Study Abroad such as: 

• Registering yourself as the instructor of the program in RAISA
• Providing a copy of your passport
• Register to drive with Risk Management (if necessary)
• Reviewing the Travel website from Risk Management
• Completing First Aid certification^*
• Getting any required vaccinations for travel completed^**
• Register your travel with the Registry of Canadian Abroad

_{*It is a requirement that one member of the instructional staff on a program be first aid certified.                             
**Please note that you must arrange this independently and it will not be paid for by the University of Calgary.}