Build a Team for Success in Educational Travel

Robert E Baker, Director & Professor, Sport Rec & Tourism Management and Craig Esherick, Associate Professor at George Mason University

Robert E Baker, Director & Professor, Sport Rec & Tourism Management and Craig Esherick, Associate Professor at George Mason University

Educational travel manifests itself in two predominant formats: full-semester study abroad programs and more concentrated study tours.

Study Abroad

Full-semester study abroad programs provide abundant opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the culture of a single destination. Your home institution will collaborate with a partnering institution or third-party placement service to determine the tuition amount and receipt. Details of the parameters of any exchange agreement would need to be spelled out explicitly. The students' living arrangements, food and other costs and expenses must be addressed. An important note is the curriculum equivalency of the courses to be taken. Students need to expand their knowledge base through local courses in a full semester of study abroad and also make progress toward their degree by collaboratively assuring that the courses taken will count.

A unique academic pursuit available as part of a study abroad experience is through a student internship. Many of the same details such as the tuition, exchange parameters, living arrangements, curriculum equivalency, and other student costs are relevant to this experience also. Another element that must be arranged among the stakeholders involved is whether the internship is paid or volunteer. In any case, the internship must fulfill an educational and professional need. It must conform to established standards in that it warrants academic credit.

Concentrated Study Tour

The study tour provides a condensed time abroad, yet attempts to provide access to locations and experiences that are relevant to the students’ educational interests and personal and career development. Establishing a feasible time frame for travel is essential. A study tour should never interfere with students’ traditional course schedule. In planning a study tour, its alignment with the curriculum should be a primary consideration. The academic program must determine relevant course content for the study tour and how many credit hours be assigned. The locations and experiences should not be repeated in the event of repeat student travelers. If there are to be pre- and post-travel lessons, and/or on-site lectures, they should be scheduled and planned in advance of the travel.

The cost of the study tour must be pre-determined. Expenses include transportation, transfers, accommodations, food, entertainment, and learning experiences. It is necessary to have a critical mass of student travelers to ensure the viability of the study tour. It is an option to collaborate with one or more other institutions in order to generate enough interest to cover expenses, including those of the study tour supervisor and/or chaperone. Programs must engage in marketing the study tour to generate student interest. Working with professionals in planning a study tour can generate more interest and reduce costs in the long run.

Teams for Success

Key academic personnel in the conduct of any study abroad endeavor include the faculty supervisor, the course instructor(s), and in the event of a study tour, the travel chaperone. These roles should be clearly stated within the institution as the study abroad program is planned. Many institutions have offices for international travel or for study abroad, while others have individuals with assigned roles to facilitate semesters abroad. These individuals must work as a team within the institution in the planning and implementation of study abroad programming. The items such internal partners typically oversee include a) Course designations for credit; b) Travel policies, insurance, etc.; c) Supervision of planning, execution, and internal marketing; d) Instruction of relevant content (pre-, post-, or during); and e) In the event of a study tour, chaperoning to escort the group on behalf of the institution.

In addition to the internal partners, it is most often preferable for an institution to engage an external travel partner. The external partner can be another academic institution designated for a semester abroad. The partner would assist in addressing such responsibilities as a) Advising (faculty or administrator support); b) Course scheduling; c) Living arrangements; d) Transportation needs; and e) Access to optional online courses. The external partner might also be a designated internship site. These partners must also assist with such responsibilities as a) Onsite supervision; b) Living arrangements; d) Transportation; and e) Virtual site visits.

"The study tour provides a condensed time abroad, yet attempts to provide access to locations and experiences that are relevant to the students’ educational interests and personal and career development."

A third type of external partner is a professional travel planner and tour organizer. These professional partners arrange for all hotels, and transportation, and assist with many of the experiential learning opportunities as well. They plan an itinerary, including the logistics for various locations and the experiences to be offered. At times, these study tours can be packaged offerings. Or, providing the added benefits of a true partnership, the professional travel organizer can plan and implement a customized study tour specifically aligned for an established group.

An example of a student in a semester abroad setting includes two universities, one in Virginia, USA, and one in Sydney, Australia. A student from George Mason University was taking a semester of relevant courses at the University of Technology-Sydney. While living in Sydney for a semester, she also took an online class at George Mason. The institutions cooperated to make for a valuable and thorough student experience. There are many examples, bi-directionally, of these types of international semesters abroad. In some instances, institutions even have exchange programs with commitments to send students to their partner institutions. Another example is a student from the USA choosing to complete an internship overseas, in this case, in Taipei.

A sample study tour program found a group of 18 sport management students, 12 from one university and six from another university, on a collaborative tour of Europe. The external partner, LanCon, provided the itinerary relevant to the needs of the programs. This European Model of Sport tour visited sports stadiums and FIFA headquarters and attended sporting events in several countries in Europe. Students were guided by a LanCon representative and had home faculty serve as chaperones. They had numerous guest lectures and active learning experiences.

Conclusion

Working together as a team yields many benefits for student travelers and programs alike. For example, students gain knowledge that is complementary to the standard program curriculum. They expand their knowledge base on specific subjects and regions. Perhaps most importantly, students learn about a different culture as they immerse themselves in the location and/or experiences provided. In addition to students, the programs themselves garner benefits. Studying abroad enhances the opportunity for the internationalization of all program content. Study abroad programs increase program visibility in foreign destinations, ultimately diversifying the student population. Study abroad programs provide students with direct access to diverse learning experiences.