Call for Proposals for Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs

• CGE encourage TU Colleges to propose a course that can be offered every year with rotating faculty members. This could be a lower level, general requirement course, that most students need to take.
• The Fall & Spring Break/Extension faculty-led model for study abroad has accelerated in growth due to the affordable model and minimal intrusion on summer months leaving time for internships and work. Also, this year we can take advantage of the new January term!
• While traditional summer faculty-led programs can be offered, the costs associated with such programs make offering them very challenging. All faculty are encouraged to consider the new January term, semester break and extension models.  This model provides integration from lessons learned from spring/fall courses into a short-term immersion into the topic study in a global context.  The cost of this model is affordable as no additional tuition is charged.
• Successful courses begin the planning process at least 12-18 months in advance.
• Departments/programs with a limited number of majors will want to tailor their program to non-majors and/or consider collaborating with other units to build an interdisciplinary program. Block courses have the highest enrollments.
• When a faculty member is on sabbatical in the semester leading up to the course, recruitment is often unsuccessful.
• Offering a program every other year does not hinder momentum.

All Faculty-led programs must meet each of the following criteria:

• Term:
  • Spring Term courses: Courses are offered during the spring semester but contact hours are adjusted to accommodate travel during Spring break (a minimum of 7 days in total duration) or Spring extension (travel in May at the end of the semester, with a minimum of 7 days in country). Starting this year, travel can also happen in January, before the term begin (a minimum of 7 days in total duration).
  • Fall Term Courses: Courses are offered during the Fall semester but contact hours are adjusted to accommodate travel during Fall break (a minimum of 7 days in total duration) or Fall extension (travel in December at the end of the semester, with a minimum of 7 days in country). Starting this year, travel can also happen in January, after the term (a minimum of 7 days in total duration).
  • January Term: Course is a stand-alone January term offering; all contact hours need to be included in the 2-week term during the travel period.
  • Summer Term: Course needs to have at least 3 weeks of duration during the travel period.
• Course(s) offered must meet at least one TU Core Curriculum requirement and/or fulfill major or minor requirement(s).
• New courses offered must be approved by the Curriculum Committee and the college Dean no later than October 1, 2024.
• Faculty must be full-time at TU.
• When creating your syllabus, note that time spent on field trips or academic excursions directly related to the course syllabus can count as “contact hours” on a 2-to-1 ratio (i.e., for every two hours spent on an excursion, one hour may be counted as a contact hour). Total contact hours should not exceed six in one day.  TU requires 15 contact hours per each credit hour awarded.
• Have a minimum enrollment to meet all of the course expenditures. Usually, the minimum enrollment is 10 students.
• All students enrolled in the course must complete the travel component.
• The faculty members(s) teaching the faculty-led program must be teaching on the TU campus for the academic year prior to the term abroad
• Typically, a maximum of one faculty-led program per department/program will be offered. Faculty may need to coordinate a rotation with their department for offering more than one program so that the programs do not compete against each other. Exceptions will be made by the Director of the CGE in consultation with the college Deans.
• Faculty-led programs must utilize the site to enhance the learning experience, be reasonable in terms of cost to students, and balance academics with cultural
• Faculty must participate in the TU Faculty-led courses training including crisis management training and will be subject to TU’s Risk Management policies and procedures.
• Faculty are strongly encouraged to integrate some aspect of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the United Nations in the course curriculum.
• Please refer to the Faculty-led Study Abroad Programs Policies and Procedures document for more details.

Once approved, Faculty leading programs will be provided the following support from the Center for Global Engagement:

1. Provision of resources available for selecting a program provider.
2. Budget management for the trip expenses.
3. Recruitment strategies for faculty use in promoting their
4. Study abroad fairs to provide information on course
5. On-line travel registration and logistical support to
6. Regular listing of students who have expressed interest in your
7. Support with program logistics.
8. Pre-departure orientation and collection of required documents from
9. Periodic updates on policies, changes, and other pertinent

• 2026 Intent Form Fillable – Due January 15, 2025
• 2026 Proposal Form – Due March 1, 2025