Travel-Embedded Courses
Travel-embedded courses offer students an innovative and hands-on way enhance classroom learning through supplemental activities, field trips, and excursions. Courses satisfying major and/or general education requirements are especially appealing, as are those which might help satisfy the Immersion requirement.
Process | Timeline | Proposal Components | Personnel Support
Process
The deadline to submit instructor and course proposals for a Fall 2025 travel-embedded course is Friday, January 17, 2025.
Proposing faculty will submit via a REDCap form. Following submission, chairs and directors will review and approve the course travel before a full review by the A&S Dean’s Office.
The Dean’s Office will review the course syllabus, itinerary, and budget for proposed travel. Faculty proposing international travel should consult Global Safety and develop a safety plan for the proposal submission. (Safety plans for domestic travel are also strongly recommended.)
Travel-embedded courses can use currently existing funding or internal grants to offset travel costs. Faculty may apply for A&S Immersion Mini-Grants to offset travel costs. Students can request funding via Immersion Vanderbilt if the course is tagged as an Immersive Course. The remaining costs will be covered via course fees.
Please contact Danny Coradazzi with any questions.
Timeline
January 17: Submit course proposal materials online by 11:59 p.m.
Early February: A&S Dean’s Office will notify you if your proposal is approved.
Proposal Components
All proposals must include:
- Syllabus
- Itinerary
- Budget
- Safety Plan (required for international, strongly recommended for domestic)
Syllabus
The syllabus should include detailed course policies and expectations, as well as a course calendar with daily readings, assignments, and clear information about field trips.
Itinerary
The itinerary should include travel dates, destinations (start and end dates for each), transportation, lodging, meals, and excursions/activities. For each itinerary item, indicate whether the cost is included or not included in the program fee.
Be sure to vet lodging, restaurants, modes of transportation, and excursions for quality, location, and safety—whether through personal knowledge (preferred) or online.
Note that travel-embedded courses adhere to the A&S and Vanderbilt Travel Policies.
Budget
Each travel-embedded course must be able to meet its own budget; that is, all costs associated with the course must be anticipated by the estimated budget. Any course that is unable to meet its own expenses or attract the required minimum number of students will be canceled. Please use the budget template and do not alter it in any way. Budgets not on the template will not be accepted.
A proposal budget must include:
- Transportation expenses
- Instructor airfare to/from destination
- Support faculty/staff airfare to/from destination
- Bus/rail/taxi/ride share (to/from destinations, activities, and excursions)
- Lodging expenses (hotels, hostels, etc.)
- Instructor lodging
- Support faculty/staff lodging
- Student lodging
- Food expenses
- Instructor meals/snacks
- Support faculty/staff meals/snacks
- Group breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
- Program expenses (activities and excursions)
- Entrance fees
- Excursion fees
- Tour company expenses
- Miscellaneous (instructor and support faculty/staff expenses only)
- Instructional supplies
- Postage
- Laundry
- Medical
- Cell phone
- Gratuity
- Other expenses
- Licenses
- Certifications
- Gear
Try to be comprehensive and realistic in your cost projections. Once a course proposal is approved and course promotion has begun, it is difficult to make any substantive changes.
Please note:
- IDS taxes and other university or college budget elements, tuition fees, instructor and TA salary, total variable and fixed expenses, and program fees will be calculated to determine the projected travel cost per student.
- Minimum student group size is 9 and maximum group size is 20. Faculty should recruit more than the required amount to account for attrition.
- Any course not meeting its break-even enrollment number, even after it has been approved, can be canceled. Courses may also be canceled at any time for one of the following reasons: (1) not approved by the department chair or the A&S Dean’s Office; (2) budget and itinerary not approved; (3) changes to budget or itinerary not approved; or (4) insufficient enrollment.
Safety Plan
The safety plan should include emergency information and procedures, such as contact information for faculty and TAs, local emergency services, embassies/consulates, lodging, and local hospitals. For questions about the safety plan, contact the Office of Global Safety.
Safety plans are required for international travel-embedded courses and strongly encouraged for domestic travel-embedded courses.
Personnel Course Support
It is highly recommended that course instructors engage a colleague to accompany the trip (a faculty member is preferred).
All travel-embedded courses require a second Vanderbilt employee (faculty or staff member) to attend the full duration of the trip. Proposing faculty should incorporate the costs of personnel course support into their budget (travel costs, food, etc.). However, these individuals do not receive a stipend of compensation for their participation.