Educator Leader Escort of Students on International Travel
At least one Educator Leader on a Messiah international travel group opportunity (such as cross-cultural courses, service trips, or Collaboratory site teams) is to accompany their student group during travel. This applies both to the trip en route to the program site, and the return trip back to the United States.
Rationale for this policy includes the following:
- For many students this is a first time abroad, and a very brief introduction at that. The committee did not feel comfortable having the group troubleshoot any related travel complications on their own.
- These are Messiah-run international experiences. The sense was that our responsibility for students is even greater when they participate in programs fully run and managed by the University.
- Many, though not all, groups will need van transportation back from the gateway airport. Several glitches have occurred in these arrangements over the past several years which are more effectively managed when an Educator is present.
Exception: Educator leaders who do not have a co-leader to accompany students on return flights and who are participating in on-going, University-related work in country, or who are visiting family in their home country may stay on after the conclusion of the experience under the following conditions:
- Students must have a direct flight back to the United States without any international lay-overs;
- Educator leaders must accompany students to the airport in-country (the origin of the direct flight leg) and ensure that their flight successfully departs for the U.S.;
- It must be clearly articulated to students prior to course departure that they are required to arrange their own transportation home from the U.S. arrival airport at the conclusion of the course or that a University fleet driver and vehicle has been arranged and is waiting;
- Students should not pay additional course fees to accommodate the Educator staying in-country at the conclusion of the course (i.e., the cost of a direct flight to the U.S. must not be higher than a flight with multiple international layovers).