UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — All faculty and staff members embarking on Penn State-affiliated international travel after June 30 will be required to enroll their trip in the Travel Safety Network (TSN), according to a new international travel policy adopted by the University.
The new policy went into effect upon its publication on May 16 and serves to codify and formalize existing international travel guidelines for University employees and students. In addition to employees, all students are also required to enroll University-related international travel in the TSN prior to leaving the country.
“This really is a codification of the best advice and best practices that we’ve always told people who are traveling on behalf of the University,” said Gary Langsdale, University risk officer. “There are a number of requirements that we’ve had previously that weren’t really in policy, so this puts everything all in one place.”
The creation of the policy was a collaborative effort between the Office of Global Programs, the Office of Ethics and Compliance, and the Office of Risk Management, with input from the Office of General Counsel. The Faculty Senate Committee on Global Programs also was engaged in the process and endorsed the policy.
“In a world that is becoming increasingly more dangerous, not less, and the rapidly increasing engagements of our faculty, staff and students across the globe, we need to do everything possible to keep our people safe while traveling,” said Michael Adewumi, vice provost for Global Programs. “The various elements of this policy, when adhered to, will help us to optimize our support infrastructure to assist our folks wherever they are in the world.
“I am truly delighted that we can now be counted among our peers in terms of having best practices to support the growing number of travel-based engagements of our people around the world.”
The new policy mandates enrollment in the TSN for all trips leaving the country on July 1 or later. After June 30, employees who do not enroll their international trip in the TSN before they leave the U.S. will not have their travel expenses reimbursed by the University.
Faculty and staff members who already began their international travel prior to July 1, and who did not enroll their trips in the TSN prior to leaving the country, will still be reimbursed for their travel expenses. Only trips that begin on or after July 1 are subject to the new policy.
“The whole purpose of the Travel Safety Network is so that we can help faculty, staff and students if they need help overseas,” Langsdale said. “For example, if there’s an earthquake in Chile, we can figure out how many people affiliated with Penn State are in Chile so that we can reach out to them and ensure they’re OK. That’s the only reason we’re collecting the information, so that we can help if there’s a problem.”
Other important aspects of the policy include:
- Consistent with University Policy AD89, all enrolled trips in the TSN will be evaluated for potential export control risks. The export review, to be completed by the University Export Compliance Office, will be triggered when an international trip is logged into the TSN and upon completion of the export compliance forms embedded in the TSN. As a result of the integration of this review into the TSN, travelers will no longer need to complete a paper export review request form and submit it to the Export Compliance Office in order to comply with AD89, thereby simplifying and streamlining the process for both the traveler and the compliance staff.
- Faculty and staff members leading students abroad, as well as the students traveling with them, will be required to participate in an Emergency Preparedness Workshop run by the Office of Global Programs at least once every two years. While not new, the workshop is now mandatory as part of the policy for faculty/staff members leading students internationally. University employees not supervising students but traveling internationally for research, conferences or other purposes are not required to participate in the workshop.
- For international trips with five or more undergraduate students, at least two faculty/staff members must be in attendance.
- When a trip is enrolled in the TSN, a notification will be sent to the Office of Risk Management if a destination is on the insurance industry’s list of restricted/dangerous countries, opening a dialogue between the Office of Risk Management and the faculty/staff member to ensure the employee’s safety.
- Spouses and children of faculty, staff and students will rarely be permitted to accompany an academic trip where students are also present, although there is a process for an exception through the vice provost for Global Programs. This provision is designed to ensure that full attention is given to the oversight of students and does not apply to international travel where students are not present.
To view the new policy in its entirety, visit https://guru.psu.edu/policies/InternationalTravelRequirements.html.