Student Sponsored International Travel

I. General Application of Travel Rule

In compliance with state law and Campus Policy, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Student Travel Rule 13.04.99.K1, the following provisions apply to any student who travels internationally for an activity or event that is organized and/or sponsored by the university (including, but not limited to, travel under the scope and/or direction of a college, department, class, office, learning community, study abroad program, registered organization, or their representatives) which meets at least one of the following criteria:

The travel is organized through or funded by the university; or
The travel will use a vehicle owned or leased by the university; or
The travel is organized and/or funded by a student organization registered at the university.

These provision apply to faculty, staff and students who engage in transporting students to an off-campus and international location for any university business or related travel activities as noted below. It is the responsibility of the entity (e.g., university department, recognized student organization, academic program, etc.) that sponsors the organized student travel to occurred compliance with these procedures.

All travel paperwork must be turned in to the Office of International Studies & Programs no less than thirty (30) business days before the date of departure. All paperwork will be reviewed for compliance with travel rules. Departments, programs, and/or organizations will be notified of any areas of non-compliance with the paperwork. All areas of non-compliance must be rectified prior to the travel departure. Failure to rectify any areas of non-compliance will result in the trip being designated as "not approved". Trips designated as "not approved" will be notified to the Deans of Students office for further action and no department/organization/entity shall use university resources to fund and/or support the trip.

International travel paperwork must be completed on each person attending the trip, and driver record checks must be conducted, in advance, on all individuals who may be operating a vehicle at any point during the trip, including, driving to and from the airport.

The University Police Department will maintain a list of eligible drivers. Drivers must possess a valid driver's license, and either submit a driver's license check form (Form 6) that authorizes UPD to verify a Texas driver's license with the student international travel packet, or the driver may submit verification of a license by submitting documentation provided by the state where the driver is licensed. Verifications expire one year after the date of the original verification was received, unless a driver's license expires, which will require a new verification. The driver is responsible for reporting any changes to the status of a license (revocations, suspensions, additional restrictions added/removed, etc.) to UPD.

The University Travel Office provides a weekly report of all "employee with students" travel designations entered through CONCUR. In order to match the student international travel paperwork to the University Travel Office paperwork, a CONCUR trip identification number must be provided on the Trip Itinerary form when travel card is being used for expenses on student sponsored international travel.

II. Registration Process

The registration process for all university-sponsored, international student travel has transitioned to a digital process within the Via Global management system.

Please review the below steps on how to inform our office of your upcoming travel plans and to initiate the appropriate registration process:

All employees traveling internationally with students on behalf of TAMUK are required to complete the travel request process through Concur and will need to include the following information on their requests:

Request Header
- Select either the 'faculty with students' or 'staff with students' option under the Traveler Type field
- Select the appropriate option under the Student Travel Activity Type field
- Input comment, "see attached", on the Non-Employee/Student Traveler field
Required Attachments
- Student Traveler List - Attach a list of the students traveling internationally including their full name and K-number (K00XXXXXX)
- Travel Itinerary - Attach a daily schedule of activities with locations to be visited or the conference agenda
- Export Controls Screenings - Attach the appropriate export controls screenings as required by TAMU System policy.

Once submitted, Export Controls will route the employee's Concur Travel Request to the Office of Global Engagement for review and approval to ensure the above information was submitted correctly.

Non-Academic International Group Travel is considered any international student travel being coordinated by a TAMUK entity such as a student group/organization, service unit, academic department, and/or college not offering academic credit for the international experience.

The TAMUK entity sponsoring the non-academic group international travel will need to complete this process with the Office of Global Engagement to register the upcoming international student travel, especially if any TAMUK employees are to be traveling with them.

To begin, the primary contact assigned to coordinate the international travel on behalf of the non-academic group will need to submit the 'Non-Academic International Group Travel Registration' form in our Via Global platform.

The primary contact does not need to be traveling internationally with the group to complete this registration form but will need to list the Concur Request ID# for the main employee traveling with the students, if applicable.

Click the button below to create a profile and initiate the registration process:

Non-Academic International Group Travel Registration Form

Important Note: You will need to select the "Explore Programs" icon on your profile page to access the 'Non-Academic International Group Travel Registration' form. Do not click the "Register Travel" icon as it is not the correct option for completing this process and will not register the non-academic group's international student travel with the university.

Once submitted, all students listed as travelers on the Non-Academic International Group Travel registration form will need to complete their own individual registration travel registration (see next section) to finalize this process.

TAMUK students being sponsored by TAMUK to travel internationally, either independently or with a non-academic group, will need to create a profile in our Via Global platform and complete the below registration form:

Individual Student International Travel Registration Form

Important Note: You will need to select the "Explore Programs" icon on your profile page to access the 'Individual Student International Travel Registration' form. Do not click the "Register Travel" icon as it is not the correct option for completing this process and will not register your international student travel with the university.

After the Individual Student Travel Registration form have been submitted, this will complete the registration process for any student traveling internationally on behalf of the university, either independently or with a non-academic group.

The Office of Global Engagement will then create a travel plan in the Via Global System that is tracked by UPD, Risk Management, and Dean of Students while abroad.

Please email studyabroad@tamuk.edu regarding any questions or to request further support in completing the registration process.

III. Additional International Travel Resources

The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to allow U.S. citizens and nationals traveling abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. All travelers are encouraged to register with the program. Americans living abroad can register with their nearest embassy or consulate through the U.S. Department of State's website. By doing so, you will receive updated information on travel and security within the country to which you are heading. You also make it easier for the U.S. Embassy (and your family) to locate you in case of an emergency or disaster.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville wants all students and employees traveling internationally to be safe. Please keep the following phone numbers and email addresses on you while overseas. Also view emergency information from the Department of State.

TAMUK Emergency Contacts
TAMUK EMERGENCY CONTACTS
Contact	Contact Info
9-1-1 Abroad	Countries and Phone Numbers
TAMUK Police Department (UPD)	+1 (361) 593-2611 upd@tamuk.edu
CISI Insurance - only available if plan was purchased	+1 (855) 327-1411 Outside U.S.: +1 (312) 935-1703 mediassist-usa@axa-assistance.us

The following online resources related to health and safety for international travel.

Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT)
Provides road travel safety information, including country-specific road travel reports and a Road Safety Toolbox for the study abroad community.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Travelers' Health
Includes vaccination recommendations and information on the latest outbreaks of diseases around the world. Also provides health information on specific destinations.

Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
This Federal Advisory Committee promotes cooperation in the area of security between U.S. business and private sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State as well as other U.S. government agencies. Provides region and country-specific news and reports, and a resource library on various topics.

U.S. Department of State Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets
Lists travel warnings for Americans in light of political unrest or health issues in individual countries as well as announcements for particular regions.

In addition, please visit the Nations Online site which pulls together global travel warning information from 10 different national governments plus the World Health Organization.