Educational Travel

General Information

Background

In Fall 2002, College of the Canyons began formalizing the process of faculty proposing and offering educational travel trips.  Generally, the experience consisted of students participating in a field trip abroad for a week to ten days during the completion of a course.  Until this time, educational travel trips were initiated and conducted by individual instructors committed to providing students such opportunities.  The other opportunity, prior to 2002, for COC faculty to participate in study abroad was through the College’s membership in the study abroad consortium offered through the Citrus College Semester Abroad program.   Through the consortium, College of the Canyon students could enroll in courses offered by Citrus College for a semester study abroad in England, France, and Spain.  When one of the College of the Canyons faculty members was selected to teach abroad, COC covered a portion of the instructor’s salary and filled the temporarily vacated teaching load with adjunct instructors.

As short-term trips gained interest and increased in frequency and variety of destinations, College of the Canyons determined that a formalized process was needed.  This formalization necessitated more diligence with regard to planning, safety, accountability, program assessment and evaluation.  Carole Long, Dean of Instruction, therefore, invited faculty members to serve as representatives from each division, as well as other resource persons to form the Educational Travel Advisory Committee (ETAC).  Since then ETAC developed the following practices and procedures:

A.  A process for informing faculty of educational travel opportunities and for evaluating trip proposals.

B.  A process for broadening faculty and student participation.

C.  A procedure for prioritizing and assigning trip requests on the calendar over multiple years.

D.  An Educational Travel Evaluation Form for student participants.

E.  An interdisciplinary approach as another option for the way educational travel trips are offered.

F.  Cost effective travel insurance options.

G.  Strategies for effectively covering course content in courses shorter than a traditional 17-week semester such as combining online/in class/on-site teaching and learning methodologies in a single course.

H.  A link on the COC Internet to promote educational travel and easier access for faculty to obtain trip proposal forms and the minutes from the ETAC meetings via the Intranet.

I.  Regular meetings of educational travel faculty and administrators to plan and promote activities.

J.  More opportunities for a greater number of students and faculty to plan and participate in educational study abroad. 

K.  An expanded variety of destinations and departure dates.

The Educational Travel Program (ET) also joined the California Community College International Education Organization to increase the programs resources and expand the network.  Additionally, the formalizing of the Educational Travel Program has increased it credibility, viability, and cohesiveness in the community served, and there is a more collegial focus perpetuated through the efforts and contributions of the Educational Travel Advisory Committee.

Since 2002, ten faculty have provided 12 trips to 13 countries and offered 18 different courses.  Destinations have included Nicaragua, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Italy, France, Costa Rica, Galapagos, Ecuador, Australia, and Mexico. Trips are currently calendared through 2008 and include China, Massachusetts, and Yosemite, Ireland, England, and Spain.

Structure

The Dean of Instruction served as the Chair of the Educational Travel Advisory Committee, and the Distance Learning Coordinator served as the Co-Chair.  In 2006, the Dean of Instruction position increased in responsibilities, and this position was converted to Vice President of Academic Affairs.  The Vice President of Academic Affairs will be the Chair for the ETAC, which will be co-chaired by another advisory member.

In order to sustain faculty participation across divisions, the ETAC co-chairs may extend an invitation to the division or interested individuals in the division to participate as active members.  However, if a faculty member expresses an interest in participating as a regular member, one of the co-chairs will present the request to the advisory committee, which will consider the composition and size of the group before determining if an additional regular member should be added.  The ETAC generally meets twice a month, with some meetings opened to “affiliates”, i.e., faculty who have made trip proposals or have an interest in educational travel but do not participate on a regular basis.

Purpose

  1. Assist with the development of processes to encourage and facilitate faculty and student involvement in educational travel opportunities across departments and divisions.

  2. Serve as a resource to ensure the success of educational travel projects.

  3. Assist with assessing needs, acquiring support, and evaluating educational travel activities.

  4. Assist with program expansion and improvement.


Can't find it? Try the Cougar Search Engine

 

College of the Canyons

Valencia campus:

(661) 259-7800

• 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355

Canyon Country campus:

(661) 476-3800

• 17200 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, CA 91351