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
-
Assist with
the development of processes to encourage and facilitate
faculty and student involvement in educational travel
opportunities across departments and divisions.
-
Serve as a
resource to ensure the success of educational travel
projects.
-
Assist with
assessing needs, acquiring support, and evaluating
educational travel activities.
-
Assist with
program expansion and improvement.
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