Procedures for Independent Student Travel

Lafayette College encourages students to engage in independent research and scholarship. Whether traveling internationally or domestically, students should follow the below steps. Contact studyabroad@lafayette.edu with any further questions.

Procedure when traveling abroad to other countries

When College-funded independent research, internship, or scholarship is taking place abroad, students must register their travel with IOCE through the Study Abroad Portal.

Registration will include:

International Travelers should review the U.S. Department of State and Center for Disease Control‘s websites for country-specific information.

If your trip is targeting a high-risk destination, additional information, forms, and approvals may be required.

Please note that you need to start the above procedure at least two months before your scheduled departure so as to allow enough time to go over the above steps and allow the Office of International & Off-Campus Education to assist you with this process. Failure to do may cause a delay in the trip approval, making it necessary for you to postpone your trip.

Procedure when traveling domestically in the USA

When such scholarship requires students to travel unaccompanied by a member of Lafayette’s faculty or staff and to spend at least one night off-campus, and if their travel plans are limited to the US territory, the following procedure must be observed:

  1. Sign the Release and Waiver of Responsibility form and submit it to the person or office that is sponsoring your travel.
  2. Provide your point-to-point itinerary and contact information to the same person or office.

Funding for independent international travel

In addition to following the Procedures for Unaccompanied Student Travel, any student who wants to apply for funding for independent international research must submit a proposal to the Academic Research Committee. Proposals should include the following information:

  1. A description of the overall project and the educational benefits which the student will derive
  2. A summary of the research to be conducted
  3. Qualifications of the student selected to conduct the proposed research; including previous academic courses (including language) or experiences that the student has had that might prepare him/her for this experience
  4. An itinerary that includes likely destinations within the country, an explanation of how the student will travel within the country, and an explanation of where the student will be staying within the country
  5. A budget that details anticipated expenses, including airfare, ground transportation, lodging, meals, photocopying, and expendable equipment and supplies (itemized)
  6. A letter of recommendation and support from the faculty member who will oversee the academic project
  7. A list of other sources of funding that you have solicited or have already been granted (you must include at least one other source of financial support—an academic department, an internal or external grant, etc.)