Calvin College
Off-Campus Programs Office
Risk Management Protocols
SITUATION: TRAVEL TO COUNTRIES WITH A STATE
DEPARTMENT TRAVEL ALERT/TRAVEL
WARNING
PROTOCOLS:
Prior to departing on your semester or interim experience, please prepare by
completing the following:
Semester Programs
 The Off-Campus Programs (OCP) office monitors the State Department web site for travel
alerts and warnings for countries which host semester programs. If a travel alert/warning
exists for your destination, determine what implications this will have for your program.
Actively communicate with the Travel Safety Committee (through the OCP) to make a
decision regarding the feasibility of continuing with the program.
Interim Programs
 For interim programs, it is your responsibility as an instructor to monitor the State
Department’s web site for travel alerts and warnings (http://travel.state.gov/travel) and follow
up with risk management planning as needed.
 If there is a travel alert/warning for your destination at the time of application, actively
communicate with the Travel Safety Committee by providing a risk management plan as
outlined below—you will be guided through these steps in your online application.
 If a travel alert/warning is released by the State Department after your interim
program has been approved, submit a risk management plan to the Travel Safety
Committee as outlined below (assuming that you believe it advisable to continue with the
trip). If you do not believe that it is advisable to continue with the trip, actively communicate
your concerns to the Travel Safety Committee (through the OCP office).
Risk Management Plan
1. Summary of pertinent safety information related to your destination, based on the
contents of the State Department’s travel alert/warning. This should include:
a. safety issues related to travel in this country
b. specific details Calvin needs to address in response to these safety issues
c. the expiration date of the travel alert/warning
2. List of additional information sources to use in monitoring and assessing the safety
situation. [For example, the following have been used in Honduras: a) State
Department's assessment, b) CRCNA Crisis Management Team, c) trusted
individuals in Honduras, and d) Calvin's own assessment.]
3. List of organizations that you will be working with during your trip, along with a
description of their expertise to help manage the risk associated with the travel
alert/warning
4. Description of criteria that would suggest a need to cancel the trip in the future
5. Travel itinerary demonstrating how the group will avoid any specific trouble spots
listed in the travel alert/warning, including:
a. lodging
b. a map showing where students will be located in relation to areas of potential
unrest or volatility
6. Full disclosure statement for students (and parents) to support them in making an
informed decision regarding participation, including a summary of the travel
alert/warning by U.S. State Department as it pertains to your trip and any specific
behavior expectation you have of students while on the interim.
7. Communication plan while off-campus, including:
a.
b.
c.
An orientation plan to prepare students for the experience prior to departure or immediately when you
arrive (e.g. for example can you contact the embassy to do a security briefing for the class or are there
NGOs with local expertise (like CRWRC) that you can relay on to give you and the students good info
about the current situation within the country).
How will you communicate with students while traveling (e.g. cell phones, staying together as a group,
etc.). What if a traumatic world event takes place – How should the group respond? and
A communication plan for communicating with Calvin and parents while you are away (e.g. blog,
weekly e-mail, etc). Experience has taught us is that the more people are informed the easier it is to
build the trust needed to make difficult decisions.

You can expect that your risk management plan (as outlined above) will be reviewed by the
Travel Safety Committee within one month of your submission. The Committee will either
approve or cancel the interim, based on review of safety concerns and planning. Please
inform the OCP director if you are in need of an expedited decision-making process for
logistical reasons (ex. deadline to purchase airline tickets).

Continue ongoing assessment of the safety situation in your destination country until the time
of departure, based on the criteria you outlined in #4 on your risk management plan. If there
is cause at any time to believe that safety concerns have increased since the time of
application, communicate this to the Travel Safety Committee (through the OCP office)
along with any needed changes in your risk management plan. Actively work with the
Committee to make last-minute decisions regarding changes in travel plans if needed.
Responding to a Travel Alert/Warning while on a Semester or Interim

A good practice for all international trips is to register your students with the Smart Traveler
program with the U.S. State Department. In addition, if possible meeting with U.S. embassy
personnel when you first arrive in country can be a helpful, especially if a Travel
Alert/Warning is posted while you are in country. If a Travel Alert/Warning is posted while
on abroad, please re-establish contact with the embassy (if at all possible) and ask for advice
on how to proceed.

Make contact with local partners and ask for their advice on where trouble spots are and how
to avoid them.

Stick to the plans you developed prior to arrival as much as possible. For example, once in
country, don’t change the group’s itinerary to go to a restricted area because it “seems like it
will be safe”.

Continue to monitor the situation while you are in the country.

Be conservative in all decisions related to group and individual travel.

Communicate with the OCP office regarding any safety-related issues or decisions during
your trip, remembering that the Travel Safety Committee can be a resource to help make
difficult decisions while you are traveling

Communicate with parents while you are away. Experience has taught us that the more
people are informed, the easier it is to build the trust needed to make difficult decisions.
Follow-up Protocols upon Return from Semester or Interim Experience

Provide information (written or verbal) to the Off-Campus Programs office and the Travel
Safety Committee regarding the overall experience, including safety issues, observations, and
recommendations for future travel.
SPECIFIC RESOURCES
Important Contacts at Calvin:
 Don DeGraaf, Off-Campus Programs Director
o 616-526-6225 (office)
o 616-558-7245 (cell)
o ddegraaf@calvin.edu
 State Department’s travel warning/alert website
o http://travel.state.gov/travel
Created 7/2010
Modified 09/10/13