RMC Study-Travel Instructor Handbook

Budgeting

Preparing Your Travel Course Budget (Budget Worksheet Due with Final Proposal)

Looking at previous courses that were successfully implemented, the three-year average for number of travel days was: 14.76 and the three-year average for cost was: $5149. In order to ensure the success and relative parity of each study-travel course, please make every effort to keep the per-student cost and length of travel as close to the average as possible. The STCC may request that courses with estimated cost higher than the average revisit their budget and make adjustments to reduce the cost.

Your budget must be set as accurately as possible at the submission of your Final Proposal. You must include an initial schedule of required payments to vendors/providers with your Final Proposal (i.e. a trip statement from vendors/providers or a copy of e-mail from a travel agent would be appropriate).

Also, when you work on your budget, please keep in mind that, effective in J-term 2025, no refunds will be issued to students upon the completion of study-travel courses, regardless of the amount remaining in the J-term account with the Business Office. This means that you should be careful in setting the course fees and that you should plan to spend all of the funds you collect from students. As always, very careful budgeting is required in order to determine an appropriate program fee to charge your students. The Business Office is available as a resource during your Final Proposal phase and the submitted budget worksheets will be reviewed by them to provide the instructors with more guidance and advice, as needed. Contact the Controller at extension 7300 if assistance is needed.

Since College policy no longer allows refunds to be issued to students upon the completion of study-travel courses, you will be asked to revisit your program cost per student and reduce the cost as necessary based on your enrollment numbers by July 31 for J-term and by January 8 for Summer Term. Course fees may not be increased once enrollment begins.

Main fees to include in your budget:

  • Airfare – While faculty members may work with any licensed and insured travel provider they wish, because no funds are available prior to September 15 for J-term and March 1 for Summer Terms, faculty members must work with a provider that will conform to this time frame. For example, Fellowship Travel International will hold seats up to 11 months in advance without requiring payment at the time of booking. To get a group airfare price quote from FTI, please contact their team or request a quote online. To see a list of other providers, please visit our BuzzNet site – https://gormc.sharepoint.com/oie/SitePages/Study_Travel_Courses.aspx.
  • Meals – Meals must be included in the program cost published to students at the time course recruitment/enrollment begins. Meal stipends will be paid to students in the amount of $50 per participant per day unless a different amount is requested by the instructor. Complete a “Request for Multiple Student Travel Course Payment” form for all of your students and submit this paperwork to the Business Office by mid-December for processing. These stipends, which your students are responsible for managing, will be distributed to them prior to departure. The Business Office will process checks to be ready based on the date provided on this form. This form can be submitted for processing once the course participants are all finalized. For J-term study-travel courses, you may wait until early December to submit this form to minimize the chance for any changes to the roster. Meal expenses should be either included in payment to travel agency as part of the tour package or distributed to students in a meal stipend, which will eliminate reimbursement of meal expenses and paperwork by the instructor. Group meals should also be funded by student meal stipends (instructors can collect cash from each student out of their meal stipend as needed). Instructors and chaperones can also receive a meal stipend but will need to document the use of these funds and return any unused funds in accordance with the College Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep all your receipts.
  • Gratuities and Tips- include any/all gratuities in your budget worksheet that you expect to pay to service providers. Many travel agencies will be able to include tips/gratuities in the package price which is preferred. Instructors are not allowed to pay tips and gratuities from advance funds or be reimbursed. The only option will be to pay them with the package price or distribute to students directly (see below).

If tips/gratuities are not included in the package price, tips/gratuities budgeted are to be distributed to students prior to departure for their direct payment to the tour guides, bus drivers, etc. while in country. To streamline check processing time and costs, send only one request to the Business Office for meal stipends and tip/gratuity checks. Indicate the amount for each. Requests are due by December 16th. Instructors should provide guidelines to students for appropriate amounts of tips/gratuities and identify when tips/gratuities should be paid and students are responsible for managing the funds.

  • Guidelines for tips/gratuities as appropriate or customary in the country:
    • $6 per day per participant for the Tour Director (with your group 24 hours a day, taking care of all of the travel logistics)
    • $3 per day per participant for the bus driver
    • $1 per day per participant to cover local guides and bus transfers to the airport
    • Restaurant staff: $2-3 per person per meal or normal US guidelines 15-20%
    • Hotel staff: $1 per night stayed for cleaning staff
    • Porters: $1 per bag per person
  • Banking fees – Generally speaking, international wire fees are $35, domestic $15 and no charge for an ACH (domestic only, takes up to two days to be credited). It is important to budget these fees up front.
  • Incidentals – Assume that there will be unanticipated expenses related to your travel. At a minimum, budget $100 per day per group. Review and adhere to Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy guidelines for all incidental expenses on the Business Office’s BuzzNet site.
  • College’s Mandatory Fees – The OIE, in conjunction with the Business Office, will pull funds out of your study/travel course account to cover your group’s mandatory insurance and $30/student contingency fees in the fall, so instructors must be certain that they have budgeted for these expenses at the rates specified by OIE.

Also refer to: