Affiliate Expectations

Welcome

The University of Utah is affiliated with a number of 3^rd party learning abroad providers or institutions. We refer to these organizations as affiliates. Affiliates serve an important role in our international activities at the U. Affiliates provide a variety of experiences for our students in both traditional and non-traditional destinations.  We enjoy working with our affiliates and value the experiences you provide for our students!

How We Support Affiliates

The University of Utah is committed to increasing participation in Learning Abroad programs sponsored by approved affiliates. The success of affiliate programs on our campus is a team effort between Learning Abroad and the affiliate. To support official affiliates, Learning Abroad provides the following services:

• Each month, our staff sends an enrollment report to affiliates. This report provides information about existing applications in our system. We encourage affiliates to follow up with these students and encourage them to complete an application for the program.

• Approved affiliates have entries in the Program Search on the Learning Abroad website. This allows your program to show up as an approved option when students are choosing a program. We invite you to provide pictures, links, and details about your programs on our website. Program brochures are updated through the Terra Dotta directory.

• Learning Abroad has an active social media presence. To help you promote your programs, we welcome affiliate participation in our social media initiatives. For information about how to participate in our social media initiatives, contact us at learningabroad@utah.edu. 

• Affiliates are encouraged to market their programs on our campus. Marketing opportunities include campus visits, the Global U Expo, and the Learning Abroad Fair. Before visiting our campus or marketing your programs to our students, please read the information about Campus Visits and Advertising.

• Many affiliates offer programs that enable past participants to promote learning abroad opportunities on our campus. We support these activities, but also recognize that a consistent message must be sent to all University of Utah students about learning abroad. If you would like to have an ambassador on our campus, please read through the information about Ambassadors. 

Understanding U Students

The University of Utah is a unique environment for learning abroad. To familiarize yourself with our students, we encourage you to consider the following:

• We have a highly non-traditional student body. In depth statistics about the U can be found on the Office for Budget and Institutional Analysis website. However, a few highlights are listed below.
  • 55% of University of Utah students are male; which is higher than the national average.
  • A high proportion of U students are transfer students, and many of them come to the U having already fulfilled the majority of their general education requirements. This means that they likely need classes toward their majors. Being a transfer student may also impact the number of transfer credits that students are eligible to apply towards graduation.
  • The U’s student body is composed of a high number of non-traditional students including older students, married students, and students who have families. All of these factors impact their ability to learn abroad.
  • A significant portion of our students live off campus and many choose to live with family members throughout their college education.

• Utah has one of the lowest student debt rates in the United States. This makes our students very frugal. It is not uncommon for our students to turn down educational opportunities that would require them to take out loans to pay for the experience. The U also has comparatively low tuition rates. A breakdown of the estimated cost of attendance at the U is found on the admissions website.
• We have an extremely high number of students who have non-academic international experience including military service and religious missions. These experiences have given them interesting context regarding international experiences and a high level of independence while traveling abroad.

Given these factors, what motivates a U student to learn abroad? Consider the following statistics about how our students learn about and select international opportunities. 

Affiliate Program Policies and Procedures

To ensure that affiliates are able to work effectively with Learning Abroad, the following policies and procedures guide affiliate activities with our campus. 

• The U tries very hard to promote strategic program development. In an effort to enhance this strategy, affiliates are asked to refrain from directly contacting faculty or departments to initiate new programs. If you are interested in initiating a new program, contact our office in advance. 

• Official U of U affiliates cannot accept University of Utah students into their programs unless the student has completed an online application and paid the application fee to the University of Utah. Contact our office for more information about the status of a student’s application.

• Our Learning Abroad Coordinators are responsible for applicants based on their major. While this is great for our students, this can make working with our office difficult for affiliates. To help you effectively work with us, a coordinator will be assigned to take the lead with each affiliate. That coordinator will serve as your point of contact with our office.   

• Students will need to complete two separate applications: one for the University of Utah and one for the affiliate. All U of U applications are submitted online through our website. The application submitted to the University of Utah requires a non-refundable application fee.

• All students are required to take a 45-minute seminar called Learning Abroad 101 before their application is considered complete. This program is offered both in person and online. Contact us for more information about Learning Abroad 101.

• The U has internal deadlines for affiliate applications. Those deadlines are listed on the program’s website in our program search. Students who complete their applications and pay the application fee after the established deadline will be subject to a $100 late fee. Requests to submit a late application are considered on a case by case basis.

• Students participating in affiliate programs are held to the policies and procedures described in the Learning Abroad Handbook. We encourage affiliates to read through the handbook and familiarize themselves with these policies and procedures.

• All U of U learning abroad programs are credit-bearing. As such, all affiliates must offer university credit for any activities promoted on our website or on our campus. 

• U of U students earn transfer credit on affiliate programs. Thus, all affiliates must be accredited (or the school of record must be accredited), must be able to provide an official transcript for any coursework offered, and must be able to provide syllabi and contact hours for any courses offered on the program. Details about the process for pre-approving transfer credit are found in the Learning Abroad Handbook.

• U of U students pay certain fees to the U and certain fees directly to the affiliate. Students pay a non-refundable application fee and the cost of international medical and security evacuation insurance to the University of Utah. All fees charged by the affiliate are paid by the student directly to the affiliate.  U of U students participating in programs offered by official U of U affiliates are able to receive financial aid. However, financial aid eligibility is calculated based on a student’s on-campus cost of attendance.

• All students participating in affiliate programs are required to purchase the U’s International Medical and Security Evacuation insurance. When the student’s application is approved, our office will automatically charge the student’s university account for this policy and register the student before departure. No action is needed on the part of the affiliate.

• Students participating in affiliate programs listed on our website are eligible for Office for Global Engagement Learning Abroad Scholarships. 

• The U has a special Withdrawal & Dismissal Penalty Policy for affiliates. All affiliates are encouraged to read this policy carefully.

• All students participating in affiliate programs are required to complete pre-departure orientation.

• Official U of U affiliates are invited to attend the Global U Expo in the fall and the Learning Abroad Fair in the spring. Contact our office for information about these events.

• The U has unique policies pertaining to Internships and Community Engagement opportunities. Additional information about these policies is found in this section.

Campus Visits

Welcome to the University of Utah! We are excited that you have decided to visit our campus!

In preparation for your visit, please consider the following:

• What do you want to accomplish?
• Who is your target audience?
• What activities need to be coordinated for you to accomplish your intended outcomes?

Before making arrangements to visit, please contact our office. To make a reservation, please send the following information to your assigned Coordinator at least 10 business days before coming to campus:

1. Your Name
2. Name of the affiliate you will be representing
3. Date & time that you would like to visit
4. Details about any departments, faculty or advisors that with whom you would like to meet. If you are interested in starting a new program, please state this in your request.

We recommend the following schedule for campus visits:

When preparing for your visit, we recommend you bring the following materials:

1. Supplies for tabling such as table cloths, catalogs, swag, etc.
2. Publications that might be helpful for faculty, advisors, or departments with whom you meet.
3. Materials that may help our Coordinators and Peer Advisors discuss your programs with interested students.

Advertising on the U of U Campus

There are several options for advertising and marketing on the U’s campus. Some marketing outlets are free of charge. Others will require a financial commitment on the part of the affiliate.

To ensure that our students receive a consistent message about approved Learning Abroad opportunities at the U, it is very important that affiliate marketing is connected to Learning Abroad. We ask that all posters or publications be pre-approved before distribution. Whenever possible, we ask that our logo be added to posters and handouts given to our students. If you are not able to tailor your marketing materials, our office can provide stickers that can be added to your materials. Contact our office for more information.

• Postering- Most university buildings require pre-approval for any posters that are put up on our campus. Our office can assist you in obtaining permission to hang up posters on campus. 

• TV Screens- Several University facilities have TV screens that are used for advertising purposes. The screens are in high traffic areas and can be a great source for marketing. Screens can be reserved by contacting our office. The cost for reserving space on the TV screens is $250 per week. In the event that you choose to reserve space on one of the TV screens, we ask that you be prepared to cover the cost of that marketing. Checks can be made out to the University of Utah and sent to our office.

• Fall & Spring Learning Abroad Fairs- Learning Abroad holds two Fairs annually: the Fall Fair around the end of September/beginning of October, and the Spring Fair at the end of January. These are our largest outreach events, and typically see attendance of around 300 - 500 students. Official U of U affiliates can attend that event free of charge.

• Engagement with faculty and departments- The U works hard to ensure that we create strategic partnerships and programs that are likely to succeed. To ensure that affiliates play a constructive role in this process, we ask that all meetings with faculty, advisors, and departments be coordinated through our office.

• Tabling- Tabling is an excellent way to speak with students on our campus. While some tabling reservations are free of charge, others will require a fee. In the event that you choose to table in a location that charges a fee, we ask that you bring a check with you to cover that cost. Checks can be made out to the University of Utah. To ensure that students receive a balanced message about the Learning Abroad opportunities available to them, we ask that affiliates presenting a balanced, inclusive representation of learning abroad opportunities at the U. This is accomplished by including a mix of your own marketing materials and marketing materials about other U of U opportunities. 

• Classroom Visits- In some cases, classroom visits may be appropriate. All classroom visits must be coordinated through our office. To ensure that students receive a balanced message about the Learning Abroad opportunities available to them, we ask that affiliates presenting a balanced, inclusive representation of learning abroad opportunities at the U. This is accomplished by including a mix of your own marketing materials and marketing materials about other U of U opportunities. 

Ambassadors

Many affiliates offer ambassador programs to former participants. While we welcome ambassadors to our campus, we ask that they adhere to the following parameters:

1. All ambassadors are required to participate in a 1-hour training program. This program clarifies their role at the University, informs them of opportunities to get involved, and outlines expectations.
2. Ambassadors are required to register any promotional activities with our office in advance. If the activity is appropriate and does not create a conflict of interest, the activity will be approved by Learning Abroad.
3. We ask that ambassadors do not independently reach out to faculty or departments and request classroom presentations. Our faculty take class time very seriously, and Learning Abroad relies on classroom presentations to introduce international opportunities to our students. Allowing ambassadors to conduct classroom presentations would create competition with other university initiatives. For this reason, we request that Ambassadors do not conduct classroom presentations that are not pre-approved by Learning Abroad.
4. Ambassadors must adhere to the marketing expectations outline on our website. This includes presenting a balanced, inclusive representation of learning abroad opportunities at the U.

Internships & Community Engagement

The University of Utah has unique policies pertaining to Community Engagement (service learning) and international internships. Students are encouraged to participate in community engagement and internship activities; however, the courses associated with these activities may or may not be transferred back to the University.  To avoid problems with financial aid, scholarships, and graduation requirements, students participating in internships and community engagement will need to carefully coordinate transfer credits. Details on the options for community engagement and internships abroad are found in the Learning Abroad Handbook.

Emergency Response Protocols

The U has established a 24/7 emergency number for learning abroad programs. In the event of an emergency involving a University of Utah student, please call 801-585-2677. This number will direct you to the University Police Department. Upon receiving the call, University Police will transfer you to the on-call staff person in Learning Abroad.  

 

Click here to start your online International Travel Registration