Travel/Trip Guidelines

• Provide a pre-trip orientation to include a very detailed review of the transportation, lodging and itinerary activities. Detail should be provided in written form so that students will have a full understanding of what is involved.
• If RIT is merely lending financial support to the student to attend the conference, clearly articulate this relationship to the student. Inform student(s) that RIT is not supervising the activities in any fashion; that they can expect other third parties to provide the programming, services, hotel, food and possibly modes of transportation during the planned trip.
• During this orientation, cover expectations of students' behavior during any free time. It is expected that while on the trip, students should be professional and their conduct will be reflective of RIT. RIT's Standards of Conduct will apply while on the trip.
• At all times, students are responsible for their own personal safety; recommend that during free time they go out in groups (versus going out alone).
• Students should also be expected to carry their medical insurance card with them and be familiar with how they need to use it in case of an emergency. Some HMO's require preauthorization, for example. If the trip involves foreign travel, special consideration needs to be given to learn how medical insurance will apply if medical attention is needed while overseas.

• In most cases, travel plans should be left to the individual students for local field trips. If RIT coordinated ground travel is planned, you are advised to contact the Parking and Transportation Services Department to inquire about the use of an RIT van or approved charter bus. Van drivers must obtain driver certification from Parking and Transportation.

  RIT discourages faculty and staff from actively coordinating car pools using students as drivers and/or paying student drivers mileage allowances for use of their cars. If this option becomes absolutely necessary, please contact the RIT Risk Management Office at x5-6135 for further guidance.

• Trips requiring the supervising faculty/staff member to acquire the use of rental cars should be handled in the following manner:

  • The RIT faculty/staff should rent the vehicle, not the student.
  • Rental should be billed against an RIT corporate credit card. This assures that RIT's Car Rental Loss Program will respond should there be physical damage to the rental car during the term of the loan. You can decline the additional insurance options.
  • Students should not be allowed to drive the vehicle unless they have obtained RIT driver certification and are listed with the car rental agency as an additional driver.
  • Rentals of vans larger than a 7-8 passenger mini-van is strictly prohibited. Larger vans have a high risk of roll-over crashes.
  • If the trip requires the use of a larger capacity vehicle or the rental of a truck, please contact the Risk Management Office at x5-6135 to discuss the details before making the rental reservations.
  • Any motor vehicle accident occurring during the trip should be reported as soon as possible using the RIT/NTID Rental Car Accident Instructions. If injuries occur, immediately notify Public Safety at (585) 475-3333.

  • Refer to RIT Vehicle and Driver Safety for further information.

When determining lodging, students should self-select roommates. Students and Faculty/Staff should not stay in the same room. 

For voluntary/optional trips outside of the Rochester regional area or which involve overnight stays, the faculty coordinator should prepare an Agreement to Participate Form which serves as an informed consent and liability release. The release form needs to be modified with appropriate information about your trip before being given to the student participants for signature. Each student wishing to participate in your trip should return a signed copy. Please note that the release form references the student has been given detailed information prior to the trip so you should be expecting them to sign off on the release form only after they have been given this information. These forms should be used for students age 18 and over and should be retained by your office/college for a minimum of 6 years.

Please provide your college dean's office or department contact with a complete trip itinerary for your travel to include: dates/locations of travel, names of all students/faculty/staff traveling, hotel(s) phone number(s), and if you will be carrying a cell phone, the cell phone number to reach you in case of an emergency. A copy of this information should be forwarded to Public Safety (Grace Watson Hall) as well.

During the trip, should you or any student have an incident requiring medical or law enforcement assistance, once the situation is stabilized, please notify Public Safety at (585) 475-3333. Public Safety is your 24/7 contact at RIT. They will handle any further RIT notifications and obtain any assistance needed. International travelers should become familiar with the RIT International Traveler Emergency Response Plan.

RIT takes very seriously issues related to alcohol consumption in our student population.  It is recommended that no university funds be spent toward the purchase of alcohol for students on these trips. Please review the Controller's Office Travel Policies and Procedures regarding reimbursement for alcohol and other travel expenses.

International travel requires additional research and coordination. When planning an RIT-sponsored trip abroad, faculty, staff and students should keep the following in mind:

• The university considers the US Department of State and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines when approving funding for foreign travel. Before you begin making arrangements for your trip, please consult the CDC and State Dept’s website. Review the country specific information and check for travel advisories. Travel to areas with State Department advisory level 3 or 4 or CDC level 2 or 3 requires coordination with Risk Management and approval from the appropriate Vice President.
• Students who are planning to study abroad must contact RIT Global.
• All travelers should become familiar with RIT's International Traveler Emergency Response Plan.
• Worldwide emergency medical and travel assistance coverage is provided for RIT students, staff and faculty traveling on RIT sponsored trips overseas through Chubb/AXA.
  • RIT travelers who book through one of the designated travel agencies or through RIT Global or Career Services and Co-op will automatically have their travel details uploaded to RIT's emergency travel assistance vendor. The vendor emails the traveler with important information about how to access services as well as detailed health and safety information regarding their travel destination. If you booked travel using any other means,  you may forward any confirmation or itinerary for flights, accommodations and any other method of transport to rit@tripdata.crisis24.com using your RIT email address (if you use a personal email address, include your RIT email address in the CC section of the email) or you can add the information to the mobile app. For  emailing instructions of what to include, see the Guide: Trip Email Parsing. If you choose to add the details of your trip using the app please see  the Adding a Trip Instructions.
• Check with your health insurance company regarding coverage overseas. Most carriers provide emergency coverage on a reimbursement basis (you pay the provider, then submit a claim for reimbursement).
• For information about travel expenses and planning, consult the Controller's website.