Faculty Resources

Intake Meeting

All faculty interested in leading a Faculty-Led Study Abroad summer trip must schedule an intake meeting with CPaGE program staff. Please email us to arrange a meeting.

Preliminary Proposal

Summer 2025 Deadline: July 31, 2024

Submit the Preliminary Proposal form to be reviewed by the All-University Committee on International Programs (AUCIP).

Proposal Package

Summer 2025 Deadline: October 1, 2024

Following approval from AUCIP, submit the complete proposal package.

• All new Faculty-Led Study Abroad program proposals must be vetted and reviewed first by the All-University Committee on International Programs (AUCIP) prior to submitting the complete proposal to CPaGE.
• All Faculty-Led Study Abroad program courses must run through CPaGE as Special Session courses. No state-side courses can be offered through CPaGE’s FLSA program.
• SF State students participating in CPaGE Faculty-Led Study Abroad program will not be eligible for financial aid.
• All faculty leaders and co-leaders on Faculty-Led Study Abroad programs must have official faculty status with SF State.
• Any SF State faculty member may propose and lead the program regardless of faculty status or rank (tenure, tenure track, lecturer, retired).
• The faculty member must have completed one year of service with SF State at the time the proposal is submitted.
• All faculty members must have written approval from both their department chair and college dean.
• Two faculty leaders may choose to work together and co-lead the program. The budget will need to be developed to ensure the program is able to cover the added costs associated with having a second program leader. Often times this means the minimum student enrollment will be higher or faculty leaders will need to be able to find economical ways of keeping program costs low, as to not make the price of the program prohibitive.
• If each faculty leader is from a different academic department/college, approval is required from both academic department chairs and college deans.
• The maximum student/faculty leader ratio is no more than 15 students for each faculty leader. If more than 15 students, then a second SF State faculty member must be appointed co-leader and meet all of the same requirements as the primary faculty leader.

Use of Education Abroad Provider

Programs may be developed by working closely with a pre-approved education abroad provider or an institutional partner, which can take a significant amount of time to plan. For those with significant experience in the proposed host location, a program can also be entirely self-designed. New FLPs can use providers that have not been pre-approved, but please keep in mind developing new provider contracts can take several months longer than working with a pre-approved provider. New providers must also go through extensive check before being added as approved FLP providers. New providers must be vetted by campus international programming committee, Risk Management office, CSU Chancellor’s Office and go through extensive check before being added as approved FLP providers. Faculty considering the development of a new FLP need to meet with the Faculty-Led Study Abroad program to discuss their ideas and vision prior to developing an FLP program proposal. Faculty will be responsible for making sure student payments associated with the intended trip arrangements are handled properly and timely between all students and the FLP provider.

There are three tracks for Faculty-Led Study Abroad at San Francisco State University. Please note that regardless of the track you choose for your FLSA proposal, you are the primary person responsible for the planning and organization of the trip you propose, in addition to leading the trip and teaching your course(s).

• University Partners - Faculty can work with one of our existing university partners, as listed below. Our partners will assist you with logistics for the course, which may include housing and meals, classroom spaces and pedagogical resources, cultural programming and assistance coordinating activities and excursions. In most cases, participating students will be required to pay a reasonable housing fee (if housing will be organized by the university partner) and possible programming fees.
   
• Third-Party Vendors - Private, for-profit vendors may be used to provide logistical coordination for FLSA, generally including housing, domestic transportation, cultural programming and activities and excursions. However, each vendor will need to be approved by the All University Committee on International Programming's FLSA subcommittee. Students participating in a trip run by a for-profit vendor will have to pay the vendor's program fees. These fees generally vary based on the itinerary developed, but can be quite high, especially compared with the fees charged by partner universities.  Please contact Isabel Seiden at iseiden@sfsu.edu for more information about third-party vendor requirements.
   
• Self-Organized Trips - Faculty may also use their own personal connections to organize an FLSA trip on their own. In this case, the faculty leader will be responsible for making arrangements for housing, travel, meals, activities, and excursions. Faculty may work with 3rd party vendors and/or universities outside of our existing partnerships when self-organizing an FLSA trip. (For example, booking housing through a hostel or private dormitory service.) There are very specific guidelines and requirements for self-organized trips, especially around student payment and the handling of students' money. Please contact Isabel Seiden for further information about self-organized FLSA trips.