Off Campus Trips

Procedure for Off-Campus Trips

“Sanctioned off-campus trips” are those planned excursions that are related to academic courses, athletic team activities and/or field trips that take place away from the Savannah College of Art and Design (“SCAD”) campus, thereby requiring the student to travel away from campus to attend the trip.In an effort to make every off-campus trip sponsored by a student club or organization and funded by SCAD a safe and rewarding experience, the following guidelines have been established and should be followed when planning your trip:

  1. All trips must be registered with the Office of Student Involvement, in advance of departure.
  2. Please complete the Off Campus Trip Form and have your adviser sign at the bottom.
  3. The organization’s faculty/staff adviser or other authorized college representative must accompany the group as a “trip coordinator”. If the adviser cannot attend, then the representative must be another faculty member or administrator from SCAD (“authorized representative”). A student may not act as the trip coordinator. The student organizer and the advisor or representative must sign and submit to the Office of Student Involvement the appropriate paperwork, including the forms listed below, for all conferences/events attended before gaining approval for the trip.
  4. All participants must complete and sign the individual Liability Release and Assumption of Risk prior to attending the trip.

Instructions for Trip Coordinators:

The guidelines below and applicable forms should be distributed to students no less than ten (10) days prior to the date of departure to provide ample time for them to be reviewed and completed.

Not all travel forms are required for every type of off-campus trip.

  1. Student Organization Program Request – Always required. To be completed by the appropriate Trip Coordinator (Faculty/Staff Adviser) and obtain the necessary approval from the Office of Student Involvement. This form may be used for either blanket (quarter) or one-time trip authorization. It must be completed in its entirety and submitted to the Office of Student Involvement at least 3 weeks prior to departure.The special instruction area should include an itinerary of the trip.If approved, the trip coordinator will be notified and a copy will be filed with the Liability Release and Assumption of Risk forms.
  2. Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Form – Always required.Each student must complete this form and return it to the trip coordinator no less than three (3) days prior to departure. Any student who does not complete and return this form will not be allowed to attend the trip.This form must be kept on file for two years following the last day of travel. Liability Waiver
  3. Emergency Medical Information Form – In addition to the forms required by #’s 1 and 2, this form is required for off-campus trip that is an off-campus overnight trip. Each student must complete this form and return it to the trip coordinator no less than three (3) days prior to departure. Any student who does not complete and return this form will not be allowed to attend the trip. This form must be kept on file for two years following the last day of travel.
  4. Student Self-Transportation Agreement – In addition to the forms required by #’s 1 and 2, this form is required when a student elects to drive him or herself for a SCAD off-campus activity.This form must be completed regardless of ownership of the vehicle driven, however no student will be allowed to drive any SCAD vehicle.This form must be kept on file for two years following the last day of travel.

The Trip Coordinator should keep copies of forms to take on the trip and submit the originals to the Office of Student Involvement 3 days prior to the date of departure.

Off-Campus Trips Students to Staff Ratio

While each trip travels to unique settings, there are general guidelines for student to staff ratio on any SCAD sponsored trip.The first guideline that trip coordinators should follow is that the number of participants with staff to student ratio should fall within a reasonable range;

  1. Off-campus trips that are overnight should maintain one staff member to every ten students.
  2. Off-campus trips that are not overnight (one-day travel and return trips) one staff member to fifteen students.

Off-Campus Trips When Students Provide Own Transportation

SCAD does not provide liability coverage or student accident insurance for students transporting themselves to and from an Off-Campus trip.Students are highly encouraged to obtain their own medical insurance.In the event a student travels in any personally-owned vehicle or via public transportation for sanctioned off campus trip, the student must complete a Student Self-Transportation Agreement and submit it to the Office of Student Involvement no less than three (3) days prior to the event.In addition to the Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Form, the Student Self-Transportation Agreement must be completed each time a student elects to provide his/her own transportation.

When a student provides his/her own transportation or carpools to an off-campus trip in personally-owned vehicles, the insurance of the car owner is the only insurance in effect.In the event a student is involved in an accident in his/her personal vehicle while traveling to/from a SCAD-sponsored event, the student is responsible for loss or damage to the vehicle and any bodily injury or property damage to others they may cause, and is expected to maintain appropriate insurance covering damage, liability and medical costs.SCAD claims no responsibility for damage cause by or to students providing their own transportation.

Modes of Transportation

If 15-passenger vans are used, only those faculty/staff members registered with and approved by SCAD Physical Resources are permitted drive.There are NO exceptions to this policy.A 15-passenger van should never have more than 10 riders.The riders should sit toward the front and seat belts must be used.Under no circumstances shall students drive these vehicles.

Air travel is permitted, but not required, for trips greater than an eight-hour drive.All air travel must be arranged through SCAD Travel.As much advance notice as possible is requested.It is the responsibility of the trip coordinator to make sure the appropriate arrangements have been made and to verify arrangements prior to departure.

The cost of all travel (SCAD transportation, van rentals, charter buses, air, lodging etc.) will be paid via the student club or organization’s operational budget.

Liability forms

Liability forms will be kept on file for two years.They will be stored in the following way event, date and alphabetically by last name.They will be kept on file with the office of student involvement.

Outdoor events and rain calls

Rain calls should be discussed no later than two hours before event start time so that all vendors and participants can be notified.

If it begins to rain during an event all professional and student staff must remain until participants and vendors (if any) have vacated the event premises.If transportation is used the number should be kept on hand in order to call for return transportation.If the event is not held at a SCAD site it is best for the transportation to remain on site until the return trip.If the off site location is in town, transportation does not need to remain on site.