Travel Policies & Regulations

The steps below outline the process for recording a registered student organization (RSO) international trip and the University requirements that must be completed. 

Please note the following restrictions:

• All participants must be Penn State students, faculty, or staff.
• Two faculty or staff members must accompany all student organization sponsored travel on which five or more students are traveling.
• No one under the age of 18 may participate.

The designated student trip leader must log onto Travel Safety Network (the trip leader should be a student who is travelling) and start a new TSN Group Record as the Group Leader/Administrator for Recognized Student Organization Travel. Within the TSN system, complete any available forms, requests for approval.

Once the TSN trip proposal information is complete and you have met with a staff member in the Student Activities Office on your campus, the trip proposal will be reviewed.

If you are requesting an exception to travel to a country that is restricted your restricted travel petition will be sent to the International Restricted Travel Committee (IRTC) for consideration. Please see the information for Restricted Travel if you are traveling to one of these countries.

Once your restricted travel petition has been approved, you will receive an email notification that the status of your TSN group record has changed.  When you log into TSN, you will see that your record has been changed to Step 2, which allows you access to the additional sections of the process.  Note: You are not finished with the TSN process once your record status changes to Step 2; additional required steps follow!

All communications regarding the TSN group travel record should be handled by the Trip Leader. Advisers and Student Activities/Student Life staff can assist the trip leader, but the trip leader should be the primary point of contact for all official communications.

Registration Forms Section: You must complete the following forms within the TSN system.

• Participant Roster (Must be uploaded ASAP)
  • Download the Participant Roster Template and enter the name, PSU affiliation (student/faculty/staff), date of birth, passport number, ID number and email address for each participant.
  • It is very important that this information is accurate at the time of submission.
• Checklist: Student Organization
  • International cell phone number for the trip leader
  • Name and cell phone for co-leader (if a faculty/staff is attending, they should be the co-leader)
  • Identify if any minors are traveling (no one under 18 is permitted on organization-sponsored travel)
  • Detailed itinerary of the trip (can be uploaded)
  • Transportation details
• Destination Information
  • Full address and phone number for each destination that is part of the itinerary (hotels, project sites, etc.)
• On-site Emergency Information
  • On-site contact
  • Local Police
  • Local hospital
  • Closest U.S. Embassy or Consulate

Travel Prerequisites: Once the participant roster is uploaded, each participant will receive a notification email that a record has been started for them. Each participant must complete all of the items on their individual TSN record for the trip by logging into the TSN system. Completion status for each of these items is tracked and will be marked complete in the TSN travel record once verified. The following items are marked off as they can be verified, but are not necessarily the only requirements for all participants.

• Emergency Preparedness Workshop
  • Penn State requires all students and accompanying faculty/staff who are traveling internationally for or with the university to complete an Emergency Preparedness Workshop once every two years. The last workshop date for each individual must be within two years of the last day of planned travel. If participants are unsure of their attendance they should contact: emergencyprep@psu.edu
    • Workshops are offered at regular intervals during the semester. Please see the Emergency Preparedness Workshop for specific dates, times and to register for a session.
    • The Trip Leader and accompanying faculty/staff have a separate workshop to attend from the workshop of the participants. These workshops are not interchangeable and do not count for one another.
• International Insurance
  • Penn State provides all participants traveling with the group International Insurance through its International Insurance Policy for university-affiliated international travel.
  • Certain participants may be required to purchase this insurance. These will be identified and the trip leader will be notified when the participant roster is finalized.
• Passport Verified
  • Participants must have complete passport information in the TSN system.
• Statement of Responsibility and Waivers
  • Participants must indicate they have read the statement and agree to the waiver.

Once all of this is complete, the TSN Group Travel Record will receive final approval to travel. The trip leader will receive a TSN confirmation email that the travel record is complete, with a list of approved participants.  Only those participants on the roster that complete the required steps of each traveler will be permitted to travel.