Field Trips

For the purpose of this procedure, a field trip will meet the following criteria:

• Involve leaving the campus or regular class meeting site.
• Be arranged by and under the supervision of approved Institute instructional personnel.
• Be for or including students as participants.
• Be educational in intent and directly related to a specific course or courses in which students are

Three basic types of field trips exist:

• Those that are required and that occur only during the regularly scheduled class time of the course to which the trip is related.

• Those that are required and that require the student's absence from classes other than the specific class or activity to which the trip is related.
• Those that are optional.

Students shall not have their grades adversely affected if they are unable to make a field trip at a time other than the regularly scheduled class period unless the field trip was specified in the course listing during registration.

For field trips which require students to miss other classes, the field trip sponsor shall provide e-mail notification of the trip to the participants’ instructors along with the names of students who will be absent from classes.

• If students so listed do not go on the trip, the field trip sponsor shall e-mail formerly notified instructors that the students did not attend.
• Students attending required field trips are held responsible for making up all work missed in other classes while on field trips, but they shall be allowed a reasonable amount of time to make up such work without penalty. Faculty must be notified of required field trips at least one week in advance so that the make-up tests may be scheduled as close as possible to the originally scheduled test. Students attending optional field trips are subject to the attendance policy of each class they miss.
• Required field trips must be listed in the course syllabus and must be incorporated into either the grade or the attendance requirements of the course.
• No field trips shall be planned to occur during final examination times.
• Field trips planned for non-credit courses will follow this procedure as well.

Field trips must be approved in advance. Faculty must follow the guidelines including asking students to complete a Field Trip Form. Classes or programs normally scheduled at other locations, are exempt from this provision.

Instructors are required to complete and submit a Field Trip Request form to their respective head and to Student Affairs at least two weeks before the scheduled trip. In addition, instructors must ensure the following:

• Each student participating in a field trip must sign a Release Form which must be returned to the appropriate head prior to the field trip. No student will be allowed to travel without a signed Release Form.
• A Field Trip Request form must be completed, signed by the head, and submitted to the Director of Student Affairs in two weeks prior to the trip. A list of students participating must accompany this form.
• Use of Institute-owned vehicles must be scheduled at least two weeks prior to the field trip by utilizing the vehicle request form. Mileage documentation forms and vehicle checklist forms will be provided to the driver and must be submitted at the end of the trip. If a gas purchase order is issued, the instructor should check with the gas station attendant prior to pumping gas to ensure that he/she will allow the sale. The receipt for the gas must be submitted with the purchase order upon return.
• Drivers of the Institute-owned vehicle are required to have a valid driver’s license and a copy of their official driver’s license must be on file in the office.
• If the field trip requires an overnight stay, tickets, meals, etc., the instructor must meet with his/her head prior to the field trip to complete the necessary paperwork.
• If club funds are used for the field trip, make sure that all receipts (registration, hotel, tickets, etc.) are collected and are submitted, with the appropriate forms, to the Student Activities Coordinator, immediately after the field trip.
• Where applicable, no one will be reimbursed for expenses related to a field trip without completion of appropriate paperwork and prior approval.

Overnight, domestic and international activities. This provision applies to all academic and co-curricular programs coordinated by faculty or staff.

In general, the trip leader (faculty or staff member) must follow the guidelines set forth

• Within North Andros , if an activity is BAMSI-sponsored, transportation should be provided by the Institute through approved means (faculty or staff member who is approved to drive his or her personal vehicle, on an Institute shuttle with an approved driver, in an appropriate vehicle rented by the Institute with an approved driver). If a student chooses to provide his or her own transportation, a “Waiver Form for Traveling Separately to and from a BAMSI Sponsored Event” must be signed by the student.
• Unless approved otherwise before the trip/activity, the trip leader must be a BAMSI employee. Any dependents traveling with the trip leader must be approved before the trip.
• Supervision is the responsibility of the trip leader. For day activities, if the faculty or staff member is driving, he or she must be on the Institute’s approved driver list. It is preferable that a college vehicle and a college Approved Driver be used for day activities; however, if a faculty or staff member chooses to transport students in a personal car, the driver’s personal liability insurance would be in effect.
• For overnight or extended travel, two chaperones must be present (unless waived due to a small number of students. In general, in the case of a domestic travel activity, a trip leader or a chaperone should not have responsibility for more than 20 students each. In the case of an international travel activity, a trip leader and a chaperone should not have responsibility for more than 15 students each. If a BAMSI–employed “approved driver is a suitable chaperone and agrees to serve in this role, he or she may be the second chaperone.
• The trip leader must establish routines for performing "head–checks" during actual boarding and exiting periods for all group travel. A "buddy system" should be established and students should be reminded to check for their "buddies."
• Trip leaders must carry student medical information and a list of emergency contacts for overnight trips.
• Trip leaders and chaperones should have a cell phone and students should have the cell phone number of the chaperones’ phones. In cases of personal cellphone, charges in excess of the normal monthly charge will be reimbursed by the Institute.
• In the event of any health or safety emergency, the group leader must keep careful notes of the incident as well as any documentation that may be generated by visits to health care professionals, police, or other officials on location. An incident report must be generated and signed by the student(s) involved in the incident, the trip leader, and by a witness (preferably the activity/trip chaperone).
• During the course of the trip, students should have easy access to the trip leader and chaperone.
• Required forms for all out-of-classroom College–sponsored activities: Contact Information Form for Participation in a Study/Travel/Service-Learning Program must be completed by all participants, students and group leaders. Copies of the forms must be taken on the activity by the group leader. A set of copies should also be left on campus with the appropriate campus official (School Dean for academic trips; Executive Director for non-academic trips). Field Trip/Domestic Travel Release and Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement must be signed by all students.
• During College-sponsored travel, all individuals on the trip (students, faculty, staff, others) are expected to all obey local/national laws and behave in a manner that does not disrupt the learning environment or is disrespectful of fellow students, faculty, staff and hosts.
• Students who disrupt the learning environment, do not honor and uphold BAMSI Student Code of Conduct, or show disrespect for others will be dismissed from the trip and will be responsible for their own transportation, etc. costs.

Field trips and other class–connected events which may conflict with the normal class schedule on occasion, special events such as field trips, movies, or guest speakers need to be scheduled outside a course’s normal time slot. The Institute encourages a cooperative spirit among professors to permit maximum benefit to the student. Except under circumstances specifically approved by the Executive Director (or designee), however, (1) there must be no external compulsion on any student to give such afunction precedence over another class’s scheduled meetings; (2) teachers may give credit for attendance at such functions only if comparable alternative assignments are made for students who choose to attend their regularly scheduled classes.