Congratulations on having directed an Education Abroad program! You have invested considerable time and energy to provide your students with an enriching educational experience abroad. The Office for Education Abroad at Michigan State University thanks you for your efforts.

After your time abroad with your students has concluded, there are a number of important tasks for you to complete. Click on any of the following tabs to learn more about the follow-up items required upon return:

Financial Reconciliation

Reconciling, Reporting and Repaying Cash Advance Funds

An Education Abroad Expense Worksheet has been created to help you keep track of expenses while on-site.

Expense Reports must be attached to the applicable Travel Request in Concur.

The recipient of the cash advance (the traveler) must report expenditures by uploading receipts to Concur. These will then be reviewed and coded by the Education Abroad Financial Services Coordinator.

The Expense Report is due 30 days after the program end date and must not exceed 90 days after the program end date. Expense Reports for out-of-pocket expenses submitted more than 90 days after the trip end date will not be reimbursable. Failure to reconcile within the deadlines can result in the amount of the advance being deducted from your paycheck. If this occurs, you will not be allowed to receive travel advances at any time in the future.

There are no longer minimum dollar thresholds for receipts. All receipts are now required and Concur will not allow submission of an Expense Report if receipts are not attached. Per diem allowances is the only category that does not require receipts.

The following receipts are examples of what is required in order to account for money advanced to you for both your travel and lodging, as well as program-related activities:

• Airline passenger flight itinerary and paid invoice, showing times of arrival and departure
• Rail receipts
• Any other transportation receipts, including travel to and from East Lansing except by personal car. If you are flying out of Detroit Metro, you will be expected to use the Michigan Flyer for transportation.
• Detailed lodging receipts (with address)
• if you received Program Activities Funds as part of your advance, you must account for the expenses with actual receipts. This includes speaker fees, honoraria, group transportation, entrance fees, meals, housing, etc. Receipts for group dinners must be itemized and list the number of students and the names and affiliation of guests. You must provide verification that no Education Abroad funds were used to purchase alcohol. In order to do this, you may wish to separate the alcohol charges, if any, from the food bill and have the students pay for the alcohol separately.
• If you disburse cash to students, create one sheet indicating the amount, date, and purpose of the payment, and ask each student to sign next to their name, indicating they received those funds

You must account (with the required receipts) for the entire amount of the advance. Should there be funds unaccounted for, you will be asked to write a check for the difference to the university. If unforeseen circumstances arise while you are abroad and you encounter non-budgeted expenses, contact your Education Abroad Program Coordinator to discuss the matter. If allowable program expenses were higher than the amount advanced, you will receive a check for the difference.

If Education Abroad paid for services not received (such as meals with accommodations), seek a refund while on-site. Education Abroad cannot reimburse you if payment is made twice.

Course Completion

Course Completion

Grades are submitted electronically, as they are for on-campus courses. They will be due 72 hours after the end date you indicated when you ordered your study abroad course sections. Once the grades are submitted through the department, they will be reflected on the students' records.

Program Report

Program Report

The information you provide is important not only in terms of maintaining and improving program quality, but also for helping to inform and prepare colleagues who are now, or will be, involved in your program. Your report is due within 30 days after the end of your program so that your insights, suggestions and comments can influence the planning for the following year's program. For each of the listed topics, please describe:

• what you did this year
• what worked/didn't work
• what suggestions you have for next year's program

1. Recruitment and publicity procedures
2. Program preparations: pre-departure orientation, student arrival and orientation, on-site preparations etc.
3. Academic program: courses offered, number of credits, collaboration with host institutions and faculty/presenters, field trips, etc. Please include a statement about the integration of the study abroad program into the departmental/college curriculum and/or life of the unit.
4. Assessment of on-site logistics and support: student housing, classroom space and equipment, housing staff, meals, transportation, excursions, special events, etc.
5. Health and safety issues: What, if any, preventive safety measures do you recommend? Were there any health-related incidents such as accidents, serious illnesses, or mental health issues? Were any crimes committed against program directors or students? Were health care facilities satisfactory? What, if any, steps need to be taken to make program sites safer? What political, social, cultural, or environmental developments on site warrant special attention for next year's program?
6. Student issues: Could satisfactory solutions be found to most student problems? How could such problems be avoided/minimized in the future? What could be done in the future to enhance the cross-cultural learning component of the program? Which aspects of the culture did students react to negatively/positively? Were issues of cultural adjustment and re-adjustment discussed with students? Was there a special event marking the end of the program? Could a student with a disability have easily participated in the program? If not, what changes would you make for the future?
7. Program benefits: How has being involved in this program enhanced your professional development; for instance, through research and teaching collaboration with host institution faculty? How does the program enhance participating students' academic/intellectual, personal, professional, and cross-cultural learning?
8. Program enhancements: Was research or community engagement a part of your program? If so, how could these aspects be improved? If not, how could they be incorporated in the future?
9. Finances/budget: What, if any, adjustments need to be made to the budget to improve the program and/or to reflect cost realities in the host country/countries?

Please submit copies of the report to your college's education abroad advisory council member, to your department chairperson, and to the Executive Director of the Office for Education Abroad.

Fostering Student Reflection

Fostering Student Reflection

Students report deeper learning when they are given opportunities to engage in guided reflection on their learning abroad.

• Consider offering your students a post-program meeting to collectively "unpack" their education abroad experience. What new skills did they gain? What was unexpected, and why? In what ways have they changed as persons, citizens, and scholars? How do they plan to incorporate their learning abroad into their academic and professional careers?
• MSU's annual Learning Abroad Conference provides students a forum through which to share their international learning with the MSU community.
• Encourage your students to enter the Office for Education Abroad essay, video and photo contests
• Invite students to help you recruit at the fall Education Abroad Expo.
• Encourage your students to attend the "International Coffee Hour," sponsored by the Office for International Students and Scholars (OISS) every Friday during the semester.
• Education Abroad is working on developing  "on-going" orientation for students that will begin with pre-departure, continues on through the education abroad onsite experience and concludes with a post-return portion. Stay tuned!