Through LU Send, Liberty University strives to partner with faculty and staff to provide quality academic experiences with minimal risk to the students. With that in mind, here are some policies that have been put in place, along with some guidelines that can assist with providing a positive experience for our faculty and students.

Submit Trip Proposal

Premium Domestic Proposal Deadlines (9 months before departure)

*The dates below are for trips that operate as a full LU Send Trip. These trips are overnight, more than 50 miles away from Liberty’s campus, include culture immersion, academic credit (or CSER credit), and a service opportunity. An LU Send Trip Coordinator manages the logistics, budget, excused absences, out of bed requests, etc. Proposals should be sent in 9 months before departure.

All of the proposal dates are hard deadlines. All of the proposal dates are hard deadlines that are set 9 months before departure. Proposals that are received after the set deadline will not be approved.

Trip Dates	Proposal Deadlines
January/Early Spring	April 1
Spring Break	June 15
Summer May/June	August 15
Summer July/August	October 1
Fall	February 15

*If your trip does not operate as a full LU Send trip (does not require logistical support, budget, academic credit, or have culture/service opportunities) you will need to submit all proposals at least a month before departure. This will give us enough time to get excused absence request/approvals, assumption of risk, and out of bed request in time for your departure. If you are not able to get this request in this time frame, please email lusend@liberty.edu for further information.

Trip Proposal Process

As the centralized hub for all student group travel, LU Send ensures risk mitigation, a smooth approval process, and executive reporting to the Provost. Having processed 200+ academic trips per academic year, we are glad to walk with you in providing exceptional student group travel opportunities within the United States!

Please contact Audrey Hammond, Executive Director, by email or by phone (434-592-4204), to learn more about the proposal process.

For all other inquiries, please email lusend@liberty.edu.

LU Send will communicate the proposal’s approval status to the faculty/staff lead. Approved proposals will be moved into the trip development process.

Faculty-Led Trips

LU Send is the centralized hub of support for all student travel and processes all faculty-led academic/co-curricular trips. Faculty/Staff who wish to host a group of students on a domestic or international trip must work with LU Send to obtain approval and support for those trips, whether during the semester or during breaks.

Under no circumstances should faculty be leading students off-campus without first working with LU Send & the Provost office.

Basic Excused Absence Requests

A Basic Excused Absence request should be submitted for day trip or on-campus events that require a student’s excused absence from classes, curfew, convocation, etc. If you are traveling overnight, please submit a standard trip registration below.

If you are taking students on a day trip that is less than 50 miles from campus and does not require any excused absences (for example, on a Saturday), you do not need to fill anything out or submit any registration. This registration form is only used for university-sponsored events or day trips that require excused absences or are more than 50 miles from campus.

Submit Excused Absence Request

• Once the Basic Excused Absence form is submitted, LU Send will seek Dean and Provost approval on your behalf. Once those have been secured, LU Send will send the leader/primary contact of the trip a link to distribute to students who will be attending.

• Students will need to pick their trip from a drop-down menu, fill out the required information, and sign the assumption of risk form. Once they have done this, and submitted their registration, they will be able to download their excused absence form.

Standard Trip Registration

Standard trip registrations are for all Liberty University-sanctioned student travel that requires an overnight stay. LU Send is required to provide all overnight addresses to the Office of Equity & Compliance in accordance with the Clery Act. Please have all your addresses available before you fill out this form.

Submit Standard Trip Registration

• If these overnight trips are to take place in any state other than Virginia, the Office of State Approvals will need to approve. LU Send will obtain this approval on your behalf automatically, however, if they have any specific questions about proposed travel, they will contact the leader directly with their questions.

• Once they approve, LU Send will seek Dean and Provost approval on your behalf. Once those have been secured, LU Send will send the leader/primary contact of the trip a link to distribute to students who will be attending.

• Students will need to pick their trip from a drop-down menu, fill out the required information, and sign the assumption of risk form. Once they have done this, and submitted their registration, they will be able to download their excused absence form.

State Approvals

Liberty University is an institutional participant with NC-SARA which allows the university to offer our programs and conduct certain activities outside of the state of Virginia. However, NC-SARA does limit the activities the University can conduct without first obtaining approval from the destination state. Some of the activities that require approval are multi-night out of state trips, faculty and/or student led instruction such as debriefings and trips that lead to academic credit.

Please be advised that the Office of State Approvals cannot guarantee the destination state will approve a trip that exceeds the limitations of NC-SARA. For additional information or guidance please reach out to The Office of State Approvals at stateapprovals@liberty.edu.

General Policy

Domestic Student Travel encompasses a large variety of trips, but there are a few policies that apply to all travel:

• Students cannot be leaders on a group travel trip, but GSAs or TAs can.
• Overnight group travel trips should have both a female and a male leader if both genders are participating.
• All drivers must be approved drivers by Transit to drive the vehicle chosen for the trip.
• Anyone acting as a leader on behalf of Liberty University MUST take the Campus Security Authority training module before they travel with students. This must be done at least once per academic year.
• Students should never be required to share beds on trips.

Any exception to policy needed will need to be brought directly to the dean or head of your department.

We take the safety and security of our students seriously, here are a few guidelines to help our leaders be prepared for possible situations:

• Be conscious of how it would play out if one of the students becomes ill or injured and needs medical care. Who would stay with the student? Who would stay with the other students? Preferably, students should not be left alone without supervision. This would also apply to any situation that separates the group.
• Plan accordingly to eliminate as many Title IX situations as possible.
• Be aware of the liability of driving students in a personal vehicle as opposed to a rental or LU vehicle. It may be wise to budget for those last-minute traveling needs at the end of the semester/year.
• Advisable for all leaders to read Procurement’s Travel Policies & Procedures and Sign the Policy Acknowledgement Letter.
• Register your trip as soon as possible to ensure that all facets of the process are done in a timely manner.

Please contact Audrey Hammond, Executive Director, by email or by phone (434-592-4204), to learn more about the proposal process.