Know a student traveling abroad? While staff and faculty are not affected by the university’s requirements around Safety Abroad, it is good for staff and faculty working with students to be aware of the requirements and how the university community can work together to support students in having a safe experience abroad.
What is an Activity Sponsor?
All activities are connected to a university unit, department or faculty member that has oversight over the activity. These units, departments or faculty members are referred to as activity sponsors in safety abroad.
Activity Sponsors Can Be:
- Academic supervisors directly responsible for student field research
- Staff administering student exchange, course for credit programs and internship opportunities
- Anyone who sanctions or financially contributes to student-organized extracurricular activities
Staff and faculty sponsoring international travel (including providing students with funding, academic credit or sponsoring academic research) have responsibilities within the University Policy Framework on Off-Campus Safety.
Staff and faculty should also review the Environmental Health & Safety Off Campus Safety webpage.
Activity Sponsors should familiarize themselves with the full list of requirements for sending students abroad on U of T sponsored events. Student responsibilities are outlined in the Get Started: Students page of this site.
Regions identified as “Avoid Non-Essential Travel” or “Avoid All Travel” by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) require the completion of higher risk protocols. If you know of a student traveling to a higher risk region, inform them that they are required to schedule a one-on-one consultation with Safety Abroad and complete a Safety Planning Record. Please contact safety.abroad@utoronto.ca for the Safety Planning Record and to set up a consultation.
Once the Safety Planning Record is complete, Activity Sponsors must sign the Safety Planning Record, and then the Safety Abroad team will proceed to obtain the required signatures of the Department Chair and/or Division Head depending on the advisory level of the region.
Safety Abroad can then support students in completing the Safety Abroad requirements.
Faculty and staff are not required to register their travel with U of T Safety Abroad. However, we encourage faculty and staff to consult our resources page and reach out to U of T Safety Abroad for information prior to travel.
Faculty and staff acting as activity sponsors can also reach out to U of T Safety Abroad for support in organizing and preparing a travel activity for students such as arranging group safety workshops.
Staff and faculty can also refer to the Environmental Health & Safety Off Campus Safety webpage.
Access to International SOS is also available to staff and faculty working with students as an additional resource. International SOS is a worldwide safety and risk organization that provides advice and emergency response for all things health, safety, and security for travellers around the world via their 24/7 call centres that are staffed with security and health professionals.
