Submit a Faculty-led Program Proposal

Preparing to Submit

Moving your idea from your notes and conversations into an actual proposal is where OIP – Study Abroad can be a valuable partner. If you haven’t already, it is important to contact the office and begin discussing your program idea with the Director of Study Abroad Programs. That dialogue will help give shape and structure to your idea. Topics like program size, working with a provider, cross listing your course, and marketing and promotion will get the ball rolling. In that discussion you and the Director will also review the timeline for submitting your proposal.

A program proposal consists of four required components:

1. A program proposal form, with the necessary signatures
2. A detailed itinerary
3. A course syllabus
4. A program budget

The proposal form is where you identify the basic elements of your program: who, what, where and when – the how comes later. This is also where you’ll name the course, and indicate essential elements like number of credits, undergraduate, graduate or both, and also make any cross-listings with other departments or disciplines.

The detailed itinerary and course syllabus are closely connected, as the structure of the program exists within those two pieces. If you’re adapting an existing course then you’ll already have a syllabus to guide the development of your itinerary. Otherwise, if you’re starting from scratch, consider developing these in parallel, as one will surely inform the other.

The program budget is often the trickiest to develop. As this is just a draft, don’t stress too much about making the actual costs and numbers perfect, but rather focusing on obtaining reliable quotes and price estimates for the different components of your program. The OIP – Study Abroad will be relying on you to provide these initial quotes, as the decisions about what elements to include, and how to evaluate their respective costs, ultimately lies with you.

At any point in the process, you can reach out to the Director of Study Abroad Programs for input, guidance or feedback. While you are the engine driving the development of the program, you are not in it alone. And, once you have all of these pieces assembled, you are ready to submit.

Proposal Submission

To submit your Faculty-Led Program Proposal, sign into Via using your Valpo single sign-in using the above program link. You will need to be signed into Via before the above link will work, otherwise you will be redirected to the Via log-in page, and you will need to sign-in, and then reopen the above link.

Complete the application that is attached the above program brochure to submit your program proposal. The application will include links to all required materials.

New programs will need all approvals – although for initial submission, you as the faculty will just need to submit with your Department and Dean approvals. The OIP – Study Abroad will secure the rest. Repeat programs will be approved and being re-proposed for the following year’s application cycle do not need full formal approval for the following two years, but an updated itinerary and budget are required. Department and Dean approval will be sufficient, and the program will go up for the full formal approval process after those two years to ensure the program is still running well and viable.

Please note that if your program is a repeat submission from a previous year you will still need to update your itinerary to reflect new dates, as well as modify your budget to reflect changes in costs or currency fluctuations.

Proposal Timeline