International Business Travel

Policy Statement

The safety of the CMU community is a top priority of the university. As such, the university is committed to ensuring a culture of and practices for safety. Due to the inherent risks that are associated with international travel, travelers rely upon information from multiple sources to assess risk, including but not limited to travel advisories from:

• U.S. Department of State (DoS)
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• The university's preferred travel provider(s)
• International SOS

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all members of the CMU community can access the relevant resources to make informed decisions regarding international travel.

Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to faculty, staff and students who (a) travel internationally, (b) authorize international travel, and/or (c) assist in planning international travel on university business and/or seek travel and expense reimbursement in compliance with the university policy on Business Travel and Expense. For the purpose of this policy, international travel on university business is defined as:

• Employees who incur expenses and/or supervise employees incurring expenses on the university’s behalf.
• Employees who incur expenses and/or supervise employees incurring expenses on the university’s behalf that may be paid by others.
• Students who make international travel arrangements and travel internationally on approved university business, university-sponsored conferences, seminars or events using university funds.
• Employees who make international travel arrangements, prepare expense transactions and/or approve expenses for:
  • University employees
  • Prospective university employees
  • University visitors
  • Students who travel internationally on approved university business, university-sponsored conferences, seminars or events using university funds
  • Non-employees (e.g., visitors, recruits, independent contractors, consultants and students) who travel internationally or incur expenses relating to university business for which the university has agreed to pay

Definition of Responsibility and Authority

The creation of a safe and informed international travel experience requires attention and responsibility at every level of the university, including faculty, staff, and students. Core responsibilities, as currently delegated by the President, include, but are not limited to:

Vice President for Operations:

1. Leads the university’s travel risk management program and monitors the university’s compliance with standards and policies related to international travel.
2. Allocates necessary resources for implementation of the university’s travel risk management program.
3. Ensures that university leadership is notified when there are significant international travel issues/incidents/risks that impact or have the potential to impact travelers and/or the CMU community.

Chief Risk Officer, Enterprise Risk Management:

1. Oversees the travel risk management program, conducting outreach to the CMU community and ensuring that community members have access to pre-trip advisories to make informed decisions regarding their international travel.
2. Serves as a point of contact for third party crisis management services during international travel issues/incidents/risks that impact or have the potential to impact the CMU community.
3. Incorporates travel risk management into the university’s emergency preparedness and response activities.
4. Coordinates with other university departments responsible for study abroad and management of preferred travel service providers.
5. Ensures that the Vice President for Operations is notified when there are significant international travel issues/incidents/risks that impact or have the potential to impact the travelers and/or the CMU community.

Faculty, Staff and Students on international university business travel are:

1. Required to comply with all U.S. Export Control Regulations under the Arms Export Control Act & Export Administration Act.
2. Required to follow university Data Protection Guidelines and Information Security Policy pertaining to the protection of institutional data.
3. Strongly recommended to use the university’s preferred travel service provider(s) for all university business international air travel.
4. Strongly discouraged from traveling to countries in which the U.S. Department of State (DoS) has issued a Level 4 Advisory: “Do Not Travel.”
5. Strongly recommended to review a pre-trip advisory from the university’s preferred travel service provider and/or International SOS. Advisories provide important information that includes, but is not limited to, medical and security alerts, required vaccinations, personal risk and political climate.
6. Expected to adhere to all international travel and safety advisories and rules provided by the travel provider(s), transportation provider(s), International SOS and applicable government entities.
7. Expected to follow the above listed recommendations, requirements and any travel and safety advisories even if they are combining personal/family travel with CMU international business travel, including to their home country. Those traveling internationally for solely personal reasons are not subject to this Policy.
8. Encouraged to avoid situations where large groups of faculty, staff and/or students are traveling together on the same flight. However, this recommendation would not apply if there were a situation in which the separation of groups presents a serious hazard (real or potential) with the life, health, safety or welfare of travelers, there is an emergency and/or the flight is privately chartered.