Budget and Payment Information

Please use your budget as the main criterion for the size of the group. Although international faculty-led programs with lower than 10 participants are unlikely to be approved, participant number variation (10+) is acceptable as long as the program budget breaks even/doesn't result in a program deficit. 

Please note that typically, 10 participants are required for a group travel arrangement by travel/flight agencies; program providers may require a minimum of 10 or 15 program participants. The International Programs Office and the Office of Academic Affairs will make the final decision on whether a course should go in September. This decision is based on enrollment and current events in the proposed region of study.

• Transportation

  • Airfare to/from the course location, as well as any internal air arrangements

  • Between airports, rail stations and lodging

  • Between cities (rail, vans or private coach)

  • Within cities (guided tours, excursions and/or site visits via metro, bus, etc.)

• Accommodations (hostel, hotel, home stay, etc.)

• Classroom meeting space

• Meals

• Activity fees (museum passes and other entrance fees, performance tickets, guided tours)

• Honoraria (assistance with interviews/site visits, guest lectures)

• Group fund allowance for on-site events, tipping, group meals

• International phone plan charges

• Hosts gifts are not to exceed $50 and need to be purchased through Bethel Campus Store

• Insurance charge ($41.50 per person for every 30-day period)

• Interim Administrative charge ($150 per student)

• Funds allocated for Teaching/Program Assistant “stipends”

• Post-program debriefing funds

• Contingency & emergency funds (5% of subtotal)

Note:

Tentative budgets are submitted with the proposal/modified proposal or intent form for every faculty-led program. Submitted budgets will be reviewed and approved (or returned for correction) by the Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programs in conjunction with the Business Office. 

• Tentative budgets are to be submitted in the approved format - found  here.

Refer to the FLP Development Timeline to keep up with the deadlines and tasks that fall under the responsibility of the faculty leader. The document outlines and specifies the responsibilities (with deadlines) assigned to both faculty leaders as well as the International and Off-Campus Programs Office. 

Faculty-led program budget requires a 5% of subtotal contingency allocation. Contingency funds should be used to cover unforeseen expenses that benefit the entire group (group flight changes, group accommodation change fees, etc.). Individual expenses will need to be covered by students directly (faculty might be able to cover those expenses using their Bethel credit cards but the expense will need to be reconciled with the student after the program).

• When calculating your per diem rates, please refer to the US Department of State Per Diem Rates by Location website. 

• If partial meals are needed (for instance, you are working with a program provider and they are providing breakfast each day), please calculate your per diem using the following percentages:

Breakfast - 20% of allocated amount in your host country

Lunch - 35% of allocated amount in your host country

Dinner - 45 % of allocated amount in your host country

• Please note, the Per Diem amounts suggested by the US Department of State should only serve as a reference and not a rule. While you are not permitted to go over the suggested amount, you could allocate a lesser amount to keep your program costs competitive. 

  • Cost of Living Comparison Index could serve as a valuable resource when allocating your Per Diem funds.

Please note that student and faculty per diem amounts should be equivalent in their amounts. It is calculated referencing the amount allocated by the DoS but capped by the amounts allocated to students.

• Faculty members will calculate the total amount needed for student meals per day. This total will be given to the students in the form of their choosing. 

• Per Diem Election Forms are available online (as a Wufoo form). Faculty leaders will introduce this Per Diem Election form to their students during their November Pre-departure Meeting (for January FLPs).

• For January FLPs, Per Diem Election forms should be completed before Thanksgiving so the Business Office has all the needed information to transfer Per Diem dollars on in a timely manner.

• Faculty leaders are asked to complete the Per Diem Election forms but they will only be able to receive these funds via check.

• Knowing that students would need to have an active Schwab account before their per diem funds could be transferred (if they choose the Per Diem amount transferred to Schwab account), faculty leaders are encouraged to dedicate time in their pre-departure meetings for going over the process of opening Schwab accounts as well as submitting a Per Diem Election Wufoo form.

• Information on Charles Schwab account

• Per Diem Election Wufoo Form 

All group meals or snacks paid for by the leaders will need to have a receipt.

If for some reason you find yourself needing/wanting to hand out cash to students while abroad, you will need to fill out this spreadsheet as documentation of who received the cash and in what amount. When reporting program expenses, the faculty leader will attach this completed spreadsheet to the appropriate cash withdrawal receipt as a record of where the cash went.

Note: Your previously set per diem fund does not fall under this policy since students receive those funds before your departure (see “Per Diem Election Forms” above). This policy refers to all other cash disbursements that take place while abroad.

Faculty and students are personally responsible for the following expenses:

• Passport, passport photos, visas and related expenses

• Personal expenses, such as laundry, clothing, medicine; vaccinations, inoculations, etc.

• Required texts or course related technology (students)

• Personal entertainment and incidental expenses

• Customs duty on mailed items that were not approved prior to receipt

• Overweight or additional baggage charges

• Telephone charges unrelated to program

• Penalties for changes in travel itinerary once tickets are issued

In addition, instruct students to bring sufficient spending money to cover personal expenses and emergencies. Specifically, participants should know that if their passports are lost or stolen, they are responsible for all expenses incurred related to these losses (including telephone calls, cables and transportation).

In the event a student requires medical attention in or out of the host country, any cost of treatment, medication, transportation, or other related expenses are the responsibility of the student.

All students (and their parents) are advised to contact their credit card holder to determine usability and limits in foreign locales.

Students may set up a Schwab Bank Investor Checking account with Schwab Bank. The Schwab account does not require a minimum balance or charge a foreign currency conversion fee. Additionally, Schwab charges no ATM fees and may reimburse fees you are charged by a foreign bank for ATM use.

The use of Schwab cards are only permitted to student participants (of the programs that have student per diem allocations). 

Notes:

• Schwab has a daily deposit limit. Your daily deposit limit amount is clearly indicated on the Deposit screen, just under the Amount field.

  • If a per diem amount is received as a check and exceeds the daily deposit limit, you may:

    • Mail the check to your local Schwab branch

    • Drop the check off at one of their branches, which are all located in the southern and western metro

    • Deposit the check into a different account and then transfer the money from that account to your Schwab account

• Schwab requires a minimum balance of $100 before they will send out a physical card.

• The Business Office at Bethel doesn't manage any kind of account management or relationship with Schwab, so you may reach out to a Schwab representative with any questions.

Students sign the Financial Commitment Policy and Agreement as part of the application process. This document outlines withdrawal and refund policies.

• Students participating on a short term FLP will be charged a program fee which covers round-trip airfare, inter-country and intra-country transportation, course-related excursions, room, some or most meals, and CISI travel medical insurance (varies by program).

  • Every effort is made to operate the program at the stated price. However, the International and Off-Campus Programs Office reserves the right to adjust fees due to dollar devaluation, fuel surcharges and general inflation.

• Students are responsible for optional entertainment and transportation expenses, passport, phone, and other personal expenses. 

• The program fee will be divided into three separate installment payments (Sept. 1st, Oct. 1st, and Nov. 1st for January FLPs. For summer FLPs, the first payment will be in January). 

  • These payments act as deposits. Student accounts will be officially billed in January along with the rest of spring billing for January FLPs.

  • See the Study Abroad Charges page for more information

January Session Tuition:

• Whether or not students will need to pay tuition charges (on top of their program fee) will depend on their enrollment status. Credits earned during January will be included in a student's Spring Semester calculations for tuition charges. Students earning less than 12 credits within the January Session/Spring Session will be charged per credit.

  • January Session is a ‘part of term’ for the Spring Semester. All January Session credits count towards a student's status as “full time” or “part time”.  Students enrolled in 12 or more credits within the Spring Semester are billed the full-time student tuition rate. Students enrolled in less than 12 credits will be charged per credit for both January Session and Spring Session.

Summer Tuition:

• Summer faculty-led program participants will pay summer tuition rates.

*Students may work with the Office of Financial Aid to ensure that the cost of attendance is factored into their financial aid package. Students may be able to utilize loans to help cover the cost of the program.

Send any invoices you wish to be paid via check to k-sommerfeldt@bethel.edu.

Send any invoices you wish to be paid via wire transfer using the Wire Transfer Request Form.

Requests must be made at least 7 business days prior to the specified payment due date.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Info needed for Wire Transfers:

• Invoice

• Amount and currency

• Bank name

• BIC/SWIFT ID

• IBAN

• Contact information (name and email) to request any of the above info if missing

Info needed for Check Payments:

• Invoice

• Amount

• Recipient name and Address for mailing the check

Faculty leaders of off-campus programs are expected to apply for and use Bethel credit cards for processing program related payments.

CREDIT CARD ACTIVATION | POLICIES AND PROCEDURES | SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Faculty who use a Bethel credit card are required to submit monthly credit card activity statements through Chrome River for review and approval to the Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programs Office. 

• Receipts must be provided for all spending recorded on the credit card activity statement. 

• If a receipt is lost or not provided by the vendor, faculty leaders must indicate that in the notes of the appropriate expense in their Chrome River report. 

General Overview/Use Expectations

• Bethel credit card will be used for program-related expenses only

• PIN is required (Business Office cannot help access PINs)

• Keep all receipts/documentation for final financial reports

• Billing address:

  • 3900 Bethel Dr.
    St. Paul, MN 55112

• Travel with secondary back up credit card

• Any emergencies with credit cards not working should be addressed to credit-card@bethel.edu as well as the International and Off-Campus Programs Office

• Return Bethel credit card to the International and Off-Campus Programs Office no later than 1 month after returning to the U.S.  (only applies to individuals who have program specific credit cards issued for their FLPs).

• As explained in Bethel’s Credit Card Policy, “misuse of a Bethel Credit card may lead to disciplinary action, including immediate dismissal. Examples of misuse can include:

  • Personal use of the Bethel issued credit card

  • Loaning a Bethel issued card to others

  • Any purchase that does not align with the Business Expense Policy

  • Failure to submit timely reports"

• Approved and reviewed credit card charges will be due by the 15th of the following month. Card holders who fail to submit a report by the end of day on the 15th will be notified that failure to submit the outstanding charges by the end of the current month will result in their corporate card being turned off. The credit card will remain turned off until all outstanding charges have been submitted, reviewed, and approved. 

How to Apply:

• If faculty already have a credit card issued through their department, they will continue to use that same card for study abroad purposes (considering that certain modifications such as spending limit or cash withdrawal abroad option might need to be requested for the duration of the program). 

• Individuals with no Bethel credit card are expected to submit a credit card request form to the Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programs. 

  • For "Supervisor's Name", please put Virginija Wilcox

  • For "Default Budget Number", please put your study abroad course's budget number (you may reach out to the study abroad office to request your budget number if unknown)

Raising your Credit Card Limit:

• If the $3,000 spending limit needs to be increased, that increase needs to be noted on the request form (increase amount, duration, and reasoning needs to be specified on the form).

• You may also email the Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programs to request a temporary limit raise

Requesting the Ability to Withdraw Cash:

• If cash withdrawal will be needed while abroad, please identify that on your credit card request form.

  • Cash access available upon request ($500USD/day limit but ATM might have lower limit)

  • Total cash advance fee, min $3, max $99 (only for cash advance)

  • If cash is withdrawn, you will need to provide accounting for how cash is used with receipts by carefully tracking money spent and providing accompanying receipts in an organized manner (receipts will be itemized and organized by date)

    • Spending should be recorded on this spreadsheet and then submitted to Chrome River along with all the corresponding receipts for reporting purposes. (Receipts may be uploaded through the CR Snap app.) 

    • In other words, it’s not enough to show a receipt with the amount of cash withdrawn-leaders need to reconcile the withdrawn cash.

Please use your Bethel Credit Card for on site expenses. If an unforeseen circumstance arises and you do need to use your personal card or cash, be sure to keep receipts for such payments. Travel reimbursement must be completed within 45 days of the end of the program.

A Business Expense Report (with receipts) will be submitted to the Associate Dean of International Programs for review and approval through Chrome River. Once reviewed, the Associate Dean of International Programs will send the report to accounts-payable for processing. Checks will be issued for refunds and mailed to your home address, delivered to your PO Box, or available for pick up at the Business Office. 

As outlined in Bethel’s Expense Policy, “Bethel maintains a strict policy that expenses that could be perceived as lavish or excessive will not be reimbursed. Expenses that are not reimbursable include, but are not limited to: 

• Additional travel or baggage insurance

• Loss, theft or damage of personal property including baggage and briefcases

• Domestic travel insurance

• Domestic rental car insurance

• Gasoline for personal vehicles (see Use of Personal Vehicle)

• First-class tickets or upgrades (unless authorized by the President)

• When lodging accommodations have been arranged by Bethel and the employee elects to stay elsewhere, reimbursement is made at an amount no higher than the Bethel arranged rate. Reimbursement shall not be made for transportation between the alternate lodging and the meeting site

• Traffic tickets, fines or violations

• Limousine travel

• Movies

• Alcohol

• Spa or exercise charges

• Home internet service

• Participation in or attendance at golf or tennis tournaments, or other sporting events, without the advance approval of the President, an Executive Vice President, a Senior Vice President, or a Vice President

• Employee membership dues or fees at any country club, private club, athletic club, airline club or similar organization

• Valet service

• Personal items and services (e.g., shoe shines, haircuts, toiletry articles, pet care costs, childcare costs, car washes, etc.)

• Political or charitable contributions

• Purchase of capital office equipment, office furniture, and equipment (including computers, cell phones and other electronics), software or other items normally procured through the Purchasing Department.

• For expenses that must be paid onsite, you may request a group travel advance. However, if a Travel Advance is necessary it needs to be requested 30 days prior to departure. 

• Per Bethel policies, a travel advance will be no greater than $10,000.

• Travel advance will be issued in the form of a check to the payee and will have to be taken to a bank if cash is needed.

• All travel advances must have receipts for all expenditures and documentation must be turned in to support how the travel advance was spent.

• Students are not permitted to carry large sums of money from travel advances.

Advances must be reconciled with original receipts within 45 days of the end of the program. 

• If a receipt is lost or not provided by the vendor, faculty leaders must complete a “Lost Receipt Affidavit” and submit to the Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programs for review and approval. 

The “Travel Advance Request” form may be accessed through the Business Office website.