Obtaining Final Approval 

 

Once you have received preliminary approval to study off-campus, there are a number of steps that you must go through in order to obtain final approval prior to leaving campus. These steps help to guarantee that once the time comes for you to embark on your off-campus adventures, you will be ready to enter your host city or country and ready to return to Bucknell the following semester or year.  

 

Immediately: 

□      Secure your Passport   

For travel to an off-campus study program outside the U.S., you will need a valid passport.  If you do not have one yet, apply for it immediately as the processing of an application normally takes six weeks. Applications are available in Lewisburg at the Prothonotary’s Office in the Union County Courthouse (Second & St. Louis Streets), or on the Internet on the U.S. State Department Website.

If you already have a passport, please be certain that it is valid for at least six months after the end of your program.

Note: You will need to apply for a passport before you may apply for a visa 

 

□      Secure a Visa, when applicable 

If a visa is required for the country of your program, the program provider will send you information about the application process.  As soon as you are accepted into the program, you should apply immediately, since the process may take several weeks. You must have a valid passport to apply for a visa.

 

□       Submit a copy of your program acceptance letter to the Office of International Education 

Please provide us with a copy of your acceptance letter(s) for our records.

 

Vatican, the announcement of the new pope. Credit: Katie LaPorta 

□       Housing Plans upon Return to Campus 

Towards the middle of the semester (March for Fall study abroad students and late November for Spring study abroad students), you will receive specific information from the Office of Housing and Residential Life regarding all housing options available if you are returning to campus when you come back from your semester abroad.  Please be sure to complete and return the appropriate form(s) by their stated deadlines. A list of deadlines can be found on the Housing and Residential Life website.  If you have any questions regarding on-campus housing, contact Daniel C. Remley at housing@bucknell.edu.  If you will be off campus for the whole year, either on the same program or on two different programs, please go to the Housing and Residential Life Office to pick up special instructions.  If you plan to live off campus when you return and presently do not have permission to do so, you must attend one of the programs offered to obtain permission.  If you currently live off campus, you will be sent a re-application by Charles Fritzges, Off-Campus Living Coordinator. If you have questions, he may be reached at cfritzge@bucknell.edu.

 

□      Registration for your time off-campus AND registration for your return to Bucknell 

Around the middle of the semester (mid-April for Fall study abroad students and mid-November for Spring study abroad students), you will receive a Course Registration Form from the Office of International Education.  During advising week, please take these forms to your appointment with your adviser. You should:

  1. Review with her/him your plans both for your off-campus semester(s) and for the semester when you will resume your studies at Bucknell,
  2. Register for "Off-Campus Study" (OCST 100) as though you are registering for a class on the Course Registration Form.
  3. Sign and date the bottom left hand side of the form and list the email address you will be using while abroad.
  4. Have your academic advisor sign the completed form, which will approve your off-campus study plans and authorize the Registrar's Office to release your registration PIN to you via email. 
  5. Obtain the Office of International Education's signature on the Course Registration Form(s) before returning it to the Registrar. You do not need an appointment to obtain this signature.  Just stop by the Office of International Education (Taylor 105) and any staff member in the office can sign the form.
  6. Return the completed form to the Registrar’s Office by the stated deadline.  Submitting this signed, ompleted form to the Registrar authorizes the Registrar's Office to release your PIN to you via email while you are off-campus, so that you can register online for the subsequent semester while you are abroad.  You will register online for courses at the same time and through the same process as you would if you were on campus. 

 

Vienna, Austria

□      Attend the Appropriate Pre-departure Orientation Session 

All students are required to attend the mandatory, country-specific pre-departure orientation appropriate for their destination.  "Bucknell in" programs will have their own separate orientation programs. You will receive a schedule of these sessions once you have received preliminary approval.

 

□       Complete the Transfer of Credit Form for each semester you will be off campus 

About one month before the semester ends (late April for Fall study abroad students and late November for Spring study abroad students), you will receive a Transfer of Credit form from the Office of International Education.  Please read the instructions on this form carefully and allow yourself sufficient time to seek approval for each course.  Complete and submit the form to the Office of International Education.  The completed form(s) will ensure that your approved off-campus courses transfer back to Bucknell (as long as you earn a grade of "C" or higher in each course).

□      Disclose "Special Needs" and complete the Medical Information Form 

After you have been accepted into a program, please disclose immediately any special needs that will require some form of accommodation on site, e.g., a learning disability, history of depression, treatment for an eating disorder, etc.  Early disclosure will allow you and the program sufficient time to arrange any necessary accommodations and support.

□       Sign and return the Assumption of Risk and Release Form 

This form will be sent to you along with the Transfer of Credit and the Medical Information forms.   Signatures are required by both you and your parent(s)/guardian(s).  Final Approval for Off-Campus Study will not be given until it is returned to the Office of International Education by the stated deadline. 

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Bucknell Account 

Your Bucknell account must be paid in full or satisfactory financial arrangements must be made with the Finance Office by the beginning of next semester.  If you have an outstanding balance and satisfactory arrangements have not been made, you will no longer be considered enrolled at Bucknell; neither financial aid nor credits will transfer.  Final approval may be withdrawn.

 

Final Approval 

Once you have completed all of these steps and turned in all of the necessary forms then you are eligible to receive final approval to study off-campus from the Office of International Education. This approval is contingent on the satisfactory completion of these requirements. Failure to do so prior to leaving campus may result in the revocation of approval to study off-campus, regardless of a student's progress in the off-campus study process.