Procurement of Foreign Travel Insurance
Faculty, staff, employees, students or volunteers, who are traveling on university business and/or participating in a university sponsored program/activity abroad, are ultimately responsible to ensure that Foreign Travel Insurance Program (FTIP) insurance is bound prior to departure. Due to the inherent risks associated with international travel, if FTIP insurance is not obtained prior to departure, the international travel will be considered unauthorized. FTIP insurance is unavailable during and/or after the travel event has occurred. Faculty, staff, employees, students or volunteers cannot substitute another travel insurance policy for FTIP insurance.
To obtain FTIP insurance, the requesting participant must complete:
- Travel Participant List (if more than one traveler);
- International Travel Information form which outlines the scope of travel;
- Travel Request form and
- Volunteer Identification form (if a volunteer will participate on trip).
The Travel Participant List must include all travelers, including faculty/ staff/student/volunteer/others, who are participating in the foreign travel. All completed forms must be received by Risk Management via email no later than ten (10) Business days prior to the date of departure. This minimum period of time does not include holidays, weekends or campus closures.
Revisions to the initially submitted Travel Participant List should be limited and must be made no later than ten (10) business days before the date of departure. The Travel Participant List and the International Travel Information form are available on the Risk Management website by clicking on FORMS or by email to Risk Management.
In most cases, foreign travel requires at minimum a Level 3 approver approval. For additional information, see the Travel on Signature Authority Guidelines. For additional information on travel, visit the Academic Affairs Travel Guidelines webpage.
CSULB faculty/staff member who are responsible for a short term study abroad program or university approved program as required for a course, shall ensure the procurement of FTIP insurance for students traveling international. For College of Professional and International Education (CPIE) operated programs, these requests are made through CPIE. For University courses that require foreign travel as a part of the core course requirements, these requests are made through the academic department(s). Once the travel has been approved, the academic departments contact Risk Management to proceed with the insurance process. Insurance premiums will be billed to the chartfields provided on the travel request form. If adding personal travel days or other coverage, the payment must be received from the traveler requesting coverage.
Upon receipt of the completed/approved documents, Risk Management will submit a request for coverage to the insurance program administrator. Once coverage is confirmed, Risk Management will provide Travel Assist Cards for each participant, which will be sent to the responsible faculty/staff member for distribution prior to travel.
For FTIP cancellation, an email request to FTIP cancellation, must be received no later than five (5) business days prior to the date of departure. Risk Management is unable to refund any costs already incurred for FTIP insurance for request made after the five (5) business days prior to the date of departure.
Employees traveling abroad on university business will have the cost of FTIP insurance covered by the department that approved the Travel Request form. Upon procurement of FTIP insurance, Risk Management will bill back the department for the FTIP insurance cost using the chartfields provided on the approved Travel Request form. For university business travel, Risk Management is unable to accept other forms of payment for FTIP insurance premiums.
University faculty, staff, employees, students or volunteers who are participating in university business related foreign travel sponsored or paid for by non-state funds to include: the Research Foundation, the 49er Foundation or the Associated Students, Inc. are still required to purchase FTIP insurance. In such cases, FTIP insurance must be purchased through the Department if not otherwise approved by the travel funding source. If grant/contract funding is used, all travelers must contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) or their Grants Administrator to determine if such coverage is available or allowable.
If foreign travel is for a student that is attending a Short Term Study Abroad Program as a required part of a course core curriculum, the Risk Management will bill back the Department approving the course as part of its curriculum for any costs associated with FTIP insurance. In such cases, the approving Department can elect to request reimbursement for the cost through the student tuition fee approval committee or elect to charge students the cost as part of costs incidental to travel.
If foreign travel is part of a Short Term Study Abroad Program operated and controlled through
CPIE, CPIE will request Risk Management to purchase FTIP insurance on its behalf. In such instances, Risk Management will bill CPIE for any costs associated with procurement of insurance and CPIE may elect to charge back those costs to students enrolled in the program.
If you have any questions, please contact Risk Management at 562.985.2396.
