Travel Study Programs
The CSUS College of Continuing Education offers you the world!
Make plans to learn while you explore exciting domestic and international destinations through our Sacramento State Travel Study programs. These learning programs will enrich your travel experiences through special visits and contacts as well as knowledge of the culture, history, language and tradition of your destination.
Any adults (18 years or older) with a passion for exploring are welcome to participate in these programs. To request a brochure containing detailed information about itineraries, fees and travel arrangements, please call the contact person listed with the desired program or contact (916) 278-4554.
Independent Travel Study
Earn academic credit for a planned learning experience while traveling
in the United States or abroad! Applicants for this program are required
to pre-plan the program of study and submit a written proposal for
approval approximately six weeks prior to departure. The unit fee
for Independent Travel Study is $165 per academic credit.
The standards for Travel Study are consistent with regular program offerings. You are required to organize your program in such a way as to reach specific educational objectives. To request guidelines and registration materials (916) 278-4554.
Participants must be at or above their junior level of high school upon application.
Required Independent Travel Study Forms:
Please print, complete and submit applicable forms to:
CSUS College of Continuing Education
Travel Study Division
3000 State University Drive East
Sacramento, CA 95819-6103
All forms must be submitted to the College of Continuing Education
at least six weeks prior to departure. A faculty sponsor will review
the travel proposal and you will receive notification of its approval
or suggestions for amendment. The current academic registration fee
of $165 per unit, payable to CSUS, must accompany your registration
form.
Guidelines for Independent Travel Study
The College of Continuing Education provides the following guidelines to help you achieve the standards for Travel Study. The guidelines will also assist you in planning your travel in such a way as to make the achievement of your objectives possible.
- Academic credit: You may earn credit consistent with the following:
- Credit is limited to one semester unit per week of travel.
- One to six units of undergraduate credit may be earned.
- One to four units of graduate credit may be earned.
- The minimum involvement in all activities--planning, travel, assignment completion, evaluation--is 30 hours of participation for one semester unit of credit. It is very likely that the time you spend in all activity phases will be considerably greater than this.
- You may earn credit through Interdisciplinary Studies or through an academic department. If Interdisciplinary Studies, the objectives of your program will include several academic disciplines--for example, geography, history, art.
- The course number used for Travel Study is 191 if 60 or more semester units of college credit have been completed prior to departure. The course number 191 is upper division credit and may be applied in some graduate programs.
If at the time of departure, the student has earned less than 60 units, the lower division course number 91 is used. High school students may also participate and must have a letter from their principal stating that they are in good standing.
Graduate students who wish to receive graduate credit should use the course number 291.
- CSUS is an accredited institution and the units it grants should be accepted at other institutions; however, students should check with the university or college where they would like to transfer the units to verify their acceptance. CSUS and other institutions in our twenty-three campus system accept up to 24 units of coursework taken through extension, if these units appear on the transcript of the host institution.
- Faculty sponsor: Your faculty sponsor functions as your instructor for the program. The College of Continuing Education will identify a faculty sponsor consistent with the content and objectives of your program. Your sponsor will review your contract form, make suggestions for strengthening it and will evaluate the materials you submit at the end of your travel program. The faculty sponsor will also submit final grades to the office of the University Registrar.
- Timetable for submission of Independent Travel Study Contract: Independent Travel Study projects cannot be approved after the travel has taken place, therefore, it is necessary that you submit a contract for Travel Study well in advance of the beginning of your program. In order to secure the proper authorizations and to identify a faculty sponsor, the College of Continuing Education should receive your request to take independent Travel Study and your completed contract at least six weeks prior to the beginning of your travels.
- Evaluation: All Travel Study courses are graded on a credit/no credit basis. Letter grades are not authorized for independent study, including independent Travel Study.
Materials should be submitted for evaluation according to the following schedule if a grade is to be entered in the transcript for the semester in which the Travel Study occurred:
Summer Travel - September 1
Fall Travel - December 1
Winter/Spring Travel - May 1
An incomplete will be entered on the transcript if materials are not evaluated by the above dates. One year is permitted in which to change an incomplete to a credit or no credit grade.
- University/Student agreement: Complete as required, sign and submit.
- Travel Study release form: Complete as required, sign and submit.
- Registration and fee payment: Complete as required, sign and submit with fee payment. Make checks payable to CSUS.
- Contract for independent Travel Study: Select the appropriate contract (undergraduate or graduate).
Undergraduate Contract for Independent Travel Study
Prior to departure on a travel program for academic credit, it is necessary to submit a completed Contract for Travel Study. This completed form must include the following information:
- A general description of your Travel Study project. Between 30 and 60 words in length, this general description should indicate clearly and concisely the purpose and content of your Travel Study experience. The following example may help you in writing your own description:
"Explores the cultures of Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom. Concentrates on comparing and contrasting these cultures, especially their educational systems at the intermediate school level. Includes visits to metropolitan centers and rural areas."
- Objectives you plan to meet through this project. This part of the contract deals with this question: What do you expect to get out of this project in terms of specific knowledge or skills? You should list at least two specific objectives. For example:
"At the conclusion of this project, I shall be able to:
- Distinguish among the cultures studied, the use of folk literature in the early elementary grades and to demonstrate this knowledge in written or oral language.
- Demonstrate in a written paper, a knowledge of the relationships between family patterns and political groups, as these are found in England, France, Italy and West Germany."
- How you plan to meet the objectives listed in your contract. What kinds of activities will you participate in to meet the objectives you have set for yourself? These activities might include listening to lectures, including those of tour guides; discussion with persons in key situations; interviewing selected persons; reading materials made available through a local library, or through a college/university library; gathering materials, for example, those you might use in classroom teaching.
- Materials you plan to submit for evaluation. These materials have to be consistent with your learning objectives. If for example, your objectives include one in which you demonstrate a knowledge of a specific nature (architectural forms of Gothic cathedrals in the United Kingdom and Western Europe), you would most likely submit an anecdotal record of your visits to various cathedrals accompanied by appropriate pictures. If on the other hand your objective was to compare the architectural forms of these cathedrals, you would have to submit evidence that in fact you had made appropriate comparisons.
Students should present a Journal or daily log that provides a chronology of their travels; a Journal by itself is inadequate as a demonstration of a content objective or a skills objective. In addition to a Journal, a typed report is required such as an analytical paper or anecdotal record accompanied by slides or pictures; collections of realia (artifacts); audiotapes; and Journals that expand on daily comments with specific observations that relate directly to a learning objective. Students living in the Sacramento area have frequently made oral presentations accompanied by slides, pictures or collections of materials.
- Your itinerary. List all places on your itinerary in the chronological order in which visits will take place.
Graduate Credit Contract for Independent Travel Study
Please review the instructions given for undergraduate credit and note additional requirements on the graduate credit form.
We provide these guidelines to assist you in planning and participating in an effective and academically worthwhile Travel Study project. If we can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact the College of Continuing Education.
Our address is:
Travel Study Division
CSUS College of Continuing Education
3000 State University Drive East
Sacramento, CA 95819-6103
Telephone: (916) 278-4554
Fax: (916) 278-3685
Three-Summer Master of Arts Graduate Program
In response to requests by graduate students and Spanish teachers, Sacramento State has been offering a very unique Master of Arts degree for the past twenty-five years. All course work may be completed in three summers if no prerequisite course work is necessary. Our summer centers are located in Costa Rica-Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Spain.
Undergraduate Program
This program offers students an opportunity to continue perfecting their command of the Spanish Language. Early enrollment is highly recommended, as a cap will be placed on the number of students wishing to participate.
Spanish Summer Program Guidelines
General Information
The Sacramento State Spanish summer programs offer participants a total Spanish immersion experience, featuring home stay accommodations with selected host families and an academic program of courses, educational tours and lectures by scholars and authors. The programs provide high school and college students and Spanish teachers with the opportunity to perfect their competence in the four language skills: comprehension, speaking, reading and writing, and the chance to gather personal examples and anecdotes from their daily immersion in the culture of the country. Through both formal instruction and informal contacts with the people, the participants will gain a cultural and linguistic understanding of Spanish. The directors and teaching faculty are all experienced academic tour leaders who understand the importance of a solid, but pleasant, academic experience.
Academic Programs
Depending upon preparation and needs, participants in these programs may select up to nine semester units of academic course work from the following areas: Literature, Linguistics, Civilization, and Culture. Culture courses are supplemented with excursions and field trips to points of historical and literary interest. Special programs and tértulias will be arranged in the afternoons. It is expected that participants will attend all classes and special functions regularly and speak only Spanish throughout the programs.
Housing and Meals
By prior arrangement, participants will be assigned to private homes upon arrival. Host families normally have room for two (on occasion three) participants. The price of home stay lodging includes three meals per day. Meals that are not specified in the cost of the program are to be paid for by the participant.
Application Deadlines and Financial Commitment
In order to reserve a place in a program, a down payment of $500, payable to CSUS, should accompany each participant's application. California State University, Sacramento is only responsible for providing instruction and academic support. The program directors reserve the right to cancel or substitute program sites should the necessity arise. Participants will be given the option to participate at the substitute site. If the participant chooses not to participate at the new site, his or her payment will be refunded in full.
Academic Credit
Program fees include up to six units of academic credit transferable to most accredited universities. Undergraduate participants may enroll in an additional unit and graduate participants may enroll in an additional three units for an additional fee of $165 per unit.
For more information, visit the Sacramento State Spanish Travel Study website.
Contact
For travel study programs, contact Deborah Hansen at (916) 278-4554 or deborah.hansen@csus.edu
