Off-Campus Trips – On-Demand Training

A Campus Wide Framework To Minimize Risk & Protect Students, Staff and Your Institution

Off-campus trips are one of the most impactful ways students learn, lead, and build community through conferences, service projects, leadership retreats, athletic competitions, cultural experiences, and student organization travel. Yet every trip also presents complex challenges related to student safety, institutional liability, crisis response and compliance and many institutions struggle to balance meaningful student experiences with effective risk mitigation.

Discover how your institution can move beyond simply avoiding risk to creating a culture of risk intelligence – one that protects both participants and your institution. You'll learn practical, student-centered strategies for developing sustainable processes that strengthen safety, reduce liability, improve consistency across campus, and support student learning rather than limiting it.

Whether you oversee student organizations, campus recreation, academic groups, leadership programs, athletics, international experiences, or other off-campus activities, you'll leave with immediately applicable tools to prepare group leaders, respond more effectively when challenges arise; and create experiences that are safer, more educational, and better aligned with your institution's mission.

Topics Covered

Leave the webinar prepared with strategies to confidently:

• Implement a comprehensive travel risk assessment process to move from ‘Risk Avoidance’ to ‘Risk Intelligence’, so you can assess and mitigate risk through informed, data-driven decisions that balance educational value with safety considerations.
• Standardize travel approval processes to improve consistency, reduce liability, and simplify planning across departments.
• Turn student leaders into risk management partners through practical training, accountability, and shared responsibility.
• Train your faculty and staff advisors on off-campus trips and liability issues to help ensure you limit exposure to risks before a crisis occurs.
• Reduce preventable incidents with practical tools for risk assessment, emergency planning, and crisis communication.
• Address emerging challenges and contemporary issues impacting student travel including mental health concerns, student conduct, social media and reputational risks.
• Leave with ready-to-use strategies you can immediately apply to make student travel safer.
  

Presenter

Valerie Nettleton currently serves as the Executive Director for Student Engagement at Middlebury College where her work centers on helping student organizations operate effectively while balancing institutional priorities, risk management considerations, and student development outcomes.
Click here for full bio.