Enhancing Safety: New International Travel Approval Process
At VCU, our commitment to our faculty, staff, and students extends far beyond the borders of our campus. We are dedicated to providing excellent Duty of Care—the moral and legal obligation to ensure your safety and well-being while you represent the University abroad.
To further strengthen this commitment, we are introducing a key update to our international travel workflow.
What’s Changing?
As of Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the routing process for international travel pre-approvals will include an additional layer of review.
Before your request follows its traditional departmental routing path, it will first be reviewed by the International Travel Advisory Committee (ITAC).
Why the Change?
The global travel landscape is constantly evolving. By involving ITAC at the start of the process, VCU can provide:
- Expert Risk Assessment: Real-time evaluation of health, safety, and security conditions in your destination.
- Proactive Support: Ensuring travelers have the necessary resources, insurance information, and emergency protocols before they depart.
- Consistent Compliance: Streamlining University standards for international engagements.
What This Means for You
While the primary goal is safety, this update does add a step to the electronic workflow. To ensure your plans stay on track, we recommend the following:
- Submit Early: Aim to submit your international pre-approval requests well in advance of your booking date to allow ITAC sufficient time for review.
- Monitor Your Requests: You can track the progress of your pre-approval within the Emburse system to see when it has moved from ITAC to your standard departmental approvers.
- Provide Detail: Ensure your travel itinerary and purpose are clearly outlined to help the committee provide a swift and informed approval.
Our Priority is You
This enhancement to our Duty of Care program isn’t about adding “red tape”—it’s about adding a safety net. VCU wants to ensure you can focus on your work with the peace of mind that we have your back.If you have any questions, please email [email protected] for questions regarding Emburse or the pre-approval process and email [email protected] for questions regarding international destination alerts or about the required employee or student travel petitions.
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