Before Leaving Barnard

Once you have been admitted to a program and have decided to attend, take the following steps:

• File a Notice of Study Leave form (which includes a waiver) via eBear. For students interested in studying abroad for the FALL '13 or FULL ACADEMIC YEAR 13-14  these are due by April 1, 2013 by 5:00 p.m. You will not be officially on leave until you submit this form. Bills from the bursar, memos from the registrar etc will assume you are NOT studying abroad until you submit the Notice of Study Leave. This is very important!! To submit, log onto your eBear account, click on the Study Abroad tab, choose the Notice of Study Leave form in the left-hand navigation bar.  Complete and submit.
• Students studying abroad in countries on the U.S. State Department Travel Warning List must obtain the signature of a parent or guardian on a hard copy of the waiver, even if the student is over 18. Please submit signed hard copy waivers to Laura Paine's drop box in the Provost's Office in 110 Milbank.
• File for study leave course approvals on eBear as soon as you can. Information on the credit approval process is detailed on the getting credit pages.
• Attend the mandatory study abroad pre-departure orientation the semester prior to your time abroad. If you do not attend, you risk not being able to study abroad under the auspices of Barnard College, which means you are no longer a registered Barnard student and you may not receive Barnard credit for the courses you take overseas. Please visit the study abroad calendar for up to date information regarding the next pre-departure orientation.
• Contact the Barnard Student Health Service at (212) 854-2091 to schedule a pre-travel visit 4-6 weeks in advance of your departure. You may need to update routine vaccines or you may need recommended or required vaccines based on travel destination (the CDC is our resource for recommendations: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/. A pre-travel visit consists of any needed vaccination and travel health counseling. Travel health counseling covers topics such as water and food precautions and personal protective measures against mosquitoes and insects that carry disease. Depending on where your study abroad program takes you, you may need prescriptions for malaria, traveler's diarrhea, altitude sickness prevention and more.
• Find out if you will need a visa. Look into this early. The visa process is often long and stressful. Your visa may also cost you up to $500. Please check with your program or the relevant consulate to see if there is anything you need from Barnard, as your home institution.
• It is recommended that you designate a Power of Attorney (PoA) before you head abroad so that the entrusted person can manage your personal and financial affairs while you are out of the country.  Granting a PoA is a legal process that involves drafting a notarized document that delegates another person to act as your legal representative in specific situations (e.g. signing checks written to you). Be sure to consider all situations where you will need your delegate to act on your behalf and make sure that your PoA takes them into account.
• If you will need to take any limited enrollment courses (e.g., labs, seminars) in your first semester back, be sure to go to the appropriate department even before leaving to find out how to sign up while abroad.
• Request a deferral from the Chair of the Physical Education Department (206 Barnard Hall, x42085) before leaving campus if you have not completed the Physical Education requirement prior to studying abroad during your junior year. You may otherwise risk receiving an F on your transcript for failing to complete the requirement on time.
• Leave a forwarding address with the staff in the student mailroom if you want your mail sent to an address in the United States other than your permanent home address.
• Remember to review a copy of "A Guide to Living Abroad," a booklet given to you by the Office of International Programs at the pre-departure orientation.