A travel course takes a significant amount of effort in its planning and execution. The logistics are even more challenging when a travel course is introduced for the first time. In the Engineering and Technology department at Western Carolina University (WCU), a faculty-led travel course has never been taught. The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) offered an inaugural grant opportunity, especially for a travel course in STEM. In response to that, a proposal was submitted after discussions among colleagues and administrators. Although the grant proposal was not funded, the CIEE offered a large discount for the program and the CIEE program manager worked tirelessly to accommodate the requests to revise the program. When the initial abstract of this paper was submitted in January 2016, nine student applications had been received, for travel in May 2016. Unfortunately the class was cancelled after two students withdrew reducing the numbers below the required enrollment and budget limits. However, throughout the development of this course, many successful partnerships were fostered. The collaborating parties included: students, departmental colleagues, administration (the Department Head, Dean, and Associate Dean), the International Service Office, colleagues in other departments, the CIEE Program Manager, WCU's Development Officer, and a private donor. It is no small feat for a travel course to be jumpstarted from scratch, and partnerships are the key for successful implementation. Although our travel course was unsuccessful at meeting the final objective, we gained valuable knowledge from the process. The current paper addresses several factors in establishing a new travel course, such as assessing a fair number of credit hours for a relatively short duration, developing an appropriate budget, and incorporating project-based learning into a short time table. Furthermore, the current paper shares some guidelines that may be helpful in establishing a new travel course, such as using survey tools to understand student needs, making infographics to advertise the course, and encouraging the students to talk to their friends and classmates about the course. These tools have been effective but need to be used carefully to avoid misleading the intended audience. The many lessons that have been learned during the development of this course will also be shared in this paper.
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