At its March 12, 2015 meeting, the Board of Regents approved a new university-wide Travel Outside of Canada policy, which outlines measures that supposedly serve to mitigate risks associated with international travel for university-related activities. The policy is in effect for travel which occurs on or after April 1, 2015. The policy and related procedures are available here: http://www.mun.ca/policy/site/policy.php?id=279 .
MUNFA is alerting its members about this policy for the following reasons:
- On December 12, 2014, during the consultation period, MUNFA sent a very detailed commentary to the policy office objecting to a number of aspects of the policy, including the policy’s potential to violate the principles of academic freedom, onerous, unnecessary, costly and indeed intrusive governance by the university and a general lack of clarity. Our concerns were largely ignored by the university. We will make available MUNFA’s commentary on the draft version of the policy to our members upon request.
- Specific compliance procedures are outlined that if not followed could result in a freeze on travel funds and approval for the planned travel being denied or revoked by the Head of the Academic Unit.
We encourage all Academic Staff Members, and their students who plan to travel outside of Canada on university related activities to familiarize yourselves with this policy.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact MUNFA (munfa@mun.ca).
