OARC June 2025 Newsletter

International Travel

Steve Lampe, Director of Global Risk & Security

How the University's support structures reduce the anxiety of international travel.

Should I be concerned about crime at my destination? Do I have the proper vaccinations? Will I be able to access my research? What if my laptop is seized? Are there visa requirements? Does my grant support this travel? All valid concerns, these are just a few of the potential lot of what if questions. The good news is that travel is supported by several departments within the University, all with the intent of ensuring your personal safety, facilitating your work, and maintaining compliance. 

Starting with personal safety, recent modifications to the Concur Travel Request process added the Riskline resource, which is automatically generated by your Travel Request submission. This real-time intelligence product offers insight into your destination’s risk as it pertains to security, political instability, conflicts, terrorism, unrest, crime, health and medical, environmental, and travel. Additionally, every international trip is reviewed by Global Risk and Security, referencing the destination against the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Advisory Program. Once approved for travel, your Concur booking information is uploaded to Healix, the University’s duty of care platform. This provides real-time incident reporting at your destination, informing both you and the University of potential risks. Healix also provides geolocation and communication with the University in the event of an emergency.  

AIG is the University’s insurance provider. Other than Business, Emergency, and International Travel insurance, AIG offers additional resources including a worldwide healthcare provider directory, medical translations, and information regarding city travel logistics. Information regarding eligibility benefits can be found on the Travel Insurance webpage. Several mobile applications, including Concur, Healix, and AIG are available to support your travel. More information on those applications and a host of travel tips can be found on the Foreign Travel Security website.

For most employees, being connected to KU information systems is core to accomplishing their work. To facilitate this connectivity, while maintaining compliance with U.S. regulations, KU and KUMC Information Technology offer the Loaner Laptop program. Built into the KUL travel request workflow, a loaner laptop and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environment are provisioned for your dates of travel based on the needs you identify during the request process. The laptop itself is essentially blank, providing only a means to access KUIT virtually. Most data storage locations, computing resources, and common software applications can be accessed and manipulated through the AVD environment. This ensures your data remains uncompromised and backed up on enterprise grade storage systems no matter where you travel and mitigates the concern of lost laptops. 

Depending on the purpose of your travel, several departments offer assistance and publish information regarding travel requirements. Visit these websites for more information: Travel Services in Lawrence, Office of International Affairs Travel Resources, KU Center for Research International Travel, KUMC Travel Audit, KUMC Office of International Programs International Travel, Global Risk and Security, and Office of Audit Risk and Compliance. 

¡Que tengas un buen viaje!  Bon voyage!  Gute Reise! Buon viaggio!  良い旅を  旅途愉快  Хорошей поездки!  Boa viagem!  즐거운 여행 되세요  رحلة سعيدة

Office of Global Risk & Security

The Office of Global Risk & Security (GRS) is a One KU office supporting KU Lawrence, KU Medical Center, and all other KU campus locations and reporting sites. Our team of four professionals manages safety and security risks in areas related to KU's international operations and research. We seek to increase coordination between campus partners working in these areas and drive consistency and efficiency in the application of relevant policies and processes.

When it comes to international travel, the GRS team provides safety assistance and advice to help ensure the traveler's trip is a safe and successful one.

  • During the month of May 2025, we reviewed 228 requests for international travel.
  • The top international destinations that we saw in those requests included Germany and Japan followed by the UK, Spain, and France.
  • To mitigate the risk of data and IP loss or theft while traveling, we worked with our partners at KU IT to prepare 24 loaner laptops.

Would you like to learn more on how GRS can support the safety and security of your department's international travel? Contact us and we are happy to meet one-on-one or present to your group.

Monitoring World Events and Your Travel

Unfolding world events have the potential to impact your international travel plans. Here are some important steps you can take to stay informed on in-country travel conditions.

  • Register your travel in Concur and download the Healix application to your mobile device as instructed here (available only to Lawrence Campus travelers at this time).
  • Join the U.S. State Department's Smart Travel Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP allows travelers to enroll their trip abroad so the Department of State can accurately and quickly contact you in case of an emergency. You'll also receive real-time updates about health, weather, safety, and security in the country.

Travel Insurance

Ben Schultheis, Director of Insurance & Risk Management

KU has secured international travel accident insurance coverage through AIG. Among the benefits provided by this policy is financial protection when a KU employee or student is traveling abroad and has an accidental medical condition arise, a need for medical evacuation, or in extreme circumstances repatriation to the United States. Should the need for this coverage arise while traveling internationally, AIG can be reached referencing our policy (GTP 0009149267-B) the following ways:

Policy Administration

Announcement 

The Policy Library has moved! The Policy Library has transitioned to a new platform, TeamDynamix (TDX), to better meet the University’s policy needs. The transition enhances the overall user experience by improving search functionality, streamlining navigation, and offering advanced capabilities for policy and procedure reporting. If you have any questions about this transition, please reach out to policy@ku.edu.

New and Updated Policies

Third-Party Travel and Expense Policy: Codifies travel requirements for suppliers and consultants and their employees, temporary employees, independent contractors, subcontractors, agents, participants or any other entity acting on their behalf engaging in business with KU.

Accessibility Notice

Please remember, all images for newsletters require Alt-Text. Tables must also follow accessibility guidelines. Resources are available on the Office of Integrity & Compliance Technology Accessibility site and KU sites for additional information and guidelines.