The AFS-USA Travel Advisory Group works to support long-term goals that seek to provide a more direct arrival/departure experience for our students, volunteers, and staff. These goals are intended to continue to strengthen the team of volunteers and staff dedicated to raising awareness of areas in need of improvement within the organization and facilitating this improvement in collaboration with other departments and advisory groups.
The Travel Advisory Group develops recommendations and provides input on ways to improve operational practices related to hosted student arrival and departure travel. Progress and outcomes of the Travel Advisory Group will be regularly communicated to the National Council and other AFS-USA volunteers.
The Travel Advisory Group will focus on long-term planning projects such as:
- Consulting on changes or improvements related to the continued expansion of through-ticketing and “mini-gateways” for Hosting Participant Travel.
- Expanding on the vision of the Hosting Travel Evolution Project by developing best practices for point-to-point travel (through-ticketing) and opening new mini-gateway arrival and departure locations.
- Developing innovative ideas for potential development of student travel that falls closer to school start/end dates.
- Liaising and consulting with the Orientations and Hosting Advisory Groups to ensure a holistic approach to the evolution of hosting arrivals, departures, orientations, and application distribution.
Travel Advisory Group Membership
This group includes both AFS-USA staff and volunteers. Volunteer representation is based on AFS volunteer experience, interest, and skills. The group should include volunteers from across the country, representing teams within the existing gateways in AFS-USA. This includes the following gateways: New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
The group is accountable to the Director of Travel and Logistics as well as the Hosting Travel Manager.
| Name | Role | Team |
| Suzanne Baker | Volunteer | Alaska |
| Fevzi Caglarsu* | Volunteer | Dallas |
| Jay Crumley | Volunteer |
Massachusetts Bay
|
| Tyler Henry | Volunteer |
Georgia
|
| Anne Lyons | Volunteer | Arkansas |
| Ryan Tallman* | Staff | |
| Paula Zhang | Staff | |
| Kat Sweeney | Staff |
*denotes co-chair
Time Commitment
The expected time commitment for the Travel Advisory Group includes a monthly conference call and regular email correspondence, as needed.
Members are asked to commit to being active and responsible members of the group for a term of 12-to-18 months.
Interested?
To indicate interest in serving as a volunteer on the national level, please complete the National Council Committee and Advisory Group interest form here. Specific questions about the Travel Advisory Group can be sent to Ryan Tallman at rtallman@afsusa.org.
Additional Resources
2021 AFS Summit session: “The ETA for the Travel Evolution is NOW! How Through Ticketing has Forever Changed the AFS World of Travel & Logistics.”
This session provides a brief history of through ticketing, benefits to AFS USA and our network of AFS partners, as well as tools on engaging volunteers to provide airport and arrival support to our participants. See how we are navigating this new structure, engaging volunteers, and laying foundations for a new era in arrival and departure travel for AFS participants.