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Registration
The
Bahrain GBE
is a 1.5 credit one-week course offered between March 13-17, 2006. First
Year students enrolling in the course will have 45 credit hours of 700 level courses and 1.5
credit hours of 800 level courses for their First Year. For ASC purposes, the grade for this course will count as a First Year grade
for the spring semester. Second
Year students will be given credit hours for this course in the spring of
their Second Year and the grade will count as usual for ASC purposes. The
1.5 credit hours will count toward the 30 credit hours needed in the
Second Year.
All
graded materials for the course must be completed before 5:00 PM, Monday,
March 20, 2006.
For Second Year Students:
20
slots have been reserved for
Second Year students for this GBE. You can register for this course
during pre-registration and during the add/drop periods. As of
November 15, 2006, all 20 slots had been filled. You can check current
registration numbers on myDarden at the Registrar's site.
The deadline for registering is the last day of
add/drop, 4:30PM, Friday, January 20, 2006.
If any slots remain
available for the Bahrain GBE (or any other GBE sections) after this deadline,
First Year and Second Year students can drop/add into this (or any other open)
GBE
from 1:30PM, Monday, January 24, 2006 to 4:30PM, Tuesday, January
25, 2005. Information on open slots for all GBEs will be available through the
Registrar's myDarden site.
Students are not permitted to go to the same country in First Year and
Second Year. The faculty expects that no student will attend a GBE in
their home country.
For First Year Students:
10 slots
have been reserved for First Year students for BPE 8000D.
Between
3:30PM, Tuesday, November 15, 2005 and 2:00PM, Thursday, November 17,
2005 students will have the opportunity to register for BPE 8000D.
Information on how to register for the courses will be sent by e-mail to
all students by the Registrar on Tuesday, November 15, 2005.
If
more than 10 students register for the course, a random selection will
take place to choose the 10 students. Those selected by this
registration will
be notified by 2:00PM, Friday, November 18, 2005.
If,
at the end of this selection process, there are openings available in
any other GBE, and if you were not already selected by the lottery for a
GBE, there will be an opportunity to register for this or any other GBE
that still has openings. Selections will be made through a second
registration process that will be held from 2:00 PM, Friday, November 18, 2005 to
2:00 PM, Monday, November 21, 2005. A list of open slots for each GBE
will be available at the start of this registration. Those selected will be notified on Tuesday, November 22, 2005.
Program Costs
The
Financial Aid budget for last year's program, not including air fare,
was $800. This was intended to
cover 6 days of transportation, two group dinners,
and double occupancy hotel accommodations. All students are
expected to make their own travel arrangements.
A preliminary non-refundable deposit of $325 for three night hotel
costs in Dubai will be due by 5:00 on Friday, February 10, 2006. Payment
of any remaining program
costs must be made
no later than 5:00PM, Friday, February 17, 2006. If you would like to
pay by credit card you can download and complete a
credit
card payment form; if you would like to
pay by check, please make your check payable to The Darden Foundation.
Your payments should be submitted to Will Goldsmith in Room 136 of the Faculty Office Building; he will
provide you with a receipt.
In order to participate in a GBE each student must
complete and return three University of Virginia travel forms,
a University of Virginia Travel Waiver Form, an Insurance Verification Form,
and an online
ISO Registration Form. The
deadline for completing these forms is 5:00PM, Friday, February 17,
2006.
You can pick up copies of these forms from Will Goldsmith in Room
136 of the Faculty Office Building or you can download them here -
Waiver
Form and
Insurance Verification
Form. If you have insurance coverage from UVA student health
insurance provider, Chickering, you automatically have international
health care coverage, but you must still complete the Insurance
Verification Form. In addition to the required medical insurance
coverage, Darden provides additional emergency and evacuation coverage
at no cost to GBE participants. Please also return these two forms to
Will Goldsmith in Room 136
of the Faculty Office Building.
Finally, UVA's International Student Office requires all students
traveling abroad on University-related activities to register with them.
Please read the information and fill the registration form at:
http://www.virginia.edu/iso/studyabroad/gradstudentsabroad/phpform.html
Visas and Passports
United States citizens:
If you do not already have a passport, you will need one.
You will also need a visa to travel to Bahrain. You can find specific
information about visas to Bahrain at, http://www.bahrainembassy.org/visareq.html
. For
information on obtaining or renewing a passport, visit the State Department's passport
website: http://travel.state.gov/passport/index.html .
There
are several companies that you can use to expedite getting a
passport including: http://www.travisa.com/ .
Non-United States citizens:
Visa policies for citizens of countries other
than the United States vary widely from one country to another and do not
seem to obey any clear logic. To be safe, you should begin exploring visa
policies as soon as your registration is confirmed. Specifically for
Bahrain, you can find out more about visa policies
by visiting the Bahraini
embassy's website, http://www.bahrainembassy.org/ .
For information on the locations of other embassies within the United
States, see:
http://www.state.gov/www/travel/consular_offices/fco_index.html
Travel Reservations
You must make your own airline reservations. Estimated cost for air
fare for 2005 was based on fares taken from online travel companies. On
this basis the Financial Aid Office budget for air fare to Bahrain was $1,250.00. This
year's air fare budget will be available in early January. You
will be told specifically when and where to arrive when you meet with Sherwood Frey, faculty
leader for the Bahrain GBE, during the program Orientation. Here are some
websites that offer online travel
reservation services:
http://orbitz.com
http://www.11thhourvacations.com
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.cheaptickets.com
You
may also find a visit to Bahrain's International Airport website helpful:
http://www.bahrainairport.com/
Accommodations
All GBE hotel accommodations are
double occupancy and students are required to stay in the same hotel. In
the past GBE students have stayed at the Regency Intercontinental Hotel in
Manama.
The Office of Financial Aid's estimated budget for hotel accommodations
will be available in January. After final registration you can
pick your roommate; if you do not choose a roommate, one will
be assigned to you prior to the beginning of the program.
Host Institution
The Bahrain Institute of Banking and
Finance will host the Bahrain GBE. All academic classes will take place
here:
http://www.bibf.com/
Academic Program
Each
GBE has
a formal Orientation component that will meet approximately three weeks
before the GBE begins. The Orientation serves several purposes. It allows
all students going on the trip to meet one another; introduces the
Darden faculty GBE leader, Sherwood Frey; provides an historical and
cultural overview of the country and region to which you will
be traveling; resolves any outstanding logistical problems or questions;
and
provides any pre-course reading assignments.
Specific dates and locations for each GBE
Orientation will be announced in January.
While every
year brings some changes to a GBE, this overview captures the content of
the last several programs: GBE overview
Financial
Aid
If
you are registered to participate in a GBE at
the close of the add/drop deadline of Friday, January 20,
2006, you
will be eligible for a student budget increase of a fixed amount according
to the approximate travel, living, and program fees costs of this GBE.
With this increase in your budget you may borrow up to the budget increase
as a GATE Loan. You
may request the loan after the close of the add/drop period on Friday,
January 20,
2006.
After Friday, January 20,
2006 please
send an e-mail to Amanda Mills at, millsa@darden.virginia.edu
with your name, Social Security number, year at Darden, whether you are a
citizen of the United States or not, and your GBE destination. You may
then immediately file your GATE loan application on-line from the
third-party loan section of the Financial Aid website: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/financialaid/sy/sy_loans.htm.
A promissory note should arrive at Amanda Mills' office
for you to sign within 10 business days. The money should be available
within a month.
Below is the approved budget for the
2006 Bahrain GBE:
Airfare* $1550
Program
Cost
$1375
Total
$2925
*from
Dulles International Airport
Airline
price estimates based on air fare search at: http://edit.yahoo.com/config/ytravel?resform=YahooFlightsR
using the flexible dates section and specifying mid-March.
Advice
What should I bring to
wear? "It will be hot so lightweight clothes are important. Women
should be conscious that revealing or short clothing will be noticeable
and that they may receive negative attention if they wear it. There are
several events that require suits. We had time for the beach and the pool
last year, so a swim suit is handy." "Slacks and collared shirts
of the guys. We had to put on a sports coat and tie a couple of times as
well. Not a lot of opportunity to wear shorts (somewhat against the
culture)."
Where should we go to shop, eat, drink, dance? "Almost every
day's food is covered. The hotel has breakfast for the morning and lunch
was provided each day. Sherwood was terrific about making sure that dinner
was usually provided as well. There is a mall in Bahrain, but the most
most fun place to shop was the souk." "There are plenty of
western places to eat near the hotel. There are also a number of bars
attached to the hotels where you can get a drink. The restaurants we went
to also served alcohol, but I think this may be hit or miss. There is one
Mexican restaurant that was pretty good and served alcohol. There was also
one bar that we went to early on that had a band playing, but finding a
good place to go dancing is probably impossible."
What should I buy and/or consume? "The markets have great
buying opportunities for gold and pearls. Also, buying rugs here is quite
an experience--expensive, but nice, rugs." "Bahrain is known for
its pearls, they are beautiful and a real treat. There are many handcrafts
to be found in the souk." "If you forget something, you can buy
pretty much anything you really needed."
What
should I avoid? "As with all other places, get the taxi fare up
front. Getting around is pretty easy." "Just after we left last
year there were some demonstrations at the restaurants that served alcohol
by some of the local fundamentalists." "Make sure you ask how
much pashmina is in the shawl before you buy it." "The driver
brought back my digital camera when I left it in the taxi."
Any special sights to visit? "Sherwood makes sure that you see
them, though for Hard Rock Cafe fans there is one in Bahrain." The
program is pretty tightly scheduled, and everything you should see is
pretty much pre-arranged. We tried to go scuba diving in the Gulf, but
there just wasn't enough free time to squeeze it in."
Second Year
Students Who Went on Last Year's GBE
Jessie
Barter, Ted Bills, Alzay Calhoun, Darren Fultz, Joe Jordan, Kirn Khalsa,
Ryo Kimura, Rob Northrup, Ellie Off, Sussy Portillo, Katherine Shirley
Country Links
In order to give you more information on Bahrain and the Middle East here are
some useful sites to visit. For
a general overview and tourist information:
http://www.bahrain.gov.bh/english/index.asp
http://www.bahraintourism.com/
For
economic and financial information:
http://www.bahrainstock.com/
Deadlines
Registration: Monday, January
21,2005
Program fee deposit:
Friday, February 10, 2006
Program fees: Friday, February
17, 2005
Insurance and Waiver Forms: Friday, February
17, 2005
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