Registration

The Barcelona GBE is a 1.5 credit course offered between March 13-17, 2006. 

First Year students will then have 45 credit hours of 700 level courses and 1.5 credit hours of 800 level courses for the 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 must be completed before 5:00 PM Monday, March 20, 2006. course.

   For Second Year Students:

20 slots have been reserved for Second Year students for the Barcelona GBE. You can register for this course during pre-registration and during the add/drop periods. However, as of November 15, 2006, all of the slots had been filled in pre-registration. You can check pre-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 Barcelona GBE after this deadline, First Year and Second Year students can drop/add this (or any other open) GBE, from 1:30PM, Tuesday, January 24, 2006 to 4:30PM, Wednesday, January, 25, 2006. Information on open slots 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 8000G. 

Between 3:30PM, Tuesday, November 15, 2005 and 2:00PM, Thursday, November 17, 2005 students will have the opportunity to register for BPE 8000G. 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. 

If any slots remain available for the Barcelona GBE after this deadline, First Year and Second Year students can drop/add this (or any other open) GBE, from 1:30PM, Tuesday, January 24, 2006 to 4:30PM, Wednesday, January, 25, 2006. Information on open slots will be available through the Registrar's myDarden site.

                                                                                                                                                                              Program Costs

Program Costs for the Barcelona GBE do not include air travel. All students must make their own air travel arrangements. Information on air fares is provided below. Please notify Will Goldsmith by Thursday, February 16, if you wish to make your own hotel accommodations--otherwise they will be included in your program costs. 

Last year's program costs covered most of the trips and activities associated with the program. Here is a breakdown of the expenses from 2004: Program costs 2004.xls This year's Program Costs will be available by Friday, February 17. Other than fluctuation in dollar euro exchange rate, we do not anticipate any substantive changes in this year's program costs.

If you would like to pay by credit card you can download and complete a credit card: credit card payment form. This form should be returned to Will Goldsmith in Room 136 of the Faculty Office Building. If you wish to pay the program costs in cash or by check (please make your check out to The Darden Foundation), please do so by visiting 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: Travel Waiver Form, an Insurance Verification Form and an online ISO Registration Form. The deadline for completing these forms is 5:00 PM, 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.

In addition to the required medical insurance coverage, Darden provides additional emergency coverage at no cost to GBE participants.  If you are covered by Chickering Insurance, UVA's student health insurance, you are covered for international travel but must still complete the insurance form. In addition to the required individual medical insurance coverage, Darden provides additional emergency coverage at no cost to GBE participants.

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 out the registration  form at: http://www.virginia.edu/iso/studyabroad/gradstudentsabroad/phpform.html
 

Visas and Passports

   United States citizens:

If you are a United States citizen you do not need a visa to travel to Spain. However, if you do not already have a passport, you will need one. For more information on obtaining 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 entering Spain differ for citizens of countries other than the United States. Last year several students who put off acquiring needed visas had some difficulties doing so at the last minute. You can find out more about specific visa policies by visiting the Spanish embassy's website, 

http://www.spainemb.org/ingles/indexing.htm

For information on the locations of foreign embassies in the United States, see:

http://www.state.gov/www/travel/consular_offices/fco_index.html

Travel Reservations

You must make your own airline reservations.  The Financial Aid budget for air fare to Barcelona last year is $500.00. Obviously, the earlier you make your plans the less expensive the air fare is likely to be. Information on air fare and program costs will be available in early January. You will be told specifically when and where to meet in February, but plan on arriving in Barcelona not later than the early afternoon of Sunday, March 12, 2006.  For the last two years the program has begun on Sunday afternoon.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

Accommodations

Accommodations will be made this year at the Princesa Sophia Gran Hotel. All rooms are double occupancy. You can pick your roommate in January after the add/drop deadline; if you do not choose a roommate, one will be assigned to you.

Host Institution

Here is the website for IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain:

http://www.iese.edu/

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, Jeanne Liedtka; 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.


The "Strategy as Design" GBE program will be similar to the one offered in 2004.
 



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 Spain GBE:

Airfare*                                       $650                     

Program fees, lodging, food, etc.      $1300        

Total                                                 $1950                             

*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.

Country Links

In order to give you more information on Barcelona and Spain, here are some very useful sites to visit.

Here is the city of Barcelona's official website:

http://www.bcn.es/english/ihome.htm

Here is the Spanish National Tourism site on Barcelona:

http://www.spaintour.com/barcelona.html

Here is the Spanish National Tourist Bureau site with information on Spain in general.

http://www.okspain.org/

Here is another site with information on Barcelona.

http://www.red2000.com/spain/barcelon/

Deadlines

Registration:                                         Friday, January 20, 2006

Program Costs Payment:                           Monday, February 20, 2006*

Insurance and Waiver Forms:                     Monday, February 20, 2006

* tentative

Advice 

What should I bring to wear? "Casual and business casual attire. No need to bring formal attire."
Where should we go to shop, eat, drink, dance? "The Olympics area."
What should I buy and/or consume? "Wine and cheese. Go to tapas restaurants."
Any problems with taxis or alternative modes of transportation? "No. Taxis are reliable and cheap if you go with four people."
Any special sights to visit? "Go to a soccer game if you can."

Second Year Students Who Attended the Barcelona GBE Program Last Year 


Amanda Adams, Brian Costa, Sarah Donovan, Stephen Eckert, Douglas Evans, Mike Franitza, Scott LeTourneau, Craig Misrach, Nelson Roos, Alison Ross, Patrick Sullivan