Alternative Break Policies

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Cancellation Policy

• All payments are non-refundable UNLESS we are able to replace your spot. 
• If you are registered for an air travel trip and cancel your registration, your airplane ticket is non-refundable and non-transferableand may incur additional fees and these fees will be at your expense
• If there are any other cancellation fees incurred by Hillel due to your participation cancellation, these will be at your expense.
• Extreme Circumstance: In the event that you have to cancel your trip due to an extreme circumstance, your payments are non-refundable unless we can fill your spot.  We ask that you consult with our Director of Alternative Breaks if you find yourself in this situation.

 

Fundraising and Friends Asking Friends Policy

Friends Asking Friends is a service set up by Maryland Hillel to encourage students to raise   funds that will help them offset the cost of their Alternative Break trip.

Through Friends Asking Friends, students are able to set up their own homepage to direct famil y and friends to donate to help make their trip possible.  These trips send close to two hundred Maryland Hillel students around the world

***A 6% processing fee is subtracted from the total amount that is fundraised. This fee is an external fee from the online system that is used to process all of the donations.  This is not a Hillel fee or a fee that Hillel is benefitting from in any way. 

• Students are allowed to freely ask anyone they wish to donate to their trip
•  If a student is able to fundraise the entire cost of the trip, and has received scholarship, Maryland Hillel serves the right to rescind the scholarship.
•  If a student fundraises more than the necessary funds for the trip, the extra funds can only be used to go to the organization your trip is working with and/or to a general Alternative Break Scholarship fund that will help to off-set the cost of the trip for a future participant.  In conjunction with a Hillel staff member, the student will be allowed to decide how the funds are divided between these two sources.
• Students may continue to fundraise until one month after your trip.

 

Deposits and Late Fees Policies

Deposits are due at the following designated times. The final amount will vary depending on the cost of the program that you are going on and will be conveyed to you by your Student Fellows. For every day that your deposit is late, you will incur an addition $10 fee.

Winter Programs

• Wednesday, October 17th: First Deposit
  • $500 for International Trips
  • $250 for Domestic Trips
• Wednesday, October 31^st : Second deposit due
  • $500 International
  • $250 Domestic
• Wednesday, November 14^th: Final deposit due
  • To be Determined depending on cost of  International Program
  • $250 Domestic

 

Spring Programs

• Wednesday, November 14^th: First deposit and contract due
  • $500 for International
  • $250 for Domestic
• Wednesday, January 30^th: Second Deposit Due
  • $500 International
  • $250 Domestic
• Wednesday, February 20^th: Final Payment.
  • To be Determined depending on cost of  International Program
  • $250 Domestic

Airport Transportation Policy

Maryland Hillel will arrange for bus transportation to and from the airport in the DC area if public transportation is not available due to the time of day.  Participants that elect to take the Hillel transportation to and/or from the local area airport will be charged a fee ranging from $25-$35 each way.  This a service provided by Maryland Hillel and is up to the participant if they want to use it.  Our ability to hire a bus will depend on getting a minimum number of students who are using it. ]

 

Behavior, Drug and Alcohol Policy

All participants are expected to act in a mature and responsible manner at all times. If you violate any of the behavioral guidelines including alcohol and drug consumption, you will be sent home from the program and will be charged for all expenses incurred.

• Individuals will be held responsible for their own behavior.
• All participants must observe all state and local laws and university policies, including those concerning alcohol/drug use.
• Even if you are of legal drinking age, Alternative Break is an alcohol free program. There are several reasons for this:

(1) not all group participants may be of legal drinking age, and alcohol consumption for those members would be illegal; (2) drug use is illegal;  (3) I am traveling as a representative of Hillel at The University of Maryland in the community in which we will be serving, and (4) drug or alcohol use could hinder my performance on or at the project site, either during or after consumption. Violation of this policy will result in immediate expulsion from the trip.

• No one may consume alcohol or drugs at any time during the activity.
  • No participants may consume alcohol or drugs while traveling in vehicles during the entire activity.
  • No one shall drive a vehicle during the activity while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• All participants are expected to act responsibility in relation to the property of others.
• If damages occur and the responsible person(s) cannot be identified, then all participants will share the financial consequences of the damages.