Visas

IENA, International Exchange of North America, is the official program sponsor. Participants come to the USA on a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa which allows them to be in the US for up to 4 months during the period of May to early October. An additional 30-day grace period is allowed for travel.

Please be aware that participants are required to visit their nearest US Consulate or Embassy in person before a visa can be issued. This can be an expensive matter and can add considerably to the time it takes to get a visa. Also before a visa is issued, the sponsor is required to enter the participant and camp details into the SEVIS system. Once the participant is in the USA, this information must be validated. IENA and BUNAC will work with camps on how to do this.

For Canadian camps, if the participant is a student, they need an official contract from the camp and can then, with BUNAC’s help, apply to the Canadian High Commission in London for the employment authorisation. For non-students, the camp has to obtain an Employment Authorisation number from its local CEC. Full information will be provided on contract.

Insurance

Every program participant has full travel/work insurance coverage arranged by BUNAC. Coverage includes medical and accident, baggage loss and cancellation/curtailment. Such insurance is secondary to and is not to replace, any coverage under the camp’s Worker’s Compensation or liability policy.

Please note that although this policy is negotiated by BUNAC for participants, it is for the individual counselor to make all claims, on the form provided, directly to the insurance company and NOT to BUNAC. Full details of coverage and claims procedures will be sent to each camp in early June.

Social Security

All J-1 program participants are required to obtain a social security card after they have arrived in the USA. However, you do not withhold social security payments since overseas staff are ‘excluded from coverage under the Social Security program’ (IRS Pub. 518, p.21) and are neither subject to federal social security withholding nor unemployment benefit. We will provide up-to-date information with our invoice in June.

Referrals

If your camp has already accepted someone from overseas, we can provide the correct visa and other program services for them. Procedures differ according to the applicant's country of residence so please contact us for further information.

In countries where we actively recruit, every first-time applicant must have an interview. A Direct Placement applicant may have the option to make their own flight arrangements.

If you are expecting an application from a particular referral (brother/sister/friend of former counselor, etc.), please let us have that person’s name so that we can be sure that the dossier does go directly to you after we receive it in Connecticut.

Recruitment

BUNAC participants are part of the staff at every type of camp in every corner of North America. Our participants work in traditional private, residential camps and also at day camps (private and agency), YM/YWCA or YMHA camps, Girl Scout camps, inner-city agency camps, arts and music camps, primitive wilderness camps, upmarket sports camps, camps for the disabled child (or adult), science camps, riding camps, soccer camps, computer camps – the list is endless!

Assessment

All first-time counselor applicants attend one of our one-on-one interview sessions. We rigorously screen applicants and accept only those candidates who our interviewers feel will genuinely relate well to children and who have the potential to become fine counselors.

All applicants have to provide a criminal background check and at least two college or professional references. Many provide more than two.

Placement

The next step is to match our qualified applicants to your requests as indicated on the Staff Requirements form which you complete for us. Our placement team will draw upon their in-depth knowledge of summer camps to select the "right" staff for your camp.

Our staff have many years' experience of visiting camps, interviewing and successfully placing many thousands of counselors. When we feel we have the right people for you, we will send their dossiers to you, and only you, for your consideration.

You will be able to meet BUNAC Summer Camp USA staff at the ACA National Convention in Denver, Colorado in February 2010, as well as at various regional camping conventions in the Spring of 2010.

Returning Counselor Staff

BUNAC welcomes returning staff and offers special registration fees for them. Returners are encouraged to apply now to take advantage of earlybird discount rates. Download an information sheet here.

Camp visiting

During the summer, we try to visit each camp where we have staff. The BUNAC camp visitors are either interviewers or BUNAC staff members. These visits are considered extremely valuable from every point of view – participants, camp directors and visitors. The camp visitor reports are an important part of our overall information about each camp.

Further feedback is provided through the questionnaires sent to each camp and counselor at the end of the summer.

Orientation

Although BUNAC does thoroughly prepare staff for camp life in general, we expect each individual camp to prepare staff for their own camp. We ask you to be sure to write to your international staff and to send them as much information as possible. The more you communicate, the better prepared your staff will be on arrival and the quicker they will adjust to their new environment.

All Summer Camp USA participants attend an in-depth orientation before departure for North America. Orientations are mainly presented by US camp directors so participants arrive with realistic expectations of camp life. BUNAC provides each counselor with a full set of Orientation Notes. Counselors continue to refer to these throughout the summer.

Flights/Travel to Camp

Summer Camp USA and KAMP participants are booked on the flight which allows them to reach you for the first day of pre-camp unless you specifically request otherwise in advance. All participants have a choice of return date within our program and so are free to determine for themselves the extent of their post-camp travels/vacation.

For New York arrivals, participants are met at the airport and bused to their overnight accommodation. The morning after arrival, breakfast is provided and participants attend a briefing by the US program sponsors.

They are then free to head off to camp. The BUNAC New York staff will be on hand to assist with any problems and to make sure counselors know exactly how they are getting to camp.

For camps in other areas we can usually arrange direct flights into such cities as Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, St. Louis and Toronto. This significantly reduces the fare differential. We keep this cost as low as possible! Please check with us for further information.

NB: The above information applies mainly for counselors coming from Europe. For Australia/New Zealand/Singapore/China, different travel plans may be made.

In all cases everything is discussed and agreed up-front with each camp before any travel is confirmed.