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PrincetonUniversity To: All Members of the Faculty Academic Department Managers Office Heads Date: October 18, 2001 From: Amy Gutmann Subject: Academic-related Undergraduate Student Travel Outside the U.S. and Canada Protocols
Dear Colleagues: In the wake of the September 11th tragedy and ensuing events, I asked that the Dean of the College, the Vice President for Campus Life and the Director of Risk Management review our current published practices for travel abroad to make sure they are still sound. As a result of that process, we reaffirmed that most of our existing policies and practices were appropriate and responsive to situations of high volatility and political uncertainty, such as we now face. To improve our response in the interests of safety, the Office of Risk Management has developed a series of protocols for students and faculty so that informed travel decisions can be made and "controllable" risks minimized. Those protocols are located on the Internet at: http://www.princeton.edu/~riskmgmt/travel.html. We ask that all University-sponsored undergraduate travel adhere to these protocols. Probably the most important safety benefit to students and faculty is to obtain the Worldwide Assistance Service (WAS) identification card for University-sponsored travel. The major benefit provided by the card is up to $25,000 in medical evacuation benefits when WAS determines that such evacuation is medically necessary. The other key benefit is providing emergency physician, dental, and hospital referrals. Following are the minor revisions we have made to academic-related undergraduate travel abroad policy and procedures. First, while academic departments have authority to approve undergraduate travel related to academic work, we also felt it important that notice needs to be provided to the Dean of the College at least three weeks before the departure date. This will enable the Dean's office to have a complete list of academic-related travel and will help us respond in a consistent and expeditious fashion, should the travel conditions deteriorate. Second, we felt it important to document in writing our evacuation policy. This primarily relates to study abroad participants. Lastly, we are requiring all student groups in excess of 25 students to separate and fly in two different planes, if feasible. While air travel is still far safer than other means of transportation, and we have no indication that air travel is less safe than before September 11th; we believe that dividing large groups of student travelers into smaller groups will mitigate the effect of very low-probability catastrophic loss. Based on past travel patterns, we do not expect that this change will impact any academic travel. Obviously, as a result of the above changes, trips scheduled to depart over fall break need to be handled on an exceptional basis. Please notify Dean Malkiel immediately if your department is sponsoring academic-related undergraduate travel outside the U.S. or Canada during this period. If there is an institutional need to adjust or postpone any 2001 fall break travel plans, we will provide appropriate financial relief. Below are the basic travel protocols (with new additions highlighted) that we ask all academic departments to continue to adhere to with respect to undergraduate travel. General Risk Management Institutional Approval Process:* No travel is permitted to countries where the U.S. State Department warns U.S. citizens against travel or to countries where the local U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate advises against non-essential travel. Current travel warnings are listed on the Internet via http://travel.state.gov/warnings_list.html. * If traveling by a foreign airline, the sponsoring staff or faculty advisor must verify from the relevant US Consular Information Sheet that the foreign airline's aviation standards comply with FAA standards for international air travel. If standards are not in compliance and if it is not feasible to use a different airline, contact the Risk Management Office for approval. * New: All student groups in excess of 25 students** whose travel plans include airline travel will be required to separate and fly on two airplanes, if feasible. The Office of Risk Management and the Dean of College will approve any exceptions. **Student travel groups with more than 50 students will be handled on a case-by-case basis. * All travel must adhere to Risk Management guidelines for student travel abroad. (See http://www.princeton.edu/~riskmgmt/travel.html.) Staff members should contact the Office of Risk Management if they have questions or concerns about health, safety and security information described in the U.S. State Department Consular information sheets. For countries with high disease, crime or other health or safety high risk factors, the Office of Risk Management will supplement State Department information with current updates from the in-country U.S. Embassy officials, and, if appropriate from the U.S. State Department Desk Officer, and other officials from U.S. agencies or NGO's. Trip Approval Protocols* In general, academic departments have the authority to approve academic travel related to a particular course of study for undergraduate students. New Procedure: A memo describing approved trips including the purpose of the trip, dates, and estimated number of student travelers should be forwarded to Dean Malkiel at least three weeks before trip departure. * The Dean of the College approves academic study abroad programs, which may be sponsored by Princeton University or other colleges and universities. * Trips may be canceled by the Dean of the College, in consultation with the President, up to the time the students are boarding their flight, if there has been a significant deterioration in the safety and security conditions pertaining to the group's travel arrangements or in the sector of the country or countries where travel is to occur. Examples include acts of war, terrorism or widespread civil unrest; an outbreak of a severe and infectious disease; major disruption of public utilities or services, or natural disasters such as hurricane or flood. The decision to cancel the trip will take into consideration information received by the Office of Risk Management from in-country U.S. Embassy officials, the appropriate U.S. State Department Desk Officer, and other officials from U.S. agencies, NGOs or officials at local colleges and universities. As the University will not be responsible for the financial penalties resulting from trip cancellation, it may be prudent to consider flight insurance. Trip Evacuation Protocols* New: Trip evacuation for extracurricular and academic study abroad programs will only occur if recommended by the U.S. State Department or the local U.S. Embassy as a result of a significant breakdown in the health, safety or security infrastructure of the program city; e.g., due to the event of an outbreak of a serious, infectious disease, a natural disaster, war or widespread civil riots, or a major political disturbance. There can be no guarantee of credit for students who must leave before the completion of scheduled instruction or examinations. However, if an evacuation occurs prior to the third full week of the semester, students can return to Princeton University for the semester. * Premature return of travel for other reasons. At any time, for reasons other than the above-mentioned widespread disaster/emergency situations, a University faculty trip sponsor may decide that it is in the best interest of the students to return to campus earlier than originally planned. The faculty or staff member should notify the Dean of the College as soon as practicable. |
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