Increasing Health and Safety in Study Abroad

The number of full-time staff members focusing on health and safety in international university travel has increased from a mere three in 2007 to twenty-seven staff members today, an Inside Higher Ed article reported. Some would say that the number today is closer to a 100, even though it may not be an official job title. “There are a growing number of institutions where this is the primary responsibility of somebody,” Gary Lansdale, president of the University Risk Management and Insurance Association said.

So how newsworthy is 100 Health & Safety Directors? According to the U.S. Department of Education Database of Postsecondary Institutions and Programs, there are 33,221 entries; approximately 6,900 colleges and universities, meaning 1.45% of all colleges and universities have health & safety directors. We realized not all of these programs offer study abroad – but the numbers are strikingly low. 

Parents and students need to vet out their programs before entrusting their future and lives into the hands of study abroad programs. It’s also important to understand the ratio of health and safety providers for the program and number of students they oversee.

The Institute of International Education reported that approximately 270,000 college students studied abroad in 2010-2011. The number of students studying abroad has more than tripled in the past two decades, factoring into the number of full-time staff working in study abroad programs. Students who choose to study abroad today are also traveling to a multitude of locations, and many of these students have pre-existing health conditions or disabilities. A priority in the field is to increase access to study abroad for students with disabilities, the article reported.

Stacey Tsantir, ClearCause Director and University of Minnesota Director of International Health, Safety and Compliance, was quoted saying that much of her job “entails creating policies and procedures for the five-campus system and educating faculty and staff members in order to increase compliance.” Although students don’t have to come through her office while planning a study abroad program, she said that there are policies requiring students participating in education abroad opportunities, to sign a release and waiver, to purchase the university’s international health insurance and to attend an online health and safety orientation. The unit that is sponsoring the travel also would be required to have an emergency plan on file.

“It seems likely that more institutions will consider creating these specialized international health, safety and security-related positions as they grow or centralize their global programs,” the article reported.

Tsantir said that those in the field want to avoid this trend becoming a fad, in which institutions install these positions but “don’t set up their hires to succeed.”

ClearCause Founder and Executive Director Sheryl Hill responded, “We applaud universities who take precautionary measures and the programs and directors cited in the article. However, we hear all too often about universities who are not forthcoming with answer to parental questions about how their child’s life ended during study abroad. More needs to be done so that families are not forced to sue to get information. Laws and rules should mandate transparent reporting of safety records, and data sharing to avoid repeating preventable deaths from drowning, unsafe housing and more.”

Written by N. Losik.