Universities adjust plans in face of Ebola crisis Karen Weintraub, Special for USA TODAY August 11, 2014 American universities are suspending programs in West Africa in light of the Ebola outbreak, and taking measures to ensure that no one comes back to campus with the disease. On July 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone because of Ebola. The disease has sickened more than 1,700 in those countries and claimed more than 960 lives. EBOLA VIRUS: What you need to know about the deadly outbreak Since then, several schools have announced that they would not send their students to the region. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign suspended its program in Sierra Leone for the semester, but with spring exchange programs more popular than the fall, the decision doesnt affect any students this semester, said Andrea Bordeau, an international risk adviser in the schools study abroad office. About 10 students who had applied for the winter term and spring semester are in limbo, said Bo White, the schools assistant director for international health and safety. One staff member is currently traveling back from the country and some research will also have to be put on hold. The school will monitor the situation before deciding when to resume the program, which dates back four decades, White said. Well continue to monitor and reassess throughout the fall semester, Bordeau said. Our real goal is to balance and weigh the academic value of our programs with keeping our student safety paramount. New York University issued a statement Monday afternoon, saying that it would not send students to its program in Ghana for the fall. Ghana has not had any cases of Ebola, but it sits between the West African nations at the center of the outbreak — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia — and Nigeria, which has seen at least 10 cases since a sick American traveled there and died late last month. The decision to suspend classes for this fall was made less out of an immediate concern that students might contract the Ebola virus, Carlo Ciotoli, associate vice president for student health, said in the statement. It was driven more by our concern about our ability to get students out of the country easily should the virus have spread and about the experience that students would have had in Ghana, given the current state of affairs in West Africa. NYU, which expects to resume its Ghana program in January, is now helping the 11 students who were supposed to go this fall find other alternatives. The school also suspended its operations in Tel Aviv for the fall because of the unrest in Gaza. At Harvard University, an e-mail circulated on Friday signed by the provost and the director of health services encouraging anyone who had recently traveled to the region to reach out to Harvard University Health Services within three days of their departure from any country with Ebola. We are contacting everyone in the Harvard community known to have recently visited these West African countries, offering guidance and support, according to the e-mail. However, there are likely students, faculty or staff whose travel to the region is unknown to us. Health services, the e-mail noted would arrange a brief telephone assessment to help determine next steps before you return to campus. usatoday/story/news/nation/2014/08/11/universities-ebola-study-abroad/13900291/
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 18:00:00 +0000
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