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About Us News and Updates Student Safety FAQs
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The following frequently asked questions (FAQs) are in response to the concerns about international terrorism and war with Iraq. We have security procedures in place to respond to a variety of situations, but we have never had to cancel or suspend a program as a result of terrorism or during the Gulf War, and we do not anticipate doing so now. Under what conditions will you cancel a program? What kinds of announcements does the State Department issue? What if there is an incident in one of your program countries? What is your evacuation plan and when would you implement it? How will you communicate with parents in an emergency? What security measures do you recommend for students? How do your offices abroad keep in touch with students? Is there anti-Americanism abroad? Under what conditions will you cancel a program? The IFSA-Butler has yet to cancel a program because of war or terrorism. Our students are directly enrolled in existing major universities abroad, and IFSA-Butler would not cancel an individual university program unless that university cancelled or suspended its operations. As for evacuating students from a country, our policy is to follow the U.S. Department of State in its public announcements to U.S. citizens worldwide. If U.S. citizens were recalled from a country where we have a program, we would require our students to return home as well. top What kinds of announcements does the State Department issue? The U.S. Department of State issues periodic public announcements and warnings at three levels of urgency. The lowest level announcement is a public announcement that contain descriptions of the country and safety issues of which American citizens should be aware. These announcements include an issue date and a date of expiration. The second level of public announcement is a worldwide caution, which means that U.S. citizens traveling to a certain country should be aware of a non-specific security issue and should exercise caution while traveling to or within that country. Several worldwide cautions have been issued since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The third level (and highest alert) is a travel warning announcement for a specific country. A travel warning indicates that the U.S. government has received a specific threat and is warning U.S. citizens to be vigilant and on alert for suspicious activity. It often recommends that citizens defer travel until the threat is no longer present. We send U.S. Department of State worldwide cautions, travel advisories and travel warnings to all IFSA-Butler students via e-mail from our offices abroad. Please visit the State Department Web site to review information and to see individual U.S. Embassy Web sites. top What if there is an incident in one of your program countries? We will communicate with students via e-mail or telephone through our emergency communication network. We will notify parents by e-mail (where we have been given an emergency e-mail contact) or by postal mail. During our orientation abroad, we advise students to follow basic security instructions while traveling. These include: letting people know where they are; leaving an itinerary with IFSA-Butler staff if traveling outside the host city/country; and other measures that will be listed at the end of this section. top What is your evacuation plan and when would you implement it? We do not anticipate ever having to evacuate our students from our locations abroad. However, we do have an emergency evacuation plan in place for each of the countries in which we have programs. We would implement our evacuation plan only in the event of a call from the U.S. government to evacuate all U.S. citizens from a particular country. A call for the withdrawal of U.S. citizens is an extreme measure and a last resort. In an evacuation, the IFSA-Butler crisis management team (including the resident director abroad and several designated officers of the U.S. office in Indianapolis) would analyze the event and work together to create an appropriate response. The IFSA-Butler directors abroad are in regular contact with the U.S. Embassy or Consulates in their respective countries. We would closely follow the directors’ recommendations and notify students and their parents of the specific plan and recommended timeframe. We also would work very closely with our travel agent to arrange any necessary transportation. We would maintain contact with students via telephone or e-mail and arrange for students to be moved either to the U.S. or to another destination, according to the advice from the Department of State and the U.S. Embassy. The cost of international travel is the responsibility of the student. This is true for evacuations by U.S. military planes as well. top How will you communicate with parents in an emergency? Most of our information is directed toward students, with the exception of a predeparture parent packet. Otherwise we do not contact parents unless there is a specific incident that requires parent communication. For this reason, we ask parents to supply us with at least one e-mail address. top What security measures do you recommend for students? At our orientations abroad, we recommend the following personal safety measures to our students:
How do your offices abroad keep in touch with students? Our orientations include specific instructions on how to blend into a new culture, both personally and academically. Throughout the semester, we also send newsletters, hold special meetings, take students out for a meal or organize event weekends and give them the opportunity to express or discuss any concerns. In the event of an emergency at a specific university or in a certain city, we would keep the students informed but also tell them to get on with their study abroad programs. We also would tell them to take advantage of counseling opportunities if they feel overly anxious or experience problems such as insomnia or lack of appetite. All of our offices abroad keep referral lists for psychologists and physicians. The host universities have health centers and counseling centers whose personnel are ready to help with these issues. During our scheduled meals or event weekends, our staff members abroad take the opportunity to meet with our students and to make sure that they are coping well with their academic work and their new living situation. These meals and event weekends are a great time for students to get to know our staff members so that they feel comfortable calling the staff if they need to. top Is there anti-Americanism abroad? Anti-Americanism can take the form of political debate or student protest or criticism of American foreign or domestic policy in a classroom discussion. For more information, visit our Anti-Americanism Abroad page. top |
