Student Safety Abroad
Go to Guidelines to Follow for Study Abroad
It is regrettable but true that nowhere in the world, including many of our own U.S. cities, can one expect a completely safe environment. It is impossible for anyone to predict future events or give guarantees about the course of world events. While certain risks are inherent in any kind of travel, domestic or international, Cal State Fullerton must strive to plan and implement safe study abroad programs.
Academic departments and/or individual faculty members should also be aware of the liability they assume, for themselves and for the institution, by operating study abroad programs. Study abroad programs include international study programs designed and implemented by academic departments for groups of students, or for individual students, to go to foreign countries under the advice of a CSUF faculty member or academic department to pursue CSUF academic credit.
Based on advice provided by the following three sources, the University has developed safety guidelines for the campus community.
- The California State University Risk Management Policy – Executive Order 715, Attachment A-3, dated 10/27/99, provides a list of risk management guidelines for off-campus activities involving international travel that are consistent with California State University Risk Management Policy guidelines.
- The Interorganizational Task Force on Safety and Responsibility in Study Abroad, a joint venture of AIEA, NAFSA, Council, NASPA other professional organizations, as well as a number of study abroad providers, summarizes a set of guidelines in their document: Responsible Study Abroad: Health and Safety Guidelines.
- The SAFETI Clearinghouse (Study Abroad First - Educational Travel Information), under the leadership of Dr. Gary Rhodes, Director of the Center for Global Education at the University of Southern California, provides resources and information to assist study abroad program providers in the area of health and safety and study abroad. The SAFETI Clearinghouse has been funded through a grant from FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post secondary Education) and is designed to provide study abroad program administrators with a place where they can share the resources that other institutions have developed and share their own resources with other institutions on issues related to safety and study abroad.
Utilizing the above-mentioned resources, we have put together the following guidelines for Cal State Fullerton. Cal State Fullerton faculty and/or academic departments that operate study abroad programs are advised to go over the following information with study abroad participants prior to departure and/or, when appropriate, during an on-site orientation with the students once they have reached their study abroad destination.