Coronavirus forces Florida universities, colleges to cancel study abroad trips
As concerns over coronavirus mount and contingency plans are put in place, many universities and colleges in Florida have called off study abroad trips to affected countries beyond China.
On Monday, Florida International University announced that it had canceled all study abroad trips this semester to Italy, where 400 people have been infected. FIU has called home 120 students and four faculty members from study abroad trips in China — where FIU has a hospitality program in Tianjin — Singapore, South Korea and now Italy. A trip to Vietnam has also been canceled.
FIU Vice President Pablo Ortiz, who oversees regional academic locations including study abroad opportunities, said his teams have been monitoring reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
“It’s really been daily communications and monitoring the outbreak of the coronavirus and what regions of the world are getting impacted,” Ortiz said. “As any new area or country is sort of added onto the list, we quickly mobilize ... we see if there’s any students there, faculty there.”
He said FIU is trying to ease the burden of canceling trips early and bringing faculty and students home by refunding expenses. He did not have a cost estimate available Tuesday.
“The university is really taking on that burden,” he said.
All FIU students, faculty and staff who have been to those affected countries have been asked to quarantine themselves at home and avoid contact with others for 14 days, even if not experiencing flu-like symptoms. The university is monitoring study abroad programs scheduled for the summer.
Other universities and colleges are also taking precautions and following the same quarantine procedures. The University of Miami suspended all university-affiliated travel, including spring and summer study abroad programs, to China effective Jan. 31.
UM said in a memo sent Wednesday that students and staff are strongly recommended to avoid all nonessential personal travel to Italy or South Korea, but it is unclear if that includes study abroad programs.
In an email, Miami Dade College spokeswoman Hesselin Fernandez De Cueto said the college hasn’t yet made a determination on study abroad trips, which start in a few months.
“We are still evaluating and working with our study abroad partners to monitor travel advisories, as the trips to affected countries are not set to occur until May,” she wrote.
Florida Atlantic University has expanded the suspension of university-related travel to China and South Korea, as has Florida State University.
Students at the University of Florida had their study abroad trips to China canceled. Some were refunded, but some chose to relocate their trip or find a new program. The Independent Florida Alligator reported that 143 student applications to study in China during the summer were withdrawn, but only 51 applications were formally completed.
