The health and safety of our students is our highest priority. The Office of International Education and Richmond's Director of Safety Services and Risk Management are carefully monitoring the flu situation by watching governmental sources, the world media and health sources. We are also consulting regularly with colleagues in the study abroad field and with the overseas contacts for our programs. We monitor events to be certain that we act in the best interest of our students as reflected in UR's Health and Safety Guidelines.
To date, and to the best of our knowledge, the H1N1 flu has not sickened any Richmond students on study abroad. We do not anticipate having to cancel any semester programs abroad. If a UR student were to fall ill from H1N1, the study abroad health insurance provided by Richmond will provide medical coverage. For more information about this policy, please refer to our Health Insurance web page. (Note: nonimmigrant F-1 students are covered by a different health insurance policy. More information regarding this policy can be found on this web page.)
During orientation prior to going abroad, we encourage all students to develop an emergency plan with their families for all types of emergencies: large (the flu or terrorism), or small (transportation strikes or storms). It is important for your student to have adequate cash, food and other necessities on hand in case they need to stay home for a few days. All students received an emergency card prior to departure with information on how and where to contact the international offices and directors abroad. If there should be an emergency of any kind, whether related to health, politics or weather, we encourage students to first call home and then to contact the international office abroad as well as the Office of International Education at Richmond.
If safety conditions should change, Richmond students will not be permitted to study in areas where there is evidence of serious risk. Unless a student has applied for and received express permission from the Office of International Education to study in a country that is under a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning, students are prohibited from traveling to countries under a travel warning. If a program needs to be suspended while in progress, every reasonable effort will be made to ensure that students can complete their coursework (via e-mail or at alternate locations).
Finally, it is important for students to follow current events through local and world media. Below is a list of web sites that are useful in keeping abreast of current health and safety conditions abroad:
If you wish to discuss safety conditions at any of our study abroad locations, please contact the Office of International Education at 804-287-1849.
Sincerely, Office of International Education
University of Richmond Office of International Education Puryear Hall, Middle Floor Office Hours 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday-Friday studyabroad@richmond.edu
