Volume 3, Number 1, 2005 Edition

Responsible Study Abroad: Good Practices for Health and Safety

NAFSA Section on U.S. Students Abroad (SECUSSA)

Published in November 2002, Responsible Study Abroad: Good Practices for Health and Safety is an updated version of an original set of guidelines created by the Interorganizational Task Force on Safety and Responsibility in Study Abroad. These resources are available online at: http://www.secussa.nafsa.org/safetyabroad/goodpractices2003.html

Because the health and safety of study abroad participants are primary concerns, these statements of good practice have been developed to provide guidance to institutions, participants (including faculty and staff), and parents/guardians/families. These statements are intended to be aspirational in nature. They address issues that merit attention and thoughtful consideration by everyone involved with study abroad. They are intentionally general; they are not intended to account for all the many variations in study abroad programs and actual health, safety and security cases that will inevitably occur. In dealing with any specific situation, those responsible must also rely upon their collective experience and judgment while considering their specific circumstances.

Interorganizational Task Force on Safety and Responsibility in Study Abroad developed the original statements of good practice to provide guidance to institutions, participants (including faculty and staff), and parents/guardians/families. The first formal draft of the Guidelines was produced at a meeting in Boulder, Colorado in January 1998, and the final draft at a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June 1998, after a thorough discussion of comments received from many study abroad practitioners. In 2002, the Guidelines were revised and renamed Responsible Study Abroad: Good Practices for Health and Safety.

In this edition of the SAFETI On-Line Newsletter, Natalie Mello's article provides an understanding of the risk management as implemented by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The article also addresses the fifteen Good Practices for Health and Safety as adopted by NAFSA. The article can be found at: v3n12005ed_risk_management_safety_issues_and_good_practices.asp