| Health and Safety |
Purdue University is committed to developing a wide variety of international study, research and work opportunities for its students. At the same time we recognize that there are times and places where personal security issues may outweigh the advantages of exposure to international experiences; therefore, we have developed a very careful and considered approach to the safety of our students.
Our approach to safety includes careful monitoring of U.S. Department of State travel warnings and public announcements. In addition, we have implemented an emergency preparedness and crisis response plan for our overseas programs by providing key individuals (on-site faculty and host institution administrators) with guidelines to follow under a variety of circumstances. The response plan calls for working with overseas contacts as well as Programs for Study Abroad, the Dean of International Programs, the Dean of Students' Office, and ultimately the Provost and President of Purdue University.
The United States Department of State has developed a
set of reports designed to inform travelers of potential risks (click
here for details).
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant
information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Countries where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel Warnings
as well as Consular Information Sheets.
Public Announcements are a means to disseminate information about terrorist threats
and other relatively short-term and/or transnational conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. These announcements are
made any time there is a perceived threat and usually have Americans as a particular target group. In the past, Public Announcements have been issued
to deal with short-term coups, bomb threats to airlines, violence by terrorists, and anniversary dates of specific terrorist events.
Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the world. They include such information as the location of the U.S.
Embassy or Consulate in the subject country, unusual immigration practices, health conditions, minor political disturbances, unusual currency and entry
regulations, crime and security information, and drug penalties. If an unstable condition exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant
a Travel Warning, a description of the condition(s) may be included under an optional section entitled "Areas of Instability." On limited
occasions, they also restate in this section any U.S. Embassy advice given to official employees. Consular Information Sheets generally do not
include advice but present information in a factual manner so the traveler can make his or her own decisions concerning travel to a particular country.
At a minimum the following always applies:
Purdue University's Office of International
Programs will not send students to any country for which a U.S. Department of State "travel warning" has been issued. The Office of
International Programs will carefully review any "public announcements" issued by the U.S. Department of State for specific regions of
countries where security issues are a concern. Decisions about sending or withdrawing students from areas with "public announcements" will
be made in the context of current world situations and after consulting with responsible officials of foreign host universities or overseas providers,
the U.S. Department of State, Purdue University administrators, and other experts who are well-informed on issues related to the region in question.
Note: "Public announcements" generally indicate that a specific threat has been received by the embassy or that the department
has concluded that there might be a threat to U.S. citizens because of recent political events in that country or the U.S. In most cases these threats
are not realized, and most importantly, are not likely to cause difficulties for our students and faculty if they exercise reasonable caution. Such
announcements are communicated to students, faculty and staff who are in the specified country or expected to travel there.
The Office of International Programs and Programs for Study Abroad also reserve the right to cancel any program when we believe that the security
of our students may be threatened, even if the United States Department of State has not yet issued a travel warning or a public announcement.
The following information is provided to participants and their parents regarding the range of aspects of participants' overseas experiences that
are beyond Purdue's control. Purdue:
Cannot guarantee or assure the safety of participants or eliminate all risks from the study abroad environments.
Cannot monitor or control all of the daily personal decisions, choices, and activities of individual participants.
Cannot prevent participants from engaging in illegal, dangerous or unwise activities.
Cannot assure that U.S. standards of due process apply in overseas legal proceedings or provide or pay for legal representation for participants.
Cannot assume responsibility for the actions of persons not employed or otherwise engaged by Purdue for events that are not part of the program; or that are beyond the control of Purdue and its subcontractors; or for situations that may arise due to the failure of a participant to disclose pertinent information.
Cannot assure that home-country cultural values and norms will apply in the host country.