Between Ebola in Africa, ISIS in the Middle East, conflict in Gaza and all of the other dangers in today’s world, some countries may seem off limits for travel.
But some USC students aren’t giving up. And the Study Abroad Office is committed to helping those students travel to at-risk destinations.
“We have some students who think outside of the box and want to do something different than what everyone else is doing," Rachel Hardison, associate director of the Study Abroad Office said. "They may want to go somewhere that doesn‘t have a lot of Americans or is different in some way."
Whether they want to travel for heritage or cultural reasons, professional goals or a reason related to their major, the Study Abroad Office works with students to be safe while still going on their dream trip. For example, they will help a political science student focusing on Middle Eastern politics to travel to Israel.
USC defines destinations of risk as countries on the U.S. State Department’s travel warning risk list, as well as some that USC considers unsafe. This list includes countries such as Sierra Leone, Honduras, Israel, Mali, Kenya and Mexico.
If a student wants to travel to a destination of risk, they need to submit a petition and schedule a meeting with Hardison. The key element of the petition is to outline why the student needs to go to that country, and why they can’t have that experience in a safer country.
In order to ensure that the students are safe, the petition must also include a safety plan while they are in the country, and what they intend to do if an emergency does happen.
The Study Abroad Office is looking for coherent, detailed petitions that will keep students safe while they are abroad.
“We do have some students who are worldly and have traveled and do know what they’re getting themselves into, and we also have people who have never traveled outside of the country,” Hardison said.
When students submit their final petition, Hardison makes a recommendation and sends it to a committee composed of faculty and staff from different departments who makes the ultimate decision about whether the student travels.
A student signs a waiver if their petition is approved. They are also signing a clause that states that if conditions change, USC has the right to revoke its approval. If the student does not come home, they are abroad without the support of USC and will not be enrolled at the university. The Study Abroad Office has only withdrawn its support once.
While students are abroad, the Study Abroad office receives safety reports on a regular basis to ensure that conditions have not changed.
In the past, USC has taken students out of Egypt, when revolutions started while the individuals were abroad.
Overall, Hardison believes that the current process for study abroad for destinations of risk is effective, and petitions are both approved and denied.
“It’s also part of the job to do something if you see something terrible,” Hardison said. “We saw the earthquake on TV in Japan and we thought, ‘okay, who do we have in Japan?’”