Global Education Office prepares for summer-abroad programs

Mechelle Hankerson
News Editor

After two years of attempting to take students to Cairo in a faculty-led summer trip through VCU’s Global Education Office, coordinator of VCU’s Arabic program Salwa Sheibany will try again in the summer of 2012.

The VCU Education Abroad Office plans on reopening the Egypt program this coming summer as a six-credit Arabic language and culture program along with offering 30 others through the spring and summer semester.

Egypt began experiencing civil unrest tied to the effort to overthrow the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011. The VCU Education Abroad Office canceled the program in mid-March, before any students left for the trip.

Sheibany said she constructed the Egypt program to involve Egyptian police. The police would know where the students are at all times during the trip.

According to VCU Director of Education Abroad Stephanie Davenport, the department usually has to cancel programs because of low student interest.

“All of our programs are always offered with (an) understanding that, if needed, they could be canceled,” Davenport said.

Last summer, Egypt was the only program canceled for domestic unrest, though the United States State Department issued a travel warning for Americans traveling to Mexico.

Two out of three Mexican programs went on as planned.

“We try to be proactive and try to monitor situations in the countries that we’re sending students to,” Davenport said.

In cases where students are in a country that begins to experience conflict, Davenport said there are a few ways to ensure students return home safely.

“It’s hard to say, ‘here’s the formula for how VCU responds to a situation,’ because every situation is unique,” Davenport said.

As an extra precaution, VCU study-abroad programs are insured through Global Rescue, which can provide medical transportation and emergency evacuation if necessary.

Davenport said VCU also works closely with the State Department to remove students if needed.  However, VCU has never had to remove students from a country during a study abroad program, she said.

In the event a program is canceled and a student already has paid for it, Davenport said VCU does its best to recover any costs it can, since not all costs involved with the trips are refundable.

“Sometimes the university has to take a loss in situations like that, and sometimes the students have to take a loss,” Davenport said.

Programs can be revised for students who still wish to participate (by eliminating some elements of the travel package, like an overnight excursion) or the overall price can be raised. The Education Abroad Office can also cancel the program altogether.

For a full listing on upcoming study-abroad programs, including summer faculty-led programs, visit www.global.vcu.edu