EDUCATION ABROAD

CRISIS MANAGEMENT
YUANA ATES
Type of emergencies than can arise
during study abroad
Individual Crisis: Other crisis situations:
■ Injury or death to the students ■ On-campus event
■ Missing student ■ Political unrest
■ Mental health problems
■ Natural disasters
■ Physical health problems
■ Substance abuse problems
■ Relationship violence
■ Bias-related incident
■ Involvement in criminal activity
Challenges

■ No published research on the degree to which universities that promote or sponsor

international programs systematically address risk management.
■ In addition, obtaining information about events that have occurred is difficult. Negative
events are not widely discussed, perhaps because of issues of confidentiality or concern
about casting a negative light on this exciting and valuable aspect of social work
education.
■ Little attention has been paid to how universities and faculty members handle negative
incidents, leaving each program to find its way through a maze of confusing or
inadequate policies and procedures at a time when clarity and certainty are most needed.
(Engstrom & Mathiesen, 2012, p. 786)
Prevention and preparation efforts:
■ Assess safety and security risks
– Hiring a specialist in safety and security abroad
– A database of information regarding countries of destination
– Monitor travel advisories: the U.S. State Department, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), news
reports, partners organizations, consular information, local police, security firms, FBI.
■ Visit education abroad sites: housing, transportation, etc – assess and lessen risk
■ Upfront student screening
■ Appropriate student preparation
Predeparture medical examinations, Adequate pre-departure orientation, Travel waiver application.
■ Suitable insurance coverage –medical treatment and evacuation plan
■ Ongoing monitoring
■ ”Drill the plan” – practice makes perfect
■ “Crisis test”: review a series of life-threatening and extreme scenarios (coup in a country where a study abroad located; student
suicide in a campus dorm overseas)
■ Utilizing technology – safety and security app
Other considerations
■ Have a plan that is adaptable and responsive to a variety of scenario
■ The education abroad crisis management plan should have all the important elements and phases:
– Awareness. Assessment, Communication, Decision, Action, Resolution, Return to normal.
■ Frequently review and revise the plan, especially after an incident, to strengthen its effectiveness
■ Consider the noncompliance problem
– An effective crisis management plan must acknowledge that there will be students who refuse to follow directives (Friend,
2012).
– Solution: Clearly defined, written consequences for noncompliance
■ Insurance should cover not only medical evacuation but also search and rescue operations, and safety evacuation (political
turmoil and natural disasters)
■ Evacuation plan should not solely rely on the U.S. State Department (no guarantee, discretion issues, complicated protocols)
■ Once a decision is made, be clear and concise, also unwavering
“If you start to give out a lot of information justifying the decision, then you give people more to argue with or to pick apart.
You don’t need people questioning the decision and trying to find fault with it. If you are not firm, you can give the impression that
the decision is reversible, and a lot of time is wasted hearing appeals.” (Simon, The Japan Center for Michigan Universities, in
Friend, 2012)
Other considerations

■ Reporting
– Mandatory annual reporting for colleges and institutions reported education
abroad security incidents to the state’s Official of Higher Education (varied within
State; required in Minnesota (Ladika, 2018))
– Request students to disclose incidents while studying abroad
5 C of Crisis Communications
(McFarland & Hope, 2019)

■ Calm
Reflect on how emotional reactivity impact communication
■ Collaboration
– An international emergency response plan should be aligned with institutional protocol
– Only deviate when a specific education abroad incident can’t be addressed by local protocol and resources
■ Consistency
– Trust the system
– Consistent response plan when leadership, faculty, parents asking about incident abroad: time effective
■ Credibility
Perceived as a trained specialists in international crisis communication
■ Closing the loop
– Within organization: Refine and improve the response and ensure appropriate process updates
– Beyond campus: Utilizing, benchmarking, contributing to collective resources (i.e professional networks, NAFSA)
– Individuals: Lessons learned
Self-care

■ Many responders, education abroad staff have personal ties to crisis locations
■ Check-in with your staff
■ Staffing contingency plan - allowed your staff to rest, reflect, grieve, and nourish their
bodies (Friend, 2012)
 Lesson learned from a case study involving accidental death
abroad
(Engstrom & Mathiesen, 2012)

■ Importance of relationship with host institution ■ Avoiding a false sense of security

- Build good relationship with the host institution, understand host - Vet insurance providers in advance, make sure 24 hrs support is
culture. available.
- Insurance policies should cover: medical and health emergencies,
- Discuss what resources are available, what assistance can be
legal assistance, emergency medical evacuation, and repatriation of
expected during emergency. remains.
■ Resources ■ Processing what happened
- Comprehensive emergency response plan. - Process the grief and begin the process of healing.
- Financial resources during emergency. - Religious services, counseling (small group and one-on-one
meetings).
- Additional networks: expatriate communities, the Peace corps.
- Give the students to choose whether continue their participation of
■ Communication issues the program, and when to resume.
- Consider time differences. ■ Post-processing
- International-enabled cell phone. - Monitor the students’ mental health and well-being upon returning.
- Emergency contacts (embassy, host country officials). - Continue counseling.
■ Law enforcement issues ■ The faculty member’s well being
- Contingency plans if assistance from the embassies couldn’t be - Encourage counseling.
obtained. - Provide adequate resources and support
- Travel insurance for legal matters. - Clear line of communication.
Best practices in education abroad
emergency management planning
(Sutton, 2017)

1. State the guiding principles of the response

- Including the end goal, operational principles
2. Define “emergency”
3. Determine how to respond
- Outline and design the task, communication protocols
4. Coordinate the response
- The plan should be included in the institution’s emergency master plan
- Debrief the staff
5. Take care of the staff
6. Debrief, evaluate, revise
Reviews of institutional policies and crisis management
plan related to study abroad.
Oregon State University
■ OSU hired a Health and Safety Coordinator. (https://undergraduate.oregonstate.edu/people/samuel-gras)
- The first contact for all crises abroad.
- Collaborate with the Office of General Counsel, Risk-Management-Incident Command, University Relations and
Marketing, the Provost’s Office, the Division of Student Affairs.
- External partners: the U.S. State Department, host countries, on-site staff, insurance providers, study abroad
partners.
■ OSU emergency preparedness website (https://emergency.oregonstate.edu) and operation plans (
https://emergency.oregonstate.edu/emergency-preparedness/planning/osu-emergency-plans) do not include study
abroad.
■ OSU has International Travel policy (https://policy.oregonstate.edu/UPSM/01-020_international_travel_policy)
- Provide a general guidelines for university sponsored activities abroad in the event of crises.
- Mostly related to permit for travelling to high-risk destinations and protocols to travel internationally as
representatives of OSU.
- The policy exists to “enable consistent planning, operation, and response” in the event of crises
- There is a need to have a detailed plan (see ”Best Practices” section) regarding operation and response for study
abroad crises (not listed at OSU website nor OSU GO website)
Cal Poly - Global and Health Safety Plan
(https://abroad.calpoly.edu/_customtags/ct_FileRetrieve.cfm?File_ID=060773704F730301040C047C0E1F04010D0F1B7B7608776B74000007747177027173727775770171 )

■ Clearly defined what constitutes a crisis.

■ Listed the guiding principles: role and responsibilities; the purpose of the plan; identify the personnel and offices involved; preparation
activities
■ Listed a detailed emergency protocols:
- Clear delineation of authority to act.
- Clarification of roles of various faculty, staff, and members of the Committee.
- Actions to be taken according to circumstances.
- Person(s) who speak on behalf of the university.
- Effective communication plan.
■ Forms and information required:
- Online Incident Report
- Crisis Response Checklist
- Contact Information Cards
- Global Health & Safety Committee contact list
Cal Poly - Global and Health Safety Plan
■ Planning for and Managing the Crisis:

- Provided different type of crisis scenarios and response protocols.

- Identified core key responders, core immediate steps and subsequent steps for each scenario.

■ Scenarios provided for Planning for and Managing the Crisis:

– Health emergencies ( serious accident or illness; psychiatric emergencies; serious behavioral problems)
– Legal or criminal emergencies (crime against a student; sexual assault; crimes committed by a student)
– Report of a missing student
– Death of a student
– Political emergencies
– Terrorist attacks
– Natural disasters
– Crises at home in the U.S.

■ Evacuation plan and questions to consider when evacuation maybe necessary ; closing the program.

■ FERPA Guidelines for communication with parents/family members

■ Guidelines for media inquiry

■ Guidelines for after the crisis

– Resuming normal operation
– Debriefing
Questions and suggestions
for further exploration
Does OSU GO own the emergency protocols that may be available for internal use and
guidelines?
■ A CSSA student could talk to OSU GO to know in-depth about their existing emergency
plan.
■ A CSSA student could reach out to OSU GO and write a draft of the Study Abroad
Emergency Management Plan as part of an internship or as a CSSA Portfolio Project.
■ Utilize NASFA resources and guidelines, annotated bibliography, case studies and other
institutions’ study abroad plan as references
Resources and Guidelines
for Study Abroad programs
■ NAFSA’s Guide to Education Abroad for Advisors and Administrators
■ Crisis Management for Education Abroad (https://shop.nafsa.org/detail.aspx?id=993)
■ Crisis Management in a Cross-Cultural Setting (
https://www.nafsa.org/professional-resources/publications/crisis-management-cross-cultural-setting-i
nternational-student-and-scholar-services-checklists
)
■ Other NAFSA resources:
https://www.nafsa.org/professional-resources/browse-by-interest/resources-health-and-safety-educati
on-abroad

■ U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/
■ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Studying Abroad (
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/studying-abroad)
■ U.S. Department of State Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) https://www.osac.gov
Other references
Engstrom, D., & Mathiesen, S. (2012). Study abroad and an accidental death: Lessons learned. Journal of Social
Work Education, 48(4), 785–796. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2012.201100068
Friend, J. (2012). Learning from recent challenges in education abroad crisis management. International Educator,
21(1), 56.
Ladika, S. (2018). Risk: Managing the knowns and unknowns. International Educator, 27(6), 38–44.
McFarland, M., & Hope, J. (2019). Managing fears with effective communication: Creating a crisis
communication plan that serves all stakeholders. International Educator, 28(2), 36–37.
Sutton, H. (2017). Adopt best practices for emergency management planning for students traveling abroad. C
Campus Security Report,14(5), 9–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/casr.30301