Statement from Dean of the Faculty Carol L. Folt
Dartmouth to curtail current Language Study Abroad (LSA) trip to Cholula, Mexico
Dartmouth has notified participants in its Spanish LSA program in Cholula, Mexico — who have been there since March 22 and were due to return May 30 — that the College is making arrangements to fly them back to the United States, most likely April 29, and for them to then travel to their respective homes.
The decision was a precautionary measure driven by concerns about both the health and the academic experience of the students.
The party that will travel back from Cholula will include 16 people: 12 undergraduates (the students participating in the program plus another Dartmouth undergraduate who was studying in the same area on an exchange program) the faculty member leading the program, her husband and son and an assistant teacher.
Health concerns: Dartmouth has not received any official reports of swine flu in Cholula. The institution has, however, been closely monitoring the spread of this disease and we are aware that Mexico City, which is an hour’s drive from Cholula, is the epicenter of the outbreak.
Dr. Jack Turco, director of Dartmouth’s health service, has been communicating daily with emergency planning groups at the College and at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; and with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which is informed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the interest of safety, Dr. Turco advised that Dartmouth bring these students and the others back to the U.S.
Academic experience: Because of heightened awareness of swine influenza in Mexico, the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, where our students take classes, was closed yesterday, and our contacts on-site explain that there is a heightened and growing sense of concern about gathering in any public places at the present. This greatly restricts our students’ movements and opportunity for certain types of study.
We always want to do our utmost to ensure the quality of academic experiences of our students. On LSAs and FSPs, not only do students take courses, mingle with other students on campus, and live with local families, they also take advantage of travel alone or in small groups and class field trips to learn more about the art and culture. At present, not only are they unable to go to campus, traveling and visiting other places in Mexico is becoming much less advisable at present. Because our programs are relatively short, losing 10 or more days with the closure of the university also poses substantial challenges.
Therefore, based on these extraordinary circumstances, we made the decision to arrange for the group to return to their homes in the United States. Once we made this decision, we decided to expedite their return, which would allow us to maximize the time we have back in the U.S. to complete their course work.
How will students get home?
Dartmouth is a arranging a chartered airline flight to bring the group from Puebla, Mexico, to Houston, Texas, and is making every effort to do so Wednesday, April 29. The College is also making arrangements for the members of the group to travel from Houston to their respective homes. Dartmouth is working on these arrangements with a leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare and security services, International SOS, which is used by Dartmouth and many other colleges and universities to provide such services to students, faculty and staff who are abroad.
What about academic credit?
We are developing a plan so that the students have the opportunity to continue their studies and receive credit for the term. Details for this plan will be worked out in the next few days, in conjunction with the professor and the department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Can students come to campus?
Because of health officials’ concerns about the spread of this disease, students will be asked not to return to campus for at least seven days. The students will be asked to meet with their physicians, and we will call them periodically to check on their health and to communicate any developments regarding the continuation of their term.
Other Off-Campus Programs
Dartmouth’s Emergency Management Committee is meeting daily regarding the swine flu situation internationally, and Dartmouth’s students and faculty studying abroad are a part of the regular conversation. As of now there are no plans to remove groups on other programs, but again we are monitoring the situation closely. No other program has any of the elements that caused us to take this action, at present.
Who made this decision, and when was it made?
This decision was made by Professor Carol Folt, Dean of Faculty, in consultation with Dr. Jack Turco, Director of Dartmouth’s Health Service, and other senior officers. This group has been closely following swine flu developments in Mexico and elsewhere, and decided this morning that circumstances warranted curtailment of the LSA program in Cholula.
