PROVIDENCE – In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, multiple local colleges and universities have taken steps to suspend or alter their respective study-abroad programs involving the country.
The University of Rhode Island said Thursday that it is suspending its three such programs in China – the Chinese Flagship program, the International Engineering Program and the International Business Program. The university said in a statement that seven students were studying in China as part of the programs but were not in Wuhan City – where the outbreak is centered, with more than 1,700 cases reported and 170 deaths in China as a result, according to the Associated Press – and are reported to be in good health.
ISO 9001:2026: A Practical Opportunity to Build for What’s Next
For Rhode Island manufacturers, ISO 9001 has been much more than a certificate on the…
Learn More
The students were booked for flights back to the United States as of Wednesday, and one URI faculty member has returned to the U.S. from China. URI will be working with students on alternative study plans and internships for the remainder of the semester.
The decision by URI’s leadership team to have the students leave the region was based on a recommendation to do so by the university’s Chinese Flagship Program partner, as well as recommendations by both the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not travel to China, according to a university statement.
The university’s health services department said in a statement those who have traveled to Wuhan City should continue to closely monitor their health over the next 14 days.
Providence College had plans to send five students to study business at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, about 500 miles from Wuhan City, for a semester, but four of those students will now study in Dublin, Madeline Paramenter, the college’s spokesperson, said Thursday. One student will remain stateside.
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth spokesperson Ryan Merrill said there are no students from the university currently studying abroad in China, but the university is monitoring the situation for future planning purposes.
Salve Regina University spokesman Matthias Boxler said there are no students currently studying in China this semester and there have been no issues with students from China being able to return to the Newport campus.
Brown University said on its website that no students will be permitted to travel to China for any credit or noncredit programs. Faculty and staff are not restricted at this time, Brown said, but they are “strongly advised against travel” to the country. A “small number” students from Brown had been scheduled to take part in study-abroad programs, the university said, but staff members from the university’s Office of International Programs are working with those students to either identify “alternative programs” outside of mainland China or make other arrangements for the spring semester.
Rhode Island College, the Community College of Rhode Island and Stonehill College also confirmed to PBN that they do not have students studying abroad in China. It is unclear if similar programs at Johnson & Wales University and Bryant University – which has a campus in Zhuhai, China, and also has exchange programs with the country via the U.S.-China Institute – have also been impacted.
Currently, there are five confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., but none in Rhode Island, according to the R.I. Department of Health. Because symptoms of the coronavirus share similarities to the flu – which is considered widespread in Rhode Island – the department said it has since followed up on “individual illness reports.”
The department said in a statement that it created a coronavirus task force, which includes leadership from the state health laboratories, the Center for Acute Infectious Disease Epidemiology and the Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response, and other departments, to “coordinate the preparedness steps” taken throughout the department.
R.I. Department of Health also said health care providers have been instructed to evaluate patients for possible infection if they have a fever or symptoms of lower-respiratory illness, and if they traveled to Hubei, the province in which Wuhan City is its capital, in the two weeks before symptom onset.
“RIDOH is taking these steps with health care providers throughout the state to ensure that we are ready to respond to this evolving situation. Preparedness and collaboration are core functions of public health,” said R.I. Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott in a statement.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. PBN Researcher Cassius Shuman also contributed to this report, and you may reach him at Research@PBN.com.
