New World Order

GoGlobal policies increase student safety while abroad

BY VANESSA BARTON AND EMILY MATHEWS

When COVID-19 restrictions were enacted in mid-March, upcoming GoGlobal education abroad trips were canceled and students already studying internationally were called home. Thanks to donor support, the School of Kinesiology was able to provide emergency funds to students who had to return to the U.S. unexpectedly. It was a disappointing turn of events, but one that kept everyone safe.

Although we can’t know what the coming months will bring, the GoGlobal team is working hard to offer a multitude of safer options to Kinesiology students when U-M related travel is allowed again.

GoGlobal has significantly increased its sponsored programs to provide more flexibility. This includes ensuring guaranteed credit transfer for the 209 courses added to the Transfer Credit Equivalency (TCE) chart for Kinesiology course credit. Transferable courses are now also shown on the Academics tab of each MCompass program listing. This increases visibility and transparency to students who are preparing to travel.

New sponsored programs have been added from U-M affiliate partnerships with CEA, CISAbroad, IES, ISA and TEAN Abroad (Worldstrides). GoGlobal is also promoting existing U-M sponsored programs with DISAbroad through the U-M Center for Global Intercultural Study. Each provider offers students an automatic semester discount that ranges from $250-$3000, and a summer program discount that ranges from $100-$600. They also all provide additional scholarships, ranging from $500 to $1500, that are exclusive to U-M student program participants. Faculty-led programs may experience increased program fees, as they may not be able to rely so heavily on public transportation, but support is available for students with financial need.

All U-M related travel (which is registered through MCompass) requires the purchase of GEOBlue Health Coverage. This helps U-M staff understand each student’s basic health coverage, and ensures that each student receives all U-M emergency communication. Registered students are also covered by the U-M blanket emergency evacuation insurance policy, which protects against political unrest and natural disaster. Additionally, U-M requires students to register their application email, domestic phone number, international phone number, and emergency contact email and phone number for emergency communication purposes.

All education abroad agreements and contracts will now include a force majeure clause, with increased university negotiating power for potential refunds. Students will also receive additional academic and financial support in the event they need to return home. As in the past, multiple departments will thoroughly review these documents before they are executed.

The GoGlobal team continues to closely monitor the university’s travel policies and is ready to jump into action when restrictions are lifted. It’s their hope that, with these new policies in place, students will feel even safer during their time abroad than before. n