Pitt cancels study abroad programs in Japan

Tom Fulks has wanted to study abroad ever since he came to Pitt.

“It has been my dream to… Tom Fulks has wanted to study abroad ever since he came to Pitt.

“It has been my dream to spend a semester abroad for a long time,” Fulks, a junior majoring in Japanese, said. “Foreign languages, especially those that use neither the Latin alphabet nor the same word order as English, are very difficult to master without a period of immersion.”

Fulks planned to study at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, during the school’s spring semester, which began in late March. But now, following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that ravaged parts of the country on March 11, Fulks has had to postpone his plans — and he’s not alone.

Pitt canceled the study abroad trips of six students who planned to travel to Japan for the spring semester. Currently, the future of Pitt programs in Japan remains uncertain as the earthquake-induced nuclear crisis in the country continues. The cancellation leaves the six students scrambling to rearrange their academic and study abroad plans.

The decision to cancel the program

The Study Abroad Office sent an e-mail to the six students planning to study in Japan on April 5, notifying them that within the next 24 hours, their enrollment in various exchange programs would be canceled. Although the students were notified on March 17 that the programs were suspended, the April e-mail definitively cancels the spring term study abroad programs.

Juan Manfredi, vice provost for undergraduate studies, said the University’s priority in canceling the program was maintaining the safety of its students.

Manfredi said that Pitt first looks at the U.S. Department of State’s travel warnings when dealing with international issues. Patricia Beeson, provost and senior vice chancellor, then makes the final decision concerning student placement based on an aggregation of information regarding the situations in the countries.

“We have to consider what might happen to the students once they are there,” Manfredi said. “We opted to be cautious in this case, because we really believe that the situation is not safe.”

The suspension on all study abroad programs in Japan will hold until Pitt determines the region to be safe enough for its students. Manfredi said that as more information becomes available about the situation in Japan, Beeson will change the status of the study abroad programs.

The Department of State first issued a travel warning March 16, advising U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan and recommending that those in Japan consider departing. The warning came amid concerns that at least one of Japan’s nuclear power plant reactors — at Fukushima Daiichi — could melt down.

The U.S. Department of State’s most recent travel warning was issued March 30 and recommends that U.S. citizens defer travel to the country. The warning also suggests that all citizens within 50 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi plant evacuate or take shelter.

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency released a statement Tuesday that declared the country’s nuclear accident to be Level 7 — the highest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale, classifying an event which involves a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects.”

Juggling academic plans

The six students were not able to enroll in the spring semester at Pitt because the term was already halfway done by the time they were notified of the suspension of their study abroad programs.

If students decide to study abroad despite the cancellations, they will not be able to go through Pitt. Instead, they will have to enroll directly at the Japanese university of their choice and will have to reapply to Pitt as a transfer student.

Transfer credits earned while abroad are treated the same way as credits earned while studying at a university in the United States. Students will need to meet with an adviser to make sure that the credits at the Japanese university fulfill Pitt course requirements.

Fulks said that he plans to go to Japan for the summer semester, despite Pitt’s advice. He is currently exchanging e-mails with officials at Ritsumeikan University, which is located more than 450 miles away from the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He plans to apply as a direct-enrollment student there.

Fulks and the other students were told that they could still enroll for Pitt’s summer semester, which junior Mark Hinderaker plans to do to fulfill the number of Japanese language credits needed for his degree in the subject.

“I just wish there would have been more communication or consideration for us, because we just missed a semester for nothing,” Hinderaker said.

Janis Chinn, a junior majoring in linguistics, planned to study at Kobe University in Kobe, Japan. She said that since she is unable to study in Japan through Pitt, she probably won’t be able to study abroad there before she graduates.

“I’m pretty annoyed that Pitt is not allowing students to study in the unaffected regions, especially given the nature of the study abroad contract we had to sign to make the trip possible,” Chinn said in an e-mail.

Alice Lai, a junior majoring in computer science and Japanese, said in an e-mail that she was disappointed in the University’s decision to cancel the program.

“Many of the study abroad programs are in cities that were not directly affected by the earthquake or tsunami,” said Lai, who also planned to study at Kobe University. “I wish Pitt had allowed the students and their families to decide whether to participate in the study abroad program normally, especially since the study abroad contract I signed last fall stated that I would not hold Pitt responsible for my safety while studying abroad.”

All students studying abroad are required to sign a form that states they will not sue Pitt. The students sign that they understand that international travel risks can include serious bodily harm, death and property damage that can be the result of crime, disease, terrorism, civil unrest and any other risks during travel.

Students must also purchase medical insurance when they study abroad.

Manfredi said that the University weighed having students study in Japan under a Pitt-sanctioned program with the potential long-term consequences for students studying in a country affected by a nuclear accident.

Before Pitt’s decision to suspend the program, Lai said that she still intended to go to Kobe.

“I spoke with a number of people at Kobe University, and they informed me that the university was operating normally and that the city had not been directly affected by the earthquake, tsunami or nuclear crisis,” Lai said.

Manfredi said, “Students are adults and can do what they want to do, and there is nothing we can do about that.”

Hinderaker planned to study at the University of Kitakyushu in Kitakyushu, Japan, but since he won’t go in his senior year, he would like to take a trip to Japan after he graduates.

Ultimately, the University is concerned with student safety. “We want our students to do well and go all over the world … but in the situation in Japan, the safety is not clear,” Manfredi said.