FAYETTEVILLE -- Spring break trips for students to Scotland and India have been canceled by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville out of "an abundance of caution" as a response to concerns about the covid-19 illness, said university spokeswoman Amy Unruh.
The university also is requiring an immediate return to the U.S. for students in Japan and all countries that have a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Level 2 coronavirus alert, which asks travelers to "practice enhanced precautions."
In Arkansas, no one has tested positive for the illness. Two people are candidates for testing, a state Department of Health spokesman said Wednesday.
No decisions have been made about future UA-led student travel scheduled for after the spring semester, Unruh said.
Max McKeown, a horticulture major from Monticello, said he hopes to complete a summer internship at the University of Padua, roughly 30 miles from Venice, Italy.
"As it stands, I don't know if I would go right now. But if the cases decrease, and it was still a presence over there, I would probably still go," said McKeown, 21.
McKeown said he's not sure if he'll have that option, however. He said he's waiting for a mid-March update from the Italian university about airfare.
Travelers are now being advised by the CDC to avoid nonessential travel to Italy. UA, citing the CDC's Level 3 alert for that country, on Friday shut down for the semester its Rome Center, which had 100 students in attendance -- 40 from UA and 60 from other schools.
The latest restrictions, announced Tuesday by UA, also cite the CDC.
The requirement to return to the U.S. applies to students in countries with Level 2 or higher CDC coronavirus alerts.
It technically affects nearly 20 students in exchange programs or enrolled at "partner" institutions in programs not managed by UA, Unruh said. But she said that number also includes students notified as early as January about CDC travel warnings.
"All registered students in the affected areas have been informed, and many of them are already back in the United States or planning to be shortly," Unruh said Wednesday in an email.
On Tuesday, UA also announced the postponement of student travel to countries with Level 2 or higher CDC coronavirus alerts, a list that as of Wednesday included five countries: four with a Level 3 warning (China, Iran, South Korea and Italy) and one, Japan, with a Level 2 alert.
While neither the United Kingdom nor India -- the planned destinations for the canceled spring break trips -- have such warnings, Unruh said "both events expect international participation" and so, "in an abundance of caution," have been canceled.
She cited the restrictions announced Tuesday, when UA announced that it was urging "all those who have plans to travel during Spring Break to consider the latest CDC and Department of State guidance."
The latest spring break travel cancellations to India and Scotland will affect fewer than 25 students who had signed up to travel, Unruh said. Fifteen of those students are seeking their master's degrees in business administration and were traveling to India.
On Tuesday, UA also said "we strongly recommend" that faculty members traveling abroad return, and that faculty members suspend future international travel "at least until the end of the current academic semester."
Beyond that time frame, the university is "currently reviewing the status of all summer programs," the Tuesday announcement said. UA cited a CDC recommendation about student foreign travel, which asks that colleges "consider postponing or canceling student foreign exchange programs."
McKeown, the UA horticulture student, said he hopes UA will wait to make any decisions that could affect his opportunity to spend a summer in Italy. An Italian minor, McKeown said he wants to be "fully immersed" in the language while doing research at a university with "a really great horticulture program."
"This was supposed to take care of my internship requirement for my degree," McKeown said, adding that, as of now, there are "just a lot of unknowns."
Rhodora Vennarucci, an assistant professor of classics and art history at UA, is one of three directors of a multi-institution summer research project that involves excavation fieldwork at a site in the southern Tuscany region of Italy.
"We will not go if the travel advisories remain elevated as they are because our student safety is of primary importance," Vennarucci said.
She said no decision will be made about the summer program until the start of April.
"That's important for giving us enough time and also students enough time to make plans for the summer. If, however, the situation does change for the better, that gives us enough time to still make travel arrangements," Vennarucci said.
The original plan was for 10-12 students to arrive there in June and spend about a month working on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, which explores artifacts relating to rural life and community craft-making.
"We received applications actually past the [March 1] due date," Vennarucci said. "Students found out about the program recently, within the context of coronavirus, and were still interested in submitting application materials."
Applicants are not from one particular school or even country, but they include students from UA and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Vennarucci said.
The University of Arkansas board of trustees is meeting today in Little Rock to review actions taken by campuses in the university system in response to the illness and future "preparedness options," according to a UA System announcement.
Unruh said that while no decision has been made about summer study abroad programs generally, the university has canceled its summer Classics in Italy program because of low enrollment.
Metro on 03/05/2020