Coronavirus Causing Study Abroad Trip Cancellations
The Coronavirus continues to be a global problem with about 76,000 confirmed cases resulting in at least 2,000 deaths.
Back home, Troy University officials are making sure students and faculty are not sent into the danger zone.
The virus has caused the university to cancel several study abroad trips to China for the semester.
“We wanted to be careful not to put the students in any type of financial situation because they had bought plane tickets to go over there,” Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Dr. Lance Tatum said.
The trips include a spring break trip in March and some faculty- related trips.
The cancellations are a disappointing result for students who had made plans to go.
“I was really looking forward to going. I was going to visit some family, eat some food,” Troy sophomore Nicholas Gil said.
Gil says it didn’t take long for him to receive a refund from the airlines.
“I just went back to the Delta site, and canceled the trip, selected cash refund, and within a day or two, had all the money back,” Gil said.
Tatum says the university is also advising Chinese students attending Troy’s campus to stay in contact with their families back home.
He says he is monitoring the Coronavirus situation and receives daily updates with the latest available information.
“We are every day watching whats happening with the virus as it affects southeast Asia and how it affects what we do here at Troy University- whether it’s students on the troy campus or whether it’s faculty and students going to that part of the world. We are not going to send people out into a situation where they’re going to be at risk,” Tatum said.
University officials say they will resume study abroad trips to china as soon as the World Health Organization give an all clear that the virus is no longer a problem.
