University helping seven study-abroad students return to United States

January 30, 2020

The University of Rhode Island called together a leadership team the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 28 to discuss plans to assist seven URI students studying in China to return to the United States. While no students were in Wuhan, where the Coronavirus outbreak occurred, and all reported that they were in good health, the leadership’s decision to have the students leave the region was based upon the recommendations of our Chinese Flagship Program partner; the U.S. Department of State’s decision this week to raise the travel advisory for China to “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s move to raise its health alert warning to “Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel.”

The team reconvened Wednesday morning, Jan. 29, at 10 to call each student and their parents in order to book flights. By 2 p.m. Wednesday, all students were booked on flights home. Students returning to the U.S. will be at home with their families while our colleges and departments work with them on academic study plans and internships for the remainder of the semester.

We know that the news about the Coronavirus has raised concerns throughout our community, and we want to assure you that we have taken extensive steps to help the students return as quickly and safely as possible. We are pleased to report that all of those students are in the process of returning home. We are also happy to report that a URI faculty member and her family who were in China arrived safely in the U.S. Wednesday morning.

The University also took the following steps:

  • Notified partner institutions that URI students would be returning to the U.S.
  • Assisted our students and parents with travel arrangements.
  • Reassured students that the University and its colleges will work with them to fulfill their academic program requirements when they return.
  • Informed students and their parents that URI Health Services will remain in contact once students arrive home to remotely monitor their health status.
  • Suspended URI study abroad programs in China.

In this time of uncertainty and fear, we remind everyone at URI that this is a community that supports and cares for each other. We appeal to everyone to be understanding and sensitive to the various circumstances faced by our University family.