travel warnings

HARVARD COLLEGE POLICY
ON UNDERGRADUATE TRAVEL ABROAD

Harvard College undergraduates may not receive sponsorship for activities abroad, including credit for study abroad; funding for internships, research or volunteer activities; or sponsorship for extracurricular activities, such as music or sport, for countries for which the State Department has issued a warning that:

     - orders departure of U.S. dependents and non-emergency personnel;

     - recommends that any U.S. citizens remaining in the country should
         depart;

     - (strongly) warns U.S. citizens against (all) travel to the country; or

     - warns (urges) U.S. citizens to defer (all) (non-essential) travel          to the country.

The decision to withhold Harvard sponsorship can be made until the date of departure. For countries for which a warning is in place, the lifting of the warning must occur before the date of departure for Harvard sponsorship to be given.
Click here to view current travel warnings on the State Department's website.

The only exception to this policy allows Harvard sponsorship or credit to be awarded to students traveling to be with their parents or guardians who reside in a country for which one of the above State Department warnings is current, provided that the students’ well-being will be monitored by their parents or guardians throughout their time in the country.

Although sponsorship will not be withheld, Harvard College undergraduates are strongly advised to use caution when traveling to countries for which the State Department has issued lesser warning levels, such as, for example, when the State Department:

      - warns U.S. citizens of the (risks, danger, or potential risk or danger)
         of travel to the country;

      - urges U.S. citizens to evaluate carefully their security and safety
         before traveling to the country;

     - warns (cautions) U.S. citizens to consider (carefully) the risks of          travel to the country;

      - cautions U.S. citizens to take prudent security measures;

      - urges (warns) U.S. citizens to (carefully) weigh the necessity of
         travel to the country; or

     - urges U.S. citizens to exercise extreme caution.

All Harvard College undergraduates traveling abroad under Harvard sponsorship are required to read and sign an “assumption of risk and general release” form prior to departure. They will receive a copy of this form, and a copy will be kept with their Harvard records.

The “assumption of risk and general release” form for Harvard College undergraduates traveling to countries with current U.S. State Department warnings at levels that do not prohibit Harvard sponsorship also must be signed by a parent or guardian.

All Harvard College undergraduates seeking Harvard sponsorship for travel to a country with a current State Department warning are required to include as part of their application for sponsorship a brief “safety statement” affirming that they have considered carefully the level of risk of travel and that they have a plan for conducting their proposed activity abroad.

Should a travel warning be issued while students are in the country, the staff of the Office of International Programs will discuss the situation with program or local university staff, monitor State Department documents, Overseas Security Advisory Council briefings and other sources of information, confer with colleagues in the United States, and with Harvard’s General Counsel, and will coordinate a response with colleagues at Harvard. Harvard may respond by withdrawing its sponsorship and asking that students leave the country. Students will be notified of the warning and of Harvard’s response, with copies of any such notification sent to their emergency contacts and/or
parent(s) or guardians as appropriate.