Monitoring World Events
The U. S. State Department regularly issues Travel Warnings for countries it determines are unsafe for American citizens. Students who wish to study abroad in a country on the Travel Warning list are subject to the University's Travel Warning policy, which can be read online.
Students who are already abroad may be required to return to the U.S. if the Department of State issues a warning that applies to country in which they are studying. The University will work with these students, their families, and the programs to decide the best course of action at that time. Read a complete list of all current warnings on the Department of State's Current Travel Warnings web page.
Northwestern's Policies on Travel Warnings
We receive all routine and emergency postings from the U.S. Department of State's listserv, which issues periodic "Public Announcements" and, when appropriate, more serious "Travel Warnings" about situations that pose potential dangers to Americans abroad.
When the Department of State issues a Public Announcement or a Travel Warning about a specific country or region, the Study Abroad Office takes several precautions before we contact outbound students or students who are abroad:
- We gather information and assess the situation
We contact the U.S. offices of the study abroad programs located in the affected countries. Programs are in close contact with their on-site directors, who can provide the most up-to-date information on local conditions and inform us of what steps they may be taking abroad. If warranted, we call or email on-site program contacts and other study abroad administrators for more information. For our exchange programs, we contact our partner universities abroad to gather more information and learn their recommendations. In the case of our summer programs, we contact the faculty directors in the affected countries. Directors and universities abroad, in turn, will be in touch with the local Embassy or Consulate. - We contact students
Once we have assessed the situation as thoroughly as possible, we contact our outbound students and students abroad to provide information, which generally includes copies of the Department of State announcements, along with recommended steps for students to take abroad. If the Department of State posts a Travel Warning for a particular country, outbound students will be subject to the University's Travel Warning policy, which can be read online. We do our very best to reach every one of our students impacted by such events; but not everyone has daily email access or cell phones, and students abroad are sometimes traveling.
What Students Abroad Should Do
In the event that a situation arises where there is political unrest or threats have been made against U.S. interests abroad, follow these steps:- Contact your program administrators on site.
- If, for any reason, you are unable to reach your program director or staff, you should call the Northwestern Study Abroad Office at 847-467-6400 or e-mail us. You should keep a list of emergency contact numbers (such as your on-site contacts, International SOS, and emergency U.S. contacts) on you at all times while abroad.
