With more university travel expected next year, the University of Michigan has revised elements of its international travel policy that support faculty, staff and students traveling abroad for university-related purposes.
The Office of the Provost and the Office of the General Counsel first began discussions on amending the Practice Guide for International Travel – SPG 601.31 – in January 2020, but shortly after the COVID-19 crisis temporarily closed the programs. the trip to the university.
Many of the restrictions have been lifted recently with safe and effective preventive measures such as COVID-19 vaccines, and many countries have reopened their borders, prompting UM to resume. its regular university travel programs.
While the international travel environment remains challenging due to unpredictable risk fluctuations, UM’s new policies will equip travelers with the information they need to stay safe.
The new travel policy includes a health-specific travel risk assessment that identifies high-risk areas in an accurate and timely manner, in addition to previous policies on general safety and security.
The new designations add to the UM Moderate Health Risk Travel and UM High Health Risk existing UM Travel Warnings and UM Travel Restriction Guidelines for areas deemed hazardous to campus travelers.
The itinerary is reviewed monthly, and updates are provided in the Travel Resources section of the Global Michigan website.
Added “Travel Health Risk” designations account for countries with high health concerns, such as COVID-19, cholera, yellow fever and other high-concern infectious diseases.
Undergraduate students are prohibited from traveling to UM High Health Risk Travel or UM Travel Restriction Area, although graduate students may travel with an approved Travel Health Plan or Safety Plan, respectively. .
The Travel Health and Safety Plan is designed to ensure that students have good logistics plans, solid communication and emergency management plans, a solid understanding of health, safety and security risks, and solid strategies to mitigate those risks. .
While the General Safety Plan has been in place for 12 years, both the Safety Plan and the Travel Health Plan call on students, and teachers and staff who take students abroad, to demonstrate their understanding of their country’s general health and entry requirements, as well as other plans for quarantine or isolation.
In the event of a UM-M trip with Moderate Travel Health Risk, High Travel Health Risk, Travel Warning, or Travel Restriction Area, faculty or employee sponsors must submit a Group Travel Safety Plan on behalf of the group. and obtain approval from the International Migration Monitoring Board.
Other SPG reviews and updates reviewed include:
As with previous versions of the international travel policy, UM faculty, staff and students need to document their personal travel so that the International Travel and Safety team in the Office of the Provost can send important travel safety information to UM travelers. .
Recently, the Global Engagement Team sent timely health warnings and guidelines to UM travelers in Uganda regarding the Ebola outbreak. A warning has also been issued to travelers with upcoming travel plans to Uganda detailing the health risks and safety measures in place.
