All Northwestern students studying abroad in countries heavily affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome have returned home, only to find they have more to deal with than the disappointment of having their trips cut short.
Students returning from abroad early because of the SARS outbreak might have problems transferring credits from incomplete programs and keeping financial aid because they weren’t enrolled for the whole quarter. But as administrators worked to inform students about the virus, they also worked to iron out problems students might have transitioning back to campus.
Bill Anthony, director of the Study Abroad Office, said his office worked with financial-aid administrators, the university registrar and health services to help returning students.
“The Northwestern community can be really proud for coming together like this,” he said.
Anthony, Associate Provost for University Enrollment Rebecca Dixon and University Registrar Suzanne Anderson said NU doesn’t have a set policy for working with early returnees, so they had to consider each case individually.
Two students who returned early from China said they were impressed with the flexibility NU showed when dealing with SARS.
“They were really accommodating,” said Allison Cameron, a Weinberg junior who had been studying in Nanjing, China. “NU offered an option where I could stay and they would help me to transfer credits.”
But according to a Monday e-mail University Provost Lawrence Dumas sent to the NU community, students might be required to return home now that the virus has spread.
Cameron, who is spending the rest of Spring Quarter at home in Vermont, said she left her program more than a month early because she was afraid of getting stuck overseas. As the SARS epidemic spread, flights were canceled and entire sections of cities were quarantined.
“I decided to just come home and cut my losses and go back another time,” Cameron said.
Some students, however, weren’t able to come home when they wanted. Weinberg junior C.J. Willey, who was in the same program as Cameron, said he decided to stay as long as possible because he needed to complete courses in order to graduate on time. Willey returned last week and is now at home in Ohio.
Both Cameron and Willey are completing final papers to turn in by e-mail as well as other coursework. Willey is getting full credit for his courses; Cameron is getting half credit.
Although the students said they were disappointed to have travel plans cut short, being in China when SARS broke out provided a unique opportunity to study the country.
“I don’t think (SARS) diminished at all the value of what I’m taking from China,” Willey said. “The way that the Chinese government and the people have responded to illnesses in itself is a case study in Chinese culture and government — and that’s something I’m interested in.”
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