CET's Policy Student safety is CET's first priority. Our commitment is to operate programs only in locations considered safe for American citizens. If the US Department of State recommends evacuation for an area in which we operate a program, we will cancel our program located there and take appropriate steps to bring our students home. In addition, we closely monitor all Department of State travel warnings. Such travel warnings were a factor in our decision to evacuate our students from China during the SARS crisis of 2003.
CET's Staff Every CET program is managed by at least one Resident Director who speaks the local language fluently, has lived or studied in the local city, and is trained by our Washington staff. Every CET program is also hosted by a local university, where program administrators support the CET Resident Director and assist in times of crisis. Resident Directors communicate with our Washington office every day. Our Washington office is staffed by study abroad professionals who have lived in our program locations. In times of emergency, you may reach a member of the CET Washington staff (24 hours a day) by dialing our number (800-225-4262) and listening to the recorded directions.
Responding to Crises CET has been operating study abroad programs since 1982, and over the course of our history, we've faced a number of emergencies. When students face danger overseas, our residential staff and Washington office discuss appropriate safety measures. These could include simply discussing precautions with students, restricting their movements (as we did in September 2001 and May 1999), or even evacuating them (as was the case in both June of 1989 and April of 2003), depending on the circumstances. CET works closely with Premiere Travel, a travel agency with both the connections and experience needed to help CET students leave a country quickly in a crisis situation.
Medical Facilities In addition to providing many students with travel health insurance through our international health carrier, CISI, CET also furnishes students with information about international health clinics available to them while they are overseas. During the SARS crisis, we were in close touch with one of these clinics, the Beijing United Family Hospital and Clinics (BJU), while we were making decisions about discontinuing our program in the spring.
The Role of the US Department of State CET carefully monitors public announcements and travel warnings issued by the US Department of State. We ask all US students to register with local consulates/embassies, and our overseas staff receive frequent direct communications from these local offices. Because we operate programs for the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in China, our China staff also have daily contact with State Department employees.
We hope you will also regularly consult State Department advisories. They can be found at the website http://travel.state.gov. Additional useful information may be found on the websites maintained directly by embassies around the world: http://usembassy.state.gov/.
Refund Policy CET's refund policy is described in detail on our "Conditions and Terms" form, which is included in students' acceptance packets.
All of us at CET became involved with study abroad because of our ideals. We believe that international exchange can improve global understanding in important, practical ways - ways that are difficult for students to imagine in American classrooms. While we have become more attentive to health and safety issues, our commitment to these ideals has not changed.
Program Safety