Preparing Your Student to Study Abroad/Away

Email: smith.center@stolaf.edu

Office phone: +1-507-786-3069

24 Hour Emergency phone: +1-507-321-2100 (true emergencies only please; calls only – no texts)

• • From now through departure, the Smith Center office or the student’s program host may use email or google drive to provide updates to your student.  
  • Students must check their email and google drive program materials frequently for any last minute changes to their program.
  • Students must check online with the airlines about their flight schedules.

• Have you reviewed your student’s program budget sheet to know what expenses have been billed to their student account and what expenses must still be paid for out of pocket/after arrival?
• Is your St. Olaf student account up to date and paid in full? Has any student account credit balance been refunded to your student for costs to be paid out of pocket while abroad/away?
• Did you arrange for your student to have BOTH a credit card (for emergencies) and a debit card (for ATM withdrawals)?
• Did you review the cancellation policy for the program?

• If your student struggles with physical or mental health challenges, take seriously the question of whether this is the best time for your student to study abroad/away.  Too often, students and their families are so excited for the opportunity to study abroad/away that they discredit the challenges, the risks to the student’s well-being, and the impact to other participants of their student’s needs.
• If your student is in need of mental health support, they can visit https://wp.stolaf.edu/timelycare/ for free 24/7 medical and mental telehealth care.
• If your student must cancel their participation, remember that the cancellation policy applies and fees can be substantial, rising as the departure date approaches.

• If your student takes a medication, ensure they have enough to last the entire semester and have checked if their medication is legal in their destination country.  This may require assertive follow up with your care provider and pharmacy and with your insurance company. You cannot legally ship medication within the U.S. or abroad.  Many medications and dosages are not available in other countries. 
• Students must carry their medication on the plane with them, not in their checked luggage.  If refrigeration is required, check with the airline for regulations and plan ahead for what to do if arrival is delayed.

• Review your student’s U.S. health insurance and what it covers, especially when “out of network.”
• Review the EIIA insurance that is automatically available to students going to international destinations.
• Students generally have to pay out of pocket for medical care while abroad/away and then seek reimbursement via insurance.  A credit card is often the only acceptable payment.

• Develop a plan for what the family will do in the event of an emergency at home (e.g., the death of a grandparent).  Will your student return home or remain with their group until the end of the program?

• Emergency response time in other locations may be significantly different than what would be typical on campus. 
• Fire safety protocols such as smoke detectors may not be the same. 
• Responsiveness to allergies and intolerances to food and medication may differ. 
• In the unlikely event of an emergency affecting your student, you will be notified. 
• If your student is abroad, determine if at least one family member has a valid passport so that if a student needs family assistance in an emergency, a family member is prepared to travel promptly.

• Do not travel with your student to their program site. They should arrive alone and plan to participate in the group orientation activities to get acquainted with other students, their housing, and their destination.  Students are often very busy upon arrival with move in, registration and other exploration activities.
• Give your student at least a day or two to check in with you upon arrival. No news is generally good news!
• Some students choose to text, email, video call, and/or blog to share their daily lives with home.  Some communicate nearly daily, others much less frequently.
• We encourage you not to expect excessive communication, as time spent on electronic communication reduces the time spent interacting with their program counterparts and local people at their site.
• If you hope to visit your student, plan ahead to do that during their semester break only.  Students need to prioritize their classes over visits with family. Remember that break dates should be finalized before you book a flight!  Ideally, wait for the end of the semester to meet with your student, as many students make friends and prefer to travel with their classmates during semester break. If your student is abroad/away during the January term, your travel with them should be limited to the winter break before the program begins or the J term break after the program ends before spring semester begins. J term programs are highly scheduled, even on weekends, and family should not plan to visit during the month of January. Smith Center staff cannot assist family members with any travel arrangements. Under no circumstances can visitors stay in program-provided housing. This is for safety and liability reasons.
• Check your student’s individual program on housing details. There are many options that they can choose from depending on the program (i.e., program affiliate housing, homestay).  Housing information will be sent directly to your student.  Please ask them for all housing and in country information.  This way you are able to contact them directly.

• Many student accidents and incidents could be avoided if alcohol were not a factor.
• The St. Olaf alcohol policy applies off-campus. Local laws for purchase or consumption of alcohol also apply.  Each student has signed a statement indicating he or she will not drink irresponsibly or use drugs (other than by prescription) while off-campus.
• While many parents fear unknown or news-worthy risks when sending their students off-campus, too few take seriously the risk that alcohol poses to their student’s health and safety.

• We ask all students participating in a semester or year program to register with the U.S. State Department Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to enable participants to receive timely notification of events in any country.
• All semester and January Term programs led by a St. Olaf faculty member, the Smith Center will register each participant.
• Our office monitors several sources daily to ensure we are up to date on world events and we have local contacts whom we can ask for a real-time assessment of on-the-ground conditions throughout the semester. 

1. Understand that “reverse culture shock” is a real possibility that comes in all shapes and sizes.  Become familiar with its symptoms so that you can recognize it and support your returnee during its various stages.
2. Understand that returning home/to campus may be more challenging or stressful than you or they imagined.
3. Understand that your returnee is, in some way, different than they were when they left for study abroad/away.  They’ve experienced a variety of things (culture, food, academics, friends, autonomy, etc.) during their study abroad/away experience.  They may still be working to understand some or all of what they’ve experienced and how they’ve changed.
4. Be aware of your own expectations of your returnee. Your returnee also has expectations for what their return will be like and how things will be.
5. Create opportunities for your returnee to share about their experience.  Listen with care.
6. Understand and acknowledge that your returnee may be experiencing a sense of loss for what they have had to leave behind with their study abroad/away experience.  They may be missing friends, food, their sense of independence and autonomy, an exciting environment, etc.
7. Encourage continued contact with friends and connections from their study abroad/away experience.
8. Expect your returnee to have new perspectives on home, culture, and lifestyle — at times they make make critical comparisons between their home and host culture.