Security Issues and Data Collection in Education Abroad

by Kathleen Sideli

This article is reprinted from International Educator, Winter 2002 edition and was adapted from a presentation made at a panel on "International Education After 9/11," on November 1, 2001, at the CIEE Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Since September 11, 2001, each time the politicians, the press, and even professionals in international education mention data collection and security issues, the focus is on international students. This is because the U.S. government is concerned that insufficient tracking of their visa status might allow a potential terrorist to enter the county on a student visa.

However, those of us who work with U.S. students abroad should be equally concerned about data collection and security issues for a different set of reasons. In fact, NAFSA's Section on U.S. Students Abroad (SECUSSA) Data Collection Working Group has been making the connection between data collection and health and safety from the beginning of the SECUSSA/IIE Data Collection Initiative that began in January of 1999.

Among the top reasons to count students is to better position ourselves to help those students when trouble erupts somewhere, whether because of a natural disaster, a terrorist activity, or a national skirmish.

Many colleagues in the past three years have told me that their campus administrators do not comprehend why it is important for them to know where students choose to go if they study abroad with external providers. To be sure, the tragic events of September 11 provide administrators with the rationale to explain to their deans, provosts, and presidents why students should be counted. Administrators should be empowered, perhaps even required, to track the mobility of all U.S. students going abroad, regardless of whether or not their offices are responsible for those students' credits and applications.

When the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, it did not matter in which program students were participating. They were our students. Campus administrators wanted to reach out to those students because they were part of our campus family. If they decided to come home, it was to our institutions. If their parents called, it was to our staff. If they needed to get into classes late, we needed to talk to our registrar and faculty. If they ran into financial aid glitches, those were our challenges. On September 11 and the days following, administrators should have been able to reach out to all the students from their institutions who were abroad, regardless of the program they chose to use.

Prior to 1989 my institution never tracked students on external programs. However, because of my interest in data collection, we began to communicate with a variety of offices on campus to figure out how to devise a system by which the study abroad office could track the movement of students abroad. It became immediately apparent that it was in everyone's best interest to know where the students were headed. Why? If we knew who they were, we could steer them to programs that better met their needs, make sure they received appropriate orientation, give them instructions regarding transfer of credit, be sure they knew how to reregister for classes on campus, keep in touch with them while they were away, and so forth. I never dreamed that one day we would write to all of them, within a few hours of the deaths of thousands of Americans, just to tell them how sorry we were and that we would keep in close touch with them as they tried to sort out the impact of the tragedy on themselves, their friends, and their families. By e-mailing all of our students within a few hours, we could reassure them to trust their program providers, to reassure them that other students from our institution were not coming home in droves, to explain that we would remain in close touch as we interpreted the unfolding events, and to reassure them that we were there to support them in whatever way they needed.

Were it not for the good data collection techniques we had in place, we could not have engaged in any of these communications. Ideally, all institutions should already have comparable techniques on their campuses, and it is time to implement such techniques at those institutions that have not done this yet. At Indiana University where I work, it has been as simple as having all the paperwork for credit transfer available only in the study abroad office and having the Office of Admissions send photocopies of the credit transfer agreement and the finalized transfer report. The study abroad office then puts the information into a database and registers the students in an off-campus course number. While that method is about as low-tech as you can get, it allowed us to reach out to our students on September 11. Still, we soon will have an online reporting process that will be even more useful. Whether your institution goes low-tech or high-tech, collect data for the most important reason of all: to know where your students are because they need you to know where they are.

Methods for Tracking Students Abroad

The following are suggested methods for institutions to track mobility of students abroad and maintain contact with them while they are abroad to ensure their safety and security.

For faculty-led programs, have the faculty leader report enrollment to your office before they depart campus, either as part of a committee review process or as part of requiring insurance, etc. An added benefit is that, if you know who the directors are, you can also provide them with orientation.
Centralize in your office the information students need (e.g., instructions for transfer credit, financial aid, insurance, registration, travel, etc.).
Devise a self-reporting mechanism for students participating in external programs. Ideally, you should require them to register in a special number so everyone on campus knows they are abroad.
Have related offices (e.g., admissions, registrar, etc.) send you information regarding students who have submitted paperwork indicating study abroad plans.
Track the information on student mobility in a database, with the basic data requested by Open Doors (duration, location, ethnicity, major, gender, etc.), but also include e-mail and contact information (for both student and parents), provider contact information, and other relevant data.
When/if providers send rosters of student enrollment, check their data against your data. Knowing who the providers are allows you to verify what safety precautions the providers are providing in times of crisis in case the providers haven't sent you that information automatically.
Keep in touch with students before and while they are abroad, using e-mail lists, through monthly updates, and/or newsletters. Then, if you need to send a travel warning or caution, you will have already developed a pattern of communication and trust with them. Where appropriate, contact parents in times of emergency so they know what your office is doing vis-à-vis security arrangements.
Instruct students about how often they should check in with you (or your onsite staff). Be sure there are communications networks among the students themselves (e.g., phone tree, e-mail list, etc.).