Dive Brief:
- In issuing travel restrictions related to the Ebola epidemic, colleges and universities — especially those with medical schools — face difficult choices when trying to accommodate humanitarian and medical efforts.
- The outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone offer a rare educational and service opportunity for faculty and graduate students, but schools also have to show they are protecting their campuses from the virus, the New York Times reports.
- The most recent restrictions include one from the State University of New York on Monday, which bans university-supported travel to the three countries but may allow exceptions for faculty providing care or other assistance.
Dive Insight:
Cornell University’s travel ban for faculty and students also has possible exceptions, as do those put in place by Harvard and Columbia. And while Johns Hopkins doesn’t have a ban, it is discouraging trips to the affected countries and requiring students and faculty to inform the university about their travel, and to take precautions when they get back. The University of Texas School of Public Health requires any university-sanctioned work abroad to receive a committee’s approval.