By SUSAN JONES
A travel symposium next month at Pitt will focus on how faculty, staff, students and administrators can manage and mitigate risk when traveling overseas for work and how to best respond when they encounter crisis situations.
The symposium — hosted by Pitt Global, the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and the insurance brokerage company RCM&D of Philadelphia — is open to people throughout higher education to network, share best practices and ideas, form partnerships, and gain further knowledge of crisis risk management.
Leo Di Cesare, director of global risk, health, safety and security for the University Center on International Studies, said Pitt initiated the idea for this training, and he reached out to the University of Victoria because of their robust international travel programs.
He said that in just about every department at Pitt there is someone who does international travel. “They contact us if they have questions about risk, health and safety about certain countries. We provide them with guidance and training. Then if something happens overseas, our department is notified and we deal with it throughout the University.”
He said this training is for anyone who has intentions on traveling internationally, including students, and the administrators who handle the travel arrangements.
There is no charge for the conference, which will be 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 25 at the William Pitt Union dining room A. Register here by Oct. 18 to attend.
Presentations include:
An Open Dialogue on Medical and Security Evacuations, with Matt Bradley, vice president of risk solutions at Crisis24, a risk management company
Preparing In Advance and Other Best Practices for Responding to an Overseas Emergency, with Audrey Hammond, executive director of international education at Liberty University
How Evidence-based Health and Safety Information Can Benefit Your Institution and Stakeholders, with Elizabeth Brenner and Ros Thackurdeen, co-founders of Protect Students Abroad whose sons both died during overseas educational programs. As newly bereaved mothers, Thackurdeen channeled her grief into identifying other impacted students and families, while Brenner searched for academic researchers with relevant death and injury data. When these two moms met, a coherent view of international education began to emerge. In 2014, these two moms co-founded Protect Students Abroad, to advocate for evidence-based health and safety information for the benefit of students, their families, and the study abroad industry. Join Elizabeth and Ros as they discuss their entry and evolution into student safety advocacy and PSA.
Mental Health Training — Prevention and Intervention, with Michael Luxemburger and Christopher Lu, UPMC Mercy Behavioral Health, who will discuss tools that can be used to support students, faculty and trip leaders before, during and after their trips. They also will discuss the dangers of alcohol and drug use, particularly overseas, where the laws might be different.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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