When a Dartmouth student's FSP is cancelled, it can ruin his term. Only two Foreign Study Programs have been cancelled in recent years -- and Jeremy Presser '04 was on them both.
"It's a joke among my friends," Presser said. "I got screwed twice."
Presser made the most of his two terms on campus, but a look at what Dartmouth did after it canceled the two programs -- the Fall 2001 Russian FSP and the Summer 2003 China FSP -- shows the different ways Dartmouth tries to cope with crises like the ones faced by both of Presser's FSPs.
Safety First?
When Dartmouth has concerns for the safety of students on a program, as there were for Presser's FSPs, the Crisis Management Team -- consisting of the Assistant Dean of Off-Campus Programs, the Associate Dean of the Humanities Division and at least one other administrator -- evaluates whether or not a program should continue.
Before the China and Russian FSPs departed Hanover, the team decided it would not be safe for students to participate in the programs.
It cancelled the China FSP due to SARS and the Russia FSP due to a murder and robberies in the dorm where students were scheduled to stay.
After the team decided it was dangerous for students to stay in a dorm where there is violent crime, the school would have needed to find different housing in St. Petersburg for the Russia FSP students.
But, according to John Tansey, executive director of off-campus programs, the school found out about the crime so close to the students' scheduled arrival that there was no time to find new housing. The school did not attempt to find alternate housing in St. Petersburg for the Russian students and cancelled the FSP.
There are no student representatives on the Crisis Management Team to express the viewpoints of students on the programs.
Tansey said he was unsure of why there is no student representative, noting that to his knowledge there has never been one.
Presser, however, said that students were consulted about the possible cancellation of the China FSP beforehand: students who were supposed to go on the trip filled out a questionnaire that asked their opinions about the situation.
Bringing Beijing to Hanover
After the China FSP's cancellation, Dartmouth brought elements of China to Hanover. Students scheduled to go to China participated in group activities including Chinese movies, authentic Chinese food and a trip to Boston's Chinatown.
"We try to put in place a program every time [there is a cancellation] ... and accommodate students the best way we can, but for some it's not feasible," Tansey said.
In the fall of 2001, the time of the Russian FSP's cancellation, the school was in an abnormally large housing crunch, so it put the displaced FSP students in graduate housing. This alternative to the program included few cultural activities.
Presser, who experienced both housing options, said he enjoyed them, though the housing after the Russian FSP's cancellation resembled a "typical term." He said he thinks the school should offer something similar to the China-in-Hanover experience whenever a trip is cancelled.
Once an FSP or LSA is cancelled, affected students who wish to go on the same program the following term must reapply. Because programs often fill up quickly, these students will likely not receive a slot for the subsequent term, though they can elect to be put on a waitlist, according to Tansey.
Students on cancelled FSPs usually must wait until the following term to attend the program, he said.
Moving Day
Moving a program is also another alternative to canceling it.
In spring 2002, the Spanish FSP to Argentina was moved from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay because of Argentina's economic crisis.
"We moved [the program] because of uncertainty of how the situation would develop," Tansey said.
Although the problems in Argentina later quieted down, some students appeared to support the pre-emptive move.
"Safety is the most important thing," said Brandon Morris '05, who went on the program.
Others, however, felt they would have been safe in Argentina. In fact, some students traveled to Argentina from Uruguay while on the FSP.
"It wasn't necessary to move the program for our safety," Haley Peckett '05 said, "but I gained a lot from experiencing both the cultures of Argentina and Uruguay."
However, LSAs and FSPs do not always move because of a political problem.
The Italian LSA, recently moved from Siena, Italy to Rome, changed locations in order to consolidate the Italian study abroad programs. The Art History FSP will move to Rome in 2005. As a result, organizers hope to offer new interdisciplinary courses.
Discipline Problems While Abroad
Once a program gets underway, other problems can develop.
Many of the students on the Spanish FSP to Uruguay said that they did not get along with the program director, Juan Medrano-Pizarro, then a professor in the Spanish department.
"He did a good job of organizing the program, but the way he acted with students was a low point of the program," Peckett said.
Cortelyou Kenney '05 said Medrano-Pizarro was paranoid and thought students were trying to undermine him.
Early in the program, Uruguay professors complained about three Dartmouth students' conduct in class, Kenney said.
Later, one of these students, unhappy with the family with whom she was assigned to live, applied to switch to another family.
Called to Medrano-Pizarro's office, she went in thinking she would receive her new family assignment. Instead, he told her she had 24 hours to leave the country. Students said Medrano-Pizarro offered no explanation for why this student was about to be dismissed.
Upset about her classmate's dismissal from the program, Kenney looked online and discovered that the Off Campus Director's Disciplinary, Medical and Emergency Handbook stated that students have up to 48 hours to submit a written rebuttal to the program director's charges before being dismissed from a program.
Other students on the program were unhappy with Medrano-Pizarro's decision and contacted several deans at Dartmouth. Medrano-Pizarro withdrew his decision to expel the student and she was permitted to stay. Tansey also flew to Montevideo to help calm the students and resolve the situation.
"From time to time we have issues concerning student discipline. We provide support to resolve issues," Tansey said. He would not comment on the specifics of the incident.
Despite several attempts, Medrano-Pizarro, who is now at Duke University, could not be reached for comment.
