Though the University of Pittsburgh ended its affiliation with the Semester at Sea study abroad program because of ongoing concerns about safety, University officials say they have no problems with the program's health and safety procedures.
In December, the University began its partnership with Semester at Sea, a study abroad program directed by the Institute for Shipboard Education where students from many universities can spend a semester studying aboard a cruise ship.
William Brustein, the director of Pitt's University Center of International Studies, said safety concerns were the major reason for the break between Pitt and Semester at Sea.
"As with many relationships, the parties moved apart," Brustein said. "There are differences between how the two parties viewed the safety issues."
Pitt's most recent safety concerns arose after the Semester at Sea's main vessel, the MV Explorer, sustained substantial damage in a storm last spring semester, according to a Jan. 28, 2005 article in The Pitt News, Pitt's student newspaper. The vessel was forced to dock in Hawaii for repairs to the ship and to assess student, faculty and crew injuries.
The program also came under fire last spring after docking in Kenya despite a State Department travel warning, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from June 2005 said.
Furthermore, in 1996, seven people, including four students, died in a bus accident in India while on a field program with Semester at Sea, according to a 1997 USA Today article. Lawsuits from that incident are still pending.
A June 2005 press release provided by the University of Pittsburgh emphasized the desire for more information regarding the potential risks for students involved with the program.
"To be clear, the University is NOT saying that upcoming voyages will be unsafe," the Pitt press release said. "Instead, what we have been saying to ISE is that those participating in the program, both institutions and individuals, are entitled to receive from ISE the kind of information that will better enable them to assess the involved risks."
John Fedele, a spokesperson for Pitt, said the university declined to comment further.
Ted Fritz, associate general counsel for Pitt, also declined to comment for this article.
Though Pitt officials chose not to elaborate their exact concerns with the program, minutes from a Pitt University Senate meeting in June 2005 indicate the concerns centered on the safety of the program.
After a number of Pitt faculty expressed dissatisfaction with the University of Pittsburgh's break with the ISE, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Provost James Maher spoke to the University Senate on the reasons for the breakup, a detailed account of which is recorded in the minutes.
"Safety, especially student safety, always will be among the highest priorities of the university," the minutes indicate Nordenberg explained.
Nordenberg stated further that proper safety was more than just complying with existing laws.
"People have said that all the regulations have been met: however, if regulations were all that mattered, Pitt could have saved $15 million it invested in fire suppression systems in the residence halls because they are not required by any regulation," the minutes read. "Pitt decided it was something that was needed even though not required by law."
The concerns about safety became especially relevant in light of the wave incident in the spring, Maher later explained in the minutes.
"Regardless of how they look back on it now, there were video tapes that showed that dangerous objects were moving rapidly across the screen, giving real promise of hurting someone badly," the minutes indicate Maher said. "The student injuries were bumps and bruises, but what has not been mentioned is that there was [a] faculty member who was very severely hurt and whose injuries were serious enough that they were very concerned about her for days while she lay in a Hawaiian hospital."
Even in light of these reservations, some at Pitt will miss the Semester at Sea program.
"Pitt is very sad to see this go," Brustein said, citing numerous examples of students who viewed the program as a "transformative" experience in their lives.
Despite Pitt's reservations, current ISE officials said that students should not be worried about safety on the Semester at Sea program.
"I don't think there should be any concerns about safety," said Les McCabe, president of the ISE. "We have the best safety records of any of the study abroad programs out there. No, I don't think there are any safety concerns. Neither does the University of Virginia."
Though many of Pitt's concerns stemmed from the wave accident, no substantial changes have been made to the Semester at Sea's safety procedures, according to McCabe.
"There were no safety procedures changed per se," he said. "We won't take that route during that time of year. The general policies in respect to health and safety have not changed per se."
A number of Semester at Sea alumni said they felt safe while participating in the program.
"I think that they did as good a job as they could," said Nisha Rai, a third-year College student who was aboard the ship when it was damaged during a storm in the spring semester of last year. "It was a very difficult situation to have to manage. They definitely tried their best and tried to keep us informed."
According to University of Virginia administrators, approval of the Semester at Sea program came only after numerous inspections showed adequate safety procedures were in place.
"Obviously if we had any safety concerns we would never have taken over [the program]," said Leigh Grossman, vice provost for international affairs.
Grossman said the University had lawyers thoroughly review the program, as well as ship building companies and marine engineers. The program's main cruise ship was also overhauled and repaired following the wave incident.
According to Grossman, University policy prohibits students from attending study abroad programs in countries for which the State Department has issued travel warnings like the one previously issued for Kenya. This policy will also apply to Semester at Sea.
Even these precautions, however, are not enough for Charles Schewer, the father of one of the students killed in the 1996 bus crash in India. Though the Schewer family settled its lawsuit against Semester at Sea and the University of Pittsburgh last year, at least one other family still has litigation pending.
Schewer, a professor of marketing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said he supports study abroad, but has reservations about the Semester at Sea program and was surprised the University of Virginia would partner with the program without greater safety measures.
"Think about the boat last year going into 50-foot waves," Schewer said. "The footage from CNN shows kids in the ballroom with life vests on literally roll across the floor as the boat rocks and rolls. The University of Pittsburgh was liable in our lawsuit because they were part of the program. So I'm surprised the University of Virginia was willing to take on the possible burden of 600-plus lawsuits if the boat should happen to go down."
In the situational analysis reviewed by the University of Virginia Board of Visitors at a Feb. 2 committee meeting, Semester at Sea was listed not only as a potential "strength," but also a possible "threat" to the University.
Secretary to the Board of Visitors Alexander Gilliam said he had no idea why the situational analysis would have listed the Semester at Sea program as a threat and believes it might have been a typo.
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