It looks like you are visiting from Australia or New Zealand, would you like to go to the Australian Worldstrides site?
Yes, go to worldstrides.com.au No, stay on worldstrides.com
Our internal risk management team partners with leading risk organizations, government agencies, and on-the-ground operators for a real and nuanced understanding of the political, religious, and cultural climates our students will encounter during their visits. Our management team undergoes extensive training and scenario analysis to prepare for potential crises in regions across the globe, and continually monitor information from the U.S. State Department and International SOS to evaluate global conditions and advise our university partners if substantive issues arise.
With our strategic partners, we’ve created easy-to-read safety advice for your students that include country- and issue-specific guidelines for a range of situations. Meanwhile, our team monitors information from our partners at the U.S. State Department, WorldAware, and International SOS. Plus, all travelers enrolled in our programs are registered with the U.S. State Department.
Our own 24/7 Tour Central team is always awake and working. If a problem arises, help from a specialized hub of action-oriented, resolution professionals is a single phone call away.
Our partnership with the prestigious George Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine gives us access to doctors who are available 24 hours a day to provide phone consultations and treatment recommendations for our program participants.
We have the most comprehensive insurance coverage in the industry, including the largest liability coverage available, plus embedded medical, evacuation, and repatriation insurance for every traveler.
Robin Reliford, WorldStrides Director of Health and Safety – Higher Ed
In crises large and small, Robin manages the details of our response in coordination with your university team. A J.D. by training, she regularly updates and shares best practices through collaboration as a member of committees for the OSAC Academia Working Group and Pulse: Higher Education International Health and Safety Professionals.
Robin manages international risk and crisis management for WorldStrides’ higher education divisions, monitoring world events in order to mitigate against risks; implementing emergency protocols and procedures; managing student emergencies and large-scale incidents in collaboration with staff globally; and working closely with executive management on policy development and compliance.
Joy Dellapina, Former Director of OffSite Programs at New York University Stern School of Business, recounts how WorldStrides helped her handle local unrest that threatened to disrupt a program in process…
In January 2014, protesters shut down a large portion of the city of Bangkok in a multi-day, anti-government demonstration. Prior to its actual onset, a New York University program in Vietnam on its way to Thailand was faced with a choice: cancel or travel to a lockdown-threatened city.
Ultimately, the school let the students make the choice. The professor continued on from Vietnam with the main group of 45 students. WorldStrides supported this decision with extensive contingency plans, including mapping the city with red zones and green zones to advise students on safe independent travel. A staff person also stayed behind in Vietnam with 10 students, and supported activities including academic visits to take advantage of an unexpected weekend in Ho Chi Minh City.
The experience was tremendous. There was no disruption to our program. All meetings went on as planned … we were fortunate that WorldStrides had their on-the-ground resources. Because you really do need someone on the ground.
