Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Universities Cancel Study-Abroad Programs amid Virus Fears

Associated Press

   As concerns about China's virus outbreak spread, universities are
   scrambling to assess the risks to their programs, and some are
   canceling study-abroad opportunities and prohibiting travel affecting
   hundreds of thousands of students.

   From Europe to Australia and the United States, universities in
   countries that host Chinese students have reconsidered academic-related
   travel to and from China. In the U.S., the cancellations add to the
   tension between two governments whose relations were already sour.

   The scare threatens to cause lasting damage to growing academic
   exchange programs that reached new heights over the last decade and a
   half, experts say.

   The travel restrictions also complicate planning for conferences and
   campus events in the U.S. that scholars from China might attend.

   "That door has been, if not slammed shut, certainly closed for the
   immediate future," said Michael Schoenfeld, Duke University's vice
   president for public affairs and government relations.

   After U.S. officials recommended against nonessential trips to China,
   many universities limited travel there, including Duke, which also
   operates a campus in China in a partnership with Wuhan University,
   which is in the city at the center of the outbreak.

   Duke Kunshan University closed its campus in Kunshan to nonessential
   personnel until Feb. 24. The school also helped students who had
   recently applied for Chinese residency get their passports from local
   officials so they could travel home and started developing online
   learning plans for them.

.