Health and Safety

Since 1990, the SITA program has sent nearly 300 students to India and maintained an excellent safety record. We believe this is primarily the result of students and staff acting responsibly towards themselves, each other, and the Madurai community at large. To ensure the continued well-being of all generations of students and staff and the program itself, we provide students extensive health and safety information, and also require a medical evaluation before departure.

Because of the extreme diversity of conditions found throughout India, our safety policies are, of necessity, highly specific and directly related to the local situation. In general, however, SITA relies on the following sources of information in assessing safety and potential risks.

  1. We monitor U.S. Government travel advisories and announcements, including but not limited to communications from the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, the U.S. consulate in Chennai, and the State Department in Washington, DC.
  2. We rely on the considerable in-situ knowledge and analysis of our on-site staff and institutional colleagues with whom we have long-standing relationships.
  3. We maintain a close relationship with the US Consulate Warden in Madurai. The Warden alerts the on-site program staff of announcements or warnings issued by the US Consulate in Chennai. The Warden is also provided student passport and visa information in case of emergency.
  4. All students are registered with the US Consulate in Chennai for the duration of the program. Students will receive direct email updates from the US Consulate regarding announcements or warnings for the area.

While the above points focus on risk assessment, informing our decisions about whether and/or how to operate the program under potentially challenging or unstable circumstances, the SITA Program model has several components that have proven important over the years in minimizing safety risks, accidents, exposure to political or other violence, and illness:

First, the Student Handbook provided upon acceptance offers extensive information on staying safe and healthy, for students to refer to throughout the semester.

Second, our arrival orientation period is a critical component of SITA, where the Resident Director, Program Assistants, and Indian staff are in a position to educate students about potential health and safety risks and how to minimize these risks. Our staff provides further briefings and reminders at key junctures throughout the program.

Third, we rely on the homestay component of our programs for significant additional community perspectives on local issues. Homestay family members furnish a personal source of reminders to our students about necessary streetwise precautions, and adopting host families’ lifestyles keeps students out of marginal areas or risky activities.

Lastly, the low student/staff ratio in the SITA program ensures a high level of oversight and communication regarding health and safety matters.
Total safety cannot, of course, be guaranteed in India just as it cannot be in the United States. Similarly, though careful planning has ensured that SITA students have had fewer sick days in India than they normally experience on their home campuses in the U.S., chances of having a brief bout of illness (usually intestinal upset) are fairly high, as the body adapts to the changes in diet and climate. This is expected, and does not pose any long-term health threat.

For more serious health issues, which have been extremely rare among SITA participants, high quality medical care is available through program-associated doctors, and SITA provides all students with travel medical insurance from a provider who specializes in study abroad. No student has ever missed out on any academic credit because of physical illness while on the SITA Program.

Host families and daily life • Diet • Policies & Guidelines • Student Handbook