Relates to requiring postsecondary institutions that participate in study abroad programs to report crime and harm that occurs to participating students.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7871
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 18, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring postsecon-
dary institutions that participate in study abroad programs to report
crime and harm that occurs to participating students
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Safe Student Study Abroad Act" also known as the "Ravi Thackurdeen
3 Safe Student Study Abroad Act".
4 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new article 130-A to
5 read as follows:
6 ARTICLE 130-A
7 SAFE STUDENT STUDY ABROAD
8 Section 6457. Definitions.
9 6458. General provisions.
10 6459. Reporting.
11 6460. Student resources.
12 6461. Program assessment.
13 § 6457. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
14 shall have the following meanings:
15 1. "College", "university" and "postsecondary" shall mean any institu-
16 tion of higher education, recognized and approved by the regents, which
17 provides a course of study leading to the granting of a postsecondary
18 degree or diploma.
19 2. "Third party entities" shall mean any for profit or not-for-profit
20 business that is not a college, university or postsecondary institution
21 which provides a study abroad program or coordinates a program between
22 college, university or postsecondary institution in the United States
23 and a study abroad program.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11732-01-7
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1 3. "Study abroad program" shall mean programs which are coordinated by
2 college, university or postsecondary institutions and third party enti-
3 ties in the state of New York, that provide students with the opportu-
4 nity to work or study, wholly or in principal part, outside of the
5 United States of America.
6 4. "Study abroad organization" shall mean college, university or post-
7 secondary institutions as well as third party entities that offer study
8 abroad programs.
9 § 6458. General provisions. Study abroad organizations shall prior-
10 itize the health, safety, and security of its students through policies,
11 procedures, advising, orientation, and training.
12 1. Study abroad organizations shall prioritize health, safety, and
13 security in program development, implementation and management by
14 conducting appropriate risk assessments for such program sites and
15 activities, maintaining written emergency plans and protocols, and iden-
16 tifying and leveraging relevant authorities, networks and resources.
17 2. Study abroad organizations' staff shall be trained to anticipate
18 and respond responsibly to student health, safety, or security issues
19 and students shall be provided training to responsibly manage their own
20 health, safety, and security while abroad. Study abroad organizations
21 shall establish measures to monitor and advise students on health, safe-
22 ty, and security issues through the United States department of state
23 and other appropriate resources.
24 3. Study abroad organizations shall maintain appropriate insurance
25 policies at recommended levels, operate in compliance with local laws,
26 and follow best practices in reporting on critical incidents.
27 4. Study abroad organizations may adopt and implement policies in
28 accordance with the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad,
29 made available by the Forum on Education Abroad.
30 § 6459. Reporting. 1. Beginning one year after the effective date of
31 this article, study abroad organizations shall make and file an annual
32 report to the department by August fifteenth of each year. Such report
33 shall be prepared by all reasonably available data and shall consist of
34 data from the previous two years and comply with the federal health
35 insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) of 1996, as
36 amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. section
37 1681, et. seq.) and all other applicable regulations. Data representing
38 individuals shall be in numerical form omitting personal information.
39 2. The report mandated by this section shall include:
40 a. for the previous academic year, including summer terms, the effec-
41 tiveness of the study abroad program at protecting students from crime
42 and harm, whether changes to such program are needed and how such chang-
43 es will be implemented;
44 b. for the ten years preceding the date of the report, when such data
45 is reasonably attainable, the number of:
46 i. deaths of program participants including manner of death;
47 ii. accidents and illnesses that resulted in hospitalization including
48 the type of such accident or illness;
49 iii. sexual assaults against program participants;
50 iv. incidents that resulted in a police report including type of inci-
51 dent; and
52 v. with respect to the incidents described in subparagraphs i through
53 iv of this paragraph, whether the incidents occurred:
54 (1) during program participation;
55 (2) during students own time;
56 (3) on campus;
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1 (4) off campus;
2 (5) the location of the incident; and
3 (6) the time of the incident.
4 c. Study abroad organizations shall also report on ethical relation-
5 ships and conflict of interest avoidance policies with all major part-
6 ners.
7 § 6460. Student resources. 1. Study abroad organizations shall provide
8 each student who is interested in participating in a program of study
9 abroad, with pre-registration information advising that includes:
10 a. all current travel information, including all travel warnings and
11 travel alerts, issued by the bureau of consular affairs of the depart-
12 ment of state for such countries;
13 b. all current safety alerts known within thirty miles of the campus
14 including information obtained by students from post-trip orientation
15 sessions or reports; and
16 c. the reporting information required by the department as identified
17 in section sixty-four hundred fifty-nine of this article.
18 2. Study abroad organizations shall provide each student who returns
19 from a study abroad program with an anonymous post-semester evaluation
20 questionnaire, and the opportunity for a documented exit interview which
21 shall focus on the program's effectiveness in best practices and student
22 safety. These reports are to be made available to the public upon
23 request.
24 3. Study abroad organizations shall include references to the avail-
25 ability of the reports identified in sections sixty-four hundred fifty-
26 nine and sixty-four hundred sixty of this article on all websites and
27 printed materials.
28 § 6461. Program assessment. 1. The department shall, using existing
29 staff and budget, assess the effectiveness of this article and appropri-
30 ate state regulation of postsecondary study abroad programs. The assess-
31 ment shall focus on the protection, the health and safety of students in
32 postsecondary study abroad programs; and the reporting process. The
33 department shall make their assessments and the reports required in
34 section sixty-four hundred fifty-nine of this article to any state
35 legislator upon request.
36 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
