Carnegie Mellon University is suspending all university-sponsored international travel until further notice, given concerns about COVID-19, the school's provost said in a message posted Wednesday night to the school's website.
"This includes all student, faculty and staff international travel for CMU-sponsored academic and research activities, such as coursework, academic and research conferences, and non-academic activities, including volunteer service trips," Jim Garrett said. "In addition, we urge you to postpone personal international travel plans."
He said the decision covers all Carnegie Mellon locations within the United States.
"We are coordinating with our global locations on policies appropriate for their situations," the provost wrote without elaborating.
The decision is more sweeping than restrictions announced by Carnegie Mellon less than 24 hours earlier. Those directives suspended non-academic student trips including those for community service but said academic-related travel would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Mr. Garrett's message did not address circumstances of students and employees already abroad.
Jason Maderer, senior director of news and media relations at Carnegie Mellon, said what happens with students already overseas will depend on the country.
Those in China, South Korea, Italy and Iran — countries identified by U.S. health officials as Level 3 given the extent of the virus’s spread, are receiving assistance from university officials to identify alternative plans.
“Those who will return to Pittsburgh will self-isolate for 14 days before coming to campus,” he said. “We are working with students studying in Level 1 and 2 countries to ensure that they are able to complete their semesters in a safe and healthy environment.”
He did not estimate how many students, faculty and staff on the sprawling research campus in Pittsburgh and its locations elsewhere will need to alter or cancel trips.
“Because the restrictions are in place for the foreseeable future, we don’t know how many people will be impacted,’ he said.
In his message to campus, Mr. Garrett noted the balance between travel priorities and safety.
"We know this announcement impacts many of you, but after consulting with CMU faculty and students, surveying our peer institutions, and factoring in the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we have come to this decision in support of the health and safety of our campus community. Your well-being is our top priority," Mr. Garrett wrote.
"We know that many within our community will have questions regarding financial implications of these travel restrictions,'' he added. "The university is developing guidance for any unrecoverable cancellation fees that cannot be recouped and will provide that information to academic and administrative units in the near future."
More than 93,000 cases and upward of 3,200 deaths have been reported, in upward of 60 countries, initially China. In the U.S., 12 deaths have been reported.
Carnegie Mellon enrolled about 14,800 students as of last fall, all but about 1,500 on its Pittsburgh campus, according to university data. It also has sites in the Silicon Valley, Qatar and other instructional sites in the U.S. and overseas.
The university has about 6,300 employees in total, including nearly 1,500 faculty.
Mr. Garrett said travel domestic travel is not affected at this time, but said those who do not feel comfortable traveling for university business within the U.S. can opt not to travel.
Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 and on Twitter: @Bschackner
First Published: March 5, 2020, 3:28 a.m.
