Risk Management and Student Safety
Written for the people at your institution whose job is to ask hard questions before students board a plane.
Sending students abroad is a risk decision, and the person signing off on it is accountable in a way the students are not. This page sets out how our programs are run, what our in-country presence actually looks like, and what documentation we can provide for your own review.
If your risk office needs a conversation rather than a web page, call (888) 879-2575 and we will schedule one. For an overview of what we run, see our programs for institutions.
The Principle We Operate On
Student safety abroad is not primarily a matter of paperwork. It is a matter of who is on the ground, how well they know the place, and how quickly they can act.
Our model is built around continuous local presence rather than remote oversight. Program leaders are with students daily, live in the communities where programs run, and have relationships with the host families, the language schools, the clinics, and the partner organizations that go back years. Most of what could become an incident gets handled long before it becomes one, because someone who knows the environment noticed it early.
24/7 In-Country Leadership
Every program includes 24 hour leadership, coordination, and support from Common Ground program leaders.
That means a program leader is reachable at any hour for the duration of the program, not a call center in another country and not an emergency line that routes to voicemail. Students are given direct contact for their program leaders on arrival, and so are institutions that ask for it.
Program leaders also provide daily on-site mentorship and supervision. Students are seen every day. Someone knows where they are, how they are doing, and whether something is off. For a student in an unfamiliar country operating in a second language, that daily contact is the single most effective safety measure there is.
Established Locations, Chosen Deliberately
Our programs run in two places, and both were chosen partly for safety reasons.
Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica
A residential suburb north of San José. It is not a tourist town, which means students are living in a normal working community rather than in a district built around visitors. That is better for immersion, and it is also better for safety, because tourist areas concentrate the problems that affect visitors.
Cuenca, Ecuador
A colonial city in the southern highlands, and a long-established base for our programs.
We do not add destinations casually. Running in the same two places for years is what allows the level of local knowledge this model depends on.
Housing
Students live with host families, with a strict policy of one student per family. That policy exists for language reasons, but it has a safety consequence as well: each student is embedded in a household that knows them, notices when they are unwell, and is in regular contact with our program leaders.
Host families are known to us over time rather than sourced per group. The relationships are ongoing, and families that do not meet our standard do not continue.
For programs where a host family is not appropriate, hotel and hostel options are available.
Partner organizations and placements
The community health organizations and clinics our students work with are long-term partners. We support projects those organizations were already running, which means the placements are inside established operations with their own supervision, rather than activities created for a visiting group. Medical outreach work is supervised by local physicians. Students work within their scope, under supervision, on projects that continue after they leave.
Health and clinical safety
Students are working in community health settings in resource-limited communities, and the program is structured so that the work is appropriate to their level of training. Supervision by local providers is part of every outreach placement. Students are briefed on the health conditions common in the communities where they work, on appropriate precautions, and on what to do if they become unwell.
Preparation Before Departure
Risk management starts before students leave. We offer pre-departure courses, and students receive practical guidance on travel documents, health preparation, what to expect day to day, cultural norms, and how the program operates.
We also make our guiding principles for international medical work available in advance, so students arrive having already thought about the ethics of the work rather than encountering the question for the first time in a community.
Communication With Your Institution
We can establish a communication protocol with your study abroad or risk office covering who is contacted, in what circumstances, and how quickly. For institutions with an existing incident reporting standard, we will work within it.
We are also willing to speak directly with your risk management office, your general counsel, or your international programs committee before a program is approved. That conversation is usually shorter than people expect, because most of what those offices need to establish is who is on the ground and how they can be reached.
Insurance
Every traveler is covered. Individual travel insurance is included in the program fee for each participant. Students are not asked to source it themselves, and no one travels uninsured because a form was missed.
Individual travel insurance, included
Coverage is provided through iNext, and the certificate of coverage is published on our site so your office can review the actual terms rather than take our word for the summary.
Professional liability coverage
We carry professional liability coverage for tour operators through Aon Affinity.
If your institution requires certificates, named-insured endorsements, or specific coverage minimums, tell us what your process requires and we will work through it.
Documented Policies
Our safety practice is written down, not improvised.
Comprehensive Risk Management Plan
Our full risk management plan, available for your review.
Health and Safety Policies
Our documented health and safety policies, available as a PDF for your records and internal review.
Institutions that need these routed through a risk office, legal review, or an international programs committee should ask, and we will supply them in whatever form your process requires.
Institutional References
We are glad to provide references from institutions that have run programs with us. Among them:
Tell us which of these would be most useful to speak with and we will make the introduction.
Additional Documentation for Your Review
Institutions conducting their own due diligence can also request:
Ask for what your process requires. If we cannot provide something, we will tell you plainly rather than route you in circles.
What We Ask of Institutions
Risk management works in both directions. We ask that partner institutions:
Accessibility and Inclusion
Our mission of impacting communities through language applies to every traveler regardless of age, gender identity, physical ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. If a student has accessibility needs, tell us early and we will work out what is possible rather than assume it is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Request a Safety Briefing for Your Institution
We will walk your risk, legal, or international programs office through exactly how the ground operation works.
