Student groups grounded

Portland State student groups, such as Engineers Without Borders and the world-traveling Debate Team, are confined to the country as a result of a moratorium placed on international travel by university administrators.

Over the summer break, Student Activities and Leadership Programs revisited its student group international travel policies with Portland State’s legal counsel, and determined that the university is vulnerable to lawsuits under its current policies and practices.

A hold was placed on international travel until new governing policies are devised, said Domanic Thomas, assistant director for Student Activities and Leadership Programs.

“After an assessment of our practices at the end of the year, it was determined that we were in need of some revamping and codifying of our process,” Thomas said. “Legal counsel said if we got sued, we would have lost. Thankfully, nothing has happened.”

No particular incident prompted the revision, but an international trip was taken last school year by an unidentified student group that caused administrators to question how trips are approved and organized, Thomas said.

EWB assists developing communities by traveling throughout the world to provide basic human needs such as clean water, power, sanitation and education, according to its Web site.

Currently, EWB is working in Nicaragua to prevent annual flooding at an elementary school, and designing a clean water source and distribution system for a village of 3,000.

“SALP’s policy change effectively prevents us from traveling,” said sophomore Chad Norvell, EWB president and Portland State sophomore. “There are real people down there, suffering, counting on us to provide a solution, and [Portland State] is asking us to turn our back on them.”

The Debate Team competes in a world format and travels internationally, representing the university at tournaments.

“I understand there is risk involved for the university, but there has to be some way to work this out quickly and effectively,” said Debate Team coordinator Kelly Welch.

The team has lost money as a result of the restriction. The world championship competition, to be held December 2009 in Turkey, requires several stages of entry, which began in July 2009.

“When SALP came to us to tell us we couldn’t travel, we had already sent in our first-stage entry and [non-refundable] fee of $700,” Welch said.

The team was also barred from attending a tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Wednesday, an informal task force—consisting of SALP administrators and representatives from affected student groups—convened to discuss how to work toward establishing new policies. 

At the meeting, no time frame for the implementation of new international travel policies was provided by SALP.
Debate Team coach Christopher Richter asked, of the administrators present, what specific policy changes need to be made in order for the university to not be at risk. No specific changes were given.

However, a list of concerns over existing policies was provided. The concerns included pre-travel training, pre-travel screening of locations and crisis contingencies.

“This is more than a conversation with legal [counsel],” said Assistant General Council David Reese, “but about SALP working with legal and risk management to ensure Portland State has appropriate policies and procedures to adequately address liability, and to safeguard the heath and safety or students.”