Safety

Safeguarding the student experience abroad is a combination of steps Pepperdine has taken to protect students and students following Pepperdine-provided guidelines and strategies.

The following are steps Pepperdine takes to safeguard the Pepperdine community abroad:

• Require all participants to take study abroad student health and safety courses prior to departure
• Provide in-country safety briefings
• Campuses equipped with security cameras, secure entry doors, and locally contextualized policies, support, and systems
• Emergency plans that cover a multitude of scenarios
• Provide students access to a travel assistance program (International SOS) that provides students with emergency assistance offerings no matter where they travel
• Assess educational field trips and faculty-led summer programs for safety and risk purposes.
• Restrict student personal travel to higher risk locations. Review Pepperdine's travel policy for further information.
• Ensure students receive safety and health related notices about locations when they log their travel within International SOS' travel log system

What students do to safeguard themselves:

• Fully and accurately fill out Pepperdine's travel log system for all weekends and travel breaks
• For U.S. Passport holders: Required to enroll and log all travel in STEP (U.S. Department of State Safe Traveler Enrollment Program) which enables students and and emergency contacts to receive travel advisories and alerts
• Follow safety guidelines provided by the University
• Items like pepper spray or tasers may not be legal in the countries students plan to visit or may require a special permit. Make alternative personal safety plans as needed.
• Speak with parents/guardians about an agreeable personal travel itinerary on weekends and travel breaks
• All students are able to use the Live Safe App which can link students with Pepperdine personnel at anytime provided device has network connectivity
• Have proper telecommunications capabilities: All students are required secure a phone that can make/receive calls and texts at all times. Visit our technology abroad page for further information
• Pepperdine recommends that all students consider purchasing personal insurance through collegestudentinsurance.com
• Please note that Pepperdine does our due diligence in regards to community safety and cannot plan for or anticipate every emergency. We, like any other institution, cannot guarantee safety and do everything reasonable to safeguard community members.