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.

How to Log Travel: MyTrips

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. When students enter travel data into the travel log system, they will receive health, safety, and security information.
Learn about local laws and rules, and obey them. The U.S. consulate or embassy has limited ability to protect citizens if they break the laws of the foreign country they are visiting. This is especially true in regards to drug laws, which are more rigidly enforced in some countries compared to the U.S.
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
Keep track of what is being reported in the media. In addition, STEP communicates important information to travelers. Additional information is available at https://travel.state.gov/content/studentsabroad/en.html
Use common sense to protect valuables. Don't wear expensive jewelry. Keep vital documents out of view. Don’t carry a lot of cash and place it in various locations on your person. Keep a list of credit card numbers and customer service numbers reachable from the host country in students' emergency envelopes in order to report them if lost or stolen. When traveling, always keep valuable possessions secured.
Keep an emergency envelope in a safe place which contains extra passport photos and personal information. Details are in the IP Student Handbook.
Take a low-key approach. Avoid loud conversations or arguments and attempt to blend in with your surroundings. In most countries, it is in very poor taste to be boisterous in public. Avoid clothing that could identify you as a tourist. In most situations, observing and imitating the locals will help you both learn the local culture and blend in.
Be aware of your surroundings. Pickpockets normally operate in crowded places like public transportation facilities, spectator events, etc. Never carry valuables in a back pocket or carry your purse behind your back. Some pickpockets will resort to cutting a tightly held purse in order to gain access to its contents. In case of theft or loss of any valuables, report it to the local authorities. The report will be necessary for coverage under your personal insurance policy.
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
Do not travel alone. There is safety in numbers.
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
Re-take International SOS’ online health and safety modules
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.