The Georgia Southern University nursing students involved in this week’s horrific traffic accident were pursuing their future craft in the best possible way, with real-world experience outside the classroom, in a hospital similar to where they would likely spend much of their careers.
The crash cut short those plans.
The tragedy highlights a dilemma for colleges and universities looking to provide real-world opportunities while keeping students safe.
Students in off-campus clinical rotations, internships, practicums, and student teaching opportunities, face the same travel risks, responsibilities and liabilities as any other driver. Education experts say no real policies exist for this type of academic travel, and implementing them might actually restrict access to the experiences colleges seek to provide.
“It’s not that students are on their own, but if you think about the breadth of off-campus (academic) involvement, there really are no guidelines or policies that govern these things,” said Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
The Georgia Southern crash, although tragic, was random, he said, and policies that would prohibit students from using their own vehicles could cut off access to the multiple learning opportunities that exist.
While attending an education conference in Washington this week, Kruger asked administrators from several institutions whether they had policies in place for this type of student travel and none of them did, he said.
While most of their classmates were still sleeping early Wednesday, the five, all juniors, were on the 55-mile trip from Statesboro to their final clinical of the school year at St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in Savannah. They were on Interstate 16 in two personal vehicles when the multi-vehicle crash occurred around 5:45 a.m. about 20 miles from Savannah. State highway officials say an investigation could take months. Catherine "McKay" Pittman, 21, and Emily Clark, 20, were from metro Atlanta. Morgan Bass, 20, of Leesburg, Abbie Deloach, 21, of Savannah, and Caitlyn Baggett, 21, of Millen, also died, and two other students were injured.
Georgia Southern does not have a travel policy governing students in the nursing program, school spokeswoman Jan Bond said this week. Students are required to have their own transportation back and forth to clinical rotations. A nursing student handbook tells students that clinical rotations may involve traveling extended distances and carpooling is recommended.
Students in nursing programs at Georgia Regents and Clayton State universities are also required to arrange their own transportation to clinical sites, according to program handbooks. Mercer University also requires its nursing students to provide their own transportation to clinicals, and there is no university insurance coverage for student travel to these sites.
The state’s public University System, which includes Georgia Southern, has no systemwide policy governing this type of academic travel, system spokesman Charlie Sutlive said. It does have a policy governing employee travel and works with institutions to establish guidelines involving official travel for the institution, such as athletic teams traveling to games and meets.
Some colleges are taking strides to counsel students on traffic safety.
Emory, for example, provides in its travel policies a list of best practices for student drivers. But the policies clearly explain that the university assumes no responsibility for any travel in personal vehicles.
“There is a great fear in the U.S. that we will get sued for everything we do,” said Mark Briggs, former risk manager at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Ohio State University, and now a consultant at Safety Management Resources Corporation. The company develops risk-management plans for clients including grade schools and higher education institutions.
With the Georgia Southern crash, “you can bet there are conversations going on at most campuses,” he said. “They may not take action, but it does get the conversation started.”
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