Japan Earthquake Update

Update as of March 18, 2:00 pm

As noted below, we had entered into discussions with Nanzan University regarding offering academic credit for IES Abroad students. We have learned overnight that Nanzan University will not be able to award full credit nor will they issue a refund to IES Abroad for the expenses related to the remainder of the term.

Nanzan University will provide IES Abroad with mid-term scores for students who have completed mid-term assignments. IES Abroad will convert the Nanzan University scores into academic grades and issue transcripts to the students’ home schools for half of the semester’s academic credit.

Given this new information, IES Abroad has communicated with our students, parents, and member institutions the amount of the refund we will be making.

We have strongly recommended that students return home by March 21, 2011.

If you have questions at any time, please feel free to contact Michael Green (Associate Vice President of Recruiting & Advising) at mgreen@IESabroad.org [1] or Jennifer Ison (Associate Dean of Students) at jison@IESabroad.org [2].

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Update as of March 17, 2011 - 11:24 a.m.

IES Abroad has decided to suspend the remainder of the Spring 2011 Nagoya program. This has been a very difficult decision, and we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences or disruptions this might cause our students.

On Wednesday, March 16, the U.S. Department of State issued a Travel Warning for Japan (view at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5390.html [3]). Nagoya was mentioned specifically in this travel warning, although all reports thus far have indicated that the city has been unaffected by the earthquake and its aftermath.

In light of the ongoing uncertainty about conditions in Japan and the recently issued Travel Warning, we determined that suspension of the remaining portion of the Nagoya program was essential to protect the health and safety of our students, staff and faculty.

Satoshi Tsukamoto, Center Director of IES Abroad Nagoya, is communicating this decision to Nagoya students, faculty, and staff at the very beginning of the day in Nagoya, (as it is currently 1:00 a.m. in Nagoya). IES Abroad has also begun communicating the decision to parents of students in Nagoya.

In addition, a field trip scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled.

IES Abroad will contact Nanzan University to discuss the possibility of students obtaining credit for the studies they have already completed at Nanzan. An IES Abroad staff member will be in touch with you today to discuss your school’s policy on credit.

Students will not receive a refund, as the semester is more than halfway completed, and IES Abroad has already paid for field trips, housing, and University costs for every student.

Students will be responsible for their airfare back to the U.S., but any reasonable costs incurred due to ticket changes will be refunded by IES Abroad.

If a student chooses to stay in Nagoya, which we do not recommend, they must sign a waiver form, available from Satoshi.

As more information becomes available, we will share it. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Michael Green at mgreen@IESabroad.org [1] (Associate Vice President of Recruiting & Advising) or Jennifer Ison (Associate Dean of Students) at jison@IESabroad.org [2].

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Update as of March 16, 2011 - 4:11 PM

IES Abroad has suspended our Spring 2011 programs in Tokyo. This has been a very difficult decision, but with such a fluid situation in Tokyo and with so many uncertainties facing the metropolitan area, we believe it was essential to protecting the health and safety of our students and staff. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences or disruptions this might cause our students.

We based this decision on a number of factors, including:

The closing of Meikai University, one of our partners in Tokyo.
The inability of Kanda University, at this time, to ensure us that the university will return to normal operations soon.
The Japanese Government’s request that local universities reduce their use of electricity, which could impact university operations significantly.
Recent announcements of the closings of several other Tokyo universities.
The worsening public perception of the situation in Tokyo and concerns expressed about student health and safety by parents and schools.
Inconsistent train and transportation service, which would make transit within Tokyo difficult for our students.
Rolling black-outs, which could impact virtually every aspect of our students’ lives.
Our inability, due to the severe shortage of engineers and inspectors, to ensure that all facilities and student housing would remain safe and free of earthquake damage.

Spring 2011 Students

All spring 2011 students will receive a full refund, including their $500 deposit. Spring students should contact their airlines to cancel their tickets to Japan. Each airline is handling the situation differently so students should call the airline as soon as possible.

We have contacted our Spring 2011 students and are encouraging them to contact their home schools about the possibility of resuming their studies as soon as possible.

Academic Year 2010-11 Students

For academic year students, their second semester of study has been suspended. All academic year students will receive a full Spring semester refund, including their $500 deposit. IES Abroad will assist these students with the logistics and planning of their return trip home. If a student chooses to stay in Japan, which we do not recommend, they must sign a waiver form, available from the Center staff. Additionally, because we are cancelling the program, we can no longer sponsor their visas for the Spring semester and their visas will soon expire.

Academic year students with any questions have been instructed to contact Tokyo Center Director, Karl Friday, or Associate Director, Daiji Shin.

Opportunities for Summer 2011, Fall 2011, & Spring 2012
We encourage students to consider our Summer 2011, Fall 2011, or Spring 2012 programs in Tokyo, which we intend to operate as normal. The summer program begins June 2 and the fall program begins August 30. Interested students should contact the IES Abroad Japan advisor, Beth Eustis, at 888-277-1957 or beustis@IESabroad.org [4], or visit: https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/Programs/Japan/Tokyo/tokyo.html [5].

The decision to refund all tuition, housing, fees, and the deposit goes well beyond our standard publicized policy, but we believe it is the right and fair thing to do in this unfortunate situation. For your information, IES Abroad will incur more than $700,000 in non-recoverable expenses.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Michael Green, Associate Vice President of Recruiting & Advising at mgreen@IESabroad.org [1], or Matt Rader, Dean of Students, at mrader@IESabroad.org [6].

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Update as of March 15, 2011 - 5:30 pm

This is an update about IES Abroad Crisis Management Team’s current work regarding both the program in Nagoya, which is currently running, and the programs in Tokyo, which are slated to start with a delayed opening sometime during the first week in April.

The IES Abroad Crisis Management Team continues to receive frequent updates from its global security firm, the U.S. State Department, and numerous other credible sources, including the Tokyo and Nagoya staff and students.

Nagoya’s infrastructure is completely intact – there is electricity, water, transportation – and IES Abroad Nagoya students continue to attend classes at Nanzan University.

Tokyo continues to experience interruptions of services due to the earthquake and its aftershocks. Rolling blackouts of electricity have been scheduled to conserve energy. Local trains are running inconsistently.

The IES Abroad Crisis Management Team is very carefully monitoring the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and is receiving frequent reports from our global security firm, staff, and media outlets. As of now, the Japanese authorities have defined a precautionary zone within approximately 20 miles of the Daiichi plant, which is approximately 160 miles from Tokyo and 360 miles from Nagoya.

At this point, IES Abroad intends to begin the spring 2011 Tokyo term sometime during the first week of April, as communicated yesterday. Based on this decision to delay the beginning of the program, IES Abroad asks all enrolled spring 2011 and academic-year students who are currently in the United States not to travel to Japan at this time. IES Abroad will reimburse all reasonable and documented fees airlines charge students to change their departure flights. Any student who must immediately modify a ticket, due to a departure planned within the next several days, should change this flight departure to April 4 so that the ticket will remain valid.

We will continue to share updates here. Should you have questions at any time, please contact Michael Green at mgreen@iesabroad.org [7].

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Update as of March 14, 2011 - 4:19 pm

The IES Abroad Crisis Management Team continues to closely monitor the situation in Japan. This includes:

Receiving information multiple times each day from Red24, the global security firm which provides IES Abroad with safety assessments and updates of world events;
Monitoring the situation through international and domestic news stories;
Receiving frequent on-the-ground updates from the IES Abroad Tokyo staff and academic-year students;
Remaining in contact with officials at both Meikai University and Kanda University of International Studies, our partner universities in Tokyo, to learn their plans for their spring terms.

Based on this information, the IES Abroad Crisis Management Team has decided to delay the start of the spring 2011 term in Tokyo, at least until the first week of April.

Within the next 7 days IES Abroad will communicate an exact start date.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory against any new non-essential travel to Japan; this advisory is scheduled to expire on April 1, 2011. Also, Japanese authorities have instituted rolling blackouts of electricity to conserve energy, including in Tokyo. These blackouts will periodically interrupt train service, making travel within the city very challenging. We believe that these developments further support our decision to delay the program’s start date.

However, please be assured that the academic-year students who are currently already in Tokyo are safe and living in housing that has food, water, and regular electricity. We have advised these students to remain in their locations as travel within the city is difficult. The State Department has not recommended the evacuation of Americans currently in Japan. Therefore, the academic-year students should remain where they are until the new program start date. IES Abroad Tokyo staff are in regular contact with them to keep them apprised of the local situation.

Based on this decision to delay the beginning of the program, IES Abroad asks all enrolled spring 2011 and academic-year students who are currently in the United States not to travel to Japan at this time. IES Abroad will reimburse all reasonable and documented fees airlines charge students to change their departure flights. Any student who must immediately modify a ticket, due to a departure planned within the next several days, should change this flight departure to April 4 so that the ticket will remain valid.

There is much in the news currently regarding the nuclear power plants which are 160 miles northeast of Tokyo, including information that the Japanese authorities have evacuated people from a 12-mile zone around these plants. At this time, neither the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or the U.S. Department of state has issued recommendations to leave Japan.

The situation in Tokyo remains very fluid. Please be assured that IES Abroad’s Crisis Management Team continues to monitor it closely.

For more information or assistance: cjambors@iesabroad.org [7]

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Update as of March 13, 2011 - 6:31 pm

The city of Nagoya was only slightly affected by the quake; it is approximately 636 miles from Sendai, the site of much of the earthquake and tsunami devastation. There are no reports of buildings being damaged or city services being interrupted. The IES Abroad Nagoya [8] spring 2011 term will continue as planned.

The city of Tokyo is approximately 200 miles from Sendai, and things are returning to normal, including:

The water in the student dorm in which IES Abroad students live has been restored.
Buses are running within the city.
The Tokyo airport has reopened.

The structural integrity of the Tokyo buildings in which IES Abroad students reside or take classes will be assessed. The results of this assessment will determine whether additional sites for classroom or residential space must be obtained.

The IES Abroad Tokyo staff is reaching out to the Center’s affiliated universities, Meikai University and Kanda University of International Studies, to assess their readiness to begin the spring term.

IES Abroad is currently considering delaying the start of the Spring 2011 term to April 4. This decision will be made in the next few days. Should this action be taken, IES Abroad will reimburse students for the reasonable and documented cost of changing their airfare to accommodate a new start date.

The hardest hit areas of tsunami devastation, as well as the state of the nuclear power plants in northeast Japan, are approximately 200 miles from Tokyo. Clearly, the status of these power plants remains an unfolding situation that IES Abroad is monitoring very closely and we will keep you informed of any impact this situation may prove to have on the IES Abroad Tokyo program.

Please contact the Dean of Students office at 800.995.2300 for more information.

At 14:46 local time (05:46 GMT), an earthquake measuring 8.9 by the US Geological Survey struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. Portions of the city have been affected, and the eastern portion of Japan has been adversely impacted by a resulting tsunami. Our hearts go out to everyone in Japan and all the other countries being affected by this earthquake and the tsunami.

Shortly after the earthquake, IES Abroad’s Crisis Management Team was activated and went into action.

Please know the following:

The IES Abroad Tokyo Spring 2011 term does not begin until March 29, so most students have not yet arrived in the country.
There are a few academic year students who stayed in Japan during the period between fall and spring terms, and our student services staff have been in contact with each of them. Each student has been accounted for and is well.
Our IES Abroad Tokyo staff and their families are accounted for.
All our Nagoya students and staff member are all safe and accounted for.
All our Beijing and Shanghai students and staff are safe and accounted for.
Chile is under a tsunami warning, which is expected to hit at around 10 p.m. Our staff there is in touch with our students (including those who are traveling) regarding what to do in the event of a tsunami and we are in touch with them.
Our students in Quito have been asked to stay in Quito until after the tsunami warning has passed.
Our students in Auckland have been told to avoid the New Zealand coastline and beaches.

We will continue to update this page with any information as we learn it.