President David Schmidly has imposed restrictions on faculty travel in response to the swine flu.
Schmidly said in his Monday morning message that "due to increased risks associated with the H1N1 influenza World Health Organization level 5 advisory and the current Center for Disease Control travel advisory," UNM would immediately suspend all travel to Mexico.
Schmidly said the travel restrictions on UNM programs and UNM-oriented business travel will remain in effect throughout May.
"This developing situation will be evaluated continuously and further advisories will be issued as needed," he said. "Further, the University now advises all UNM faculty, staff and students who are in Mexico for University business or programs to return to the U.S. from Mexico immediately."
Professor Richard Schaefer, who holds a cross-border communication class in Cuernavaca each year, said programs slated to begin after May do not fall under the restriction. However, they are subject to change if the severity of the situation increases, he said.
Schaefer said his program is scheduled to start on July 6, which means there are five weeks left to discern whether it will be canceled.
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"The administration may come out with another statement by then," Schaefer said. "They were talking about immediate, imminent kinds of programs that were happening right after school got out."
Robyn Cote, program manager for the Latin American Iberian Institute, said that some of the University's summer programs have already been canceled.
"My understanding is that there was one program through the Anderson School of Management that was due to leave at the end of the semester, and that one was canceled," Cote said. "I think they may be offering it either here in Albuquerque or else going in August. I'm not sure what the decision is yet about that. The other programs - I believe most of them start in June and I believe they're still planning to go depending on the situation to see how it changes."
Schaefer said he remains hopeful that the restriction will be lifted in time for his annual program.
Cote said that all of the students studying abroad in Mexico have been advised to return to UNM. Three of the eight students studying in Mexico have decided to heed the advisement, but the rest felt that their health and safety were not in danger, she said.
"I think initially they were concerned, but they also felt safe where they were," she said. "They were more concerned about traveling but then their parents were also very concerned. The ones that have come back, they all felt that that was the right decision."
Cote said students who are leaving the universities where they were studying in Mexico before the official end of the semester should be allowed to complete their work over the Internet.
"We are working with the coordinators with all the different universities in Mexico to make sure that they can finish out their semesters via e-mail when they get back, so we're hoping that they don't lose any credit," she said.
Schmidly said that students who are studying or traveling abroad should pay attention to CDC updates in addition to those of the local government.
"Several countries are monitoring entering and exiting travelers and may restrict their entry or exit," Schmidly said. "Governments at any time may initiate travel restrictions. This could mean that, for the duration of the restrictions, U.S. residents traveling outside of the U.S. would not be able to return, and foreign students or visitors in the U.S. would not be able to leave."
