UNCW suspends educational programs in Italy over coronavirus fears

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As fears over the coronavirus continue to spread, UNCW is suspending all educational programs in Italy.

On Wednesday,  WWAY learned the school had canceled an upcoming Spring Break study abroad trip to Italy, but some students are already there for programs that began in January.

According to a release from the university, school officials have been in touch with those students regarding next steps for traveling home and will update them soon about refunds and academic credit.

Here’s the full statement from UNCW:

“In consultation with health authorities and our international program providers, UNCW is closely monitoring all updates pertaining to COVID-19 (coronavirus), and examining the potential immediate impacts for our students abroad as well as the potential long-term impacts for our campus and community.

This is an evolving situation with a lot of moving parts, but we wanted to inform you right away that we have now suspended our education-abroad experience in Italy. We have been in touch with affected students regarding next steps for initiating travel home, and have promised them an update as soon as possible about refunds, academic credit, and so forth.

We will convey all relevant community updates via campus email next week (and our homepage and social media channels for now), and we appreciate your patience as we consider these important decisions. In the meantime, the site you are currently using includes a number of valuable (and reliable!) resources for your consultation: https://uncw.edu/healthservices/cvupdates.html“