Washington, DC – A new report produced by the American Council on Education (ACE), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and United Educators Insurance provides guidance for campus administrators addressing the issue of safety in student transportation.

The report, Safety in Student Transportation: A Resource Guide for Colleges and Universities, breaks down the ways in which most accidents involving student transportation occur and provides guidance on minimizing risk. Institutions are encouraged to examine their own risk factors in applying the suggestions to their individual campuses.

Distributed to thousands of campuses nationwide, the report was drafted in response to a request from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Impressed by the changes made to Oklahoma State University’s travel policies following a tragic charter plane accident in 2001 that killed 12 people, the NTSB asked ACE, the NCAA and others to inform the higher education community about safe travel for athletic teams. With the assistance of United Educators Insurance, the project grew to encompass all student travel.

“Spurred on by the tragedy at Oklahoma State, I believe we have created the first comprehensive review of student travel safety,” said Ann H. Franke, president, Wise Results, LLC, who authored the report.  “Administrators, students, and parents will all find lessons here to reduce the risks of injury and death.”

ACE President David Ward emphasized the utility of the report to campus administrators.

“Because student travel and safety is always a paramount concern, I think college and university administrators—presidents and chancellors, particularly—will find this document informative and useful,” Ward said. “The safety suggestions in the report are specific, but outlined in a way that allows them to be employed flexibly to meet individual needs and campus situations.”

Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, challenged America's colleges and universities to consider adopting at least one recommendation from the safety report. 

"With each passing year, more learning than before takes place outside the classroom," Brand said. "American college and university students travel for academic field trips, community service, athletic events, clubs and many other purposes. I have no doubt that education is enhanced through such activities, but as we benefit from increased mobility, we must refocus on safety."

The report examines a number of institutions’ policies and provides multiple ways to improve campus safety. Administrators searching for ways to limit the risk of serious accidents have a range of policy recommendations available, allowing them to craft a program that best fits their institution’s needs. Among the ideas for vehicle travel:
 

• Keeping photocopied records to confirm that the institution checked driver’s licenses.
• Requiring the driver to have a certain number of years or miles of driving experience.
• Checking the driver’s motor vehicle history.
• Limiting the distance, number of hours, or number of passengers that students may drive.
• Prohibiting students from using personal vehicles for institution-related trips.
• Prohibiting students from driving large vehicles or vehicles with passengers, unless they have a commercial driver’s license.
• Posting notices about safe driving, seat belt use and other key topics in institutional vehicles.

In addition, the report offers suggestions for making campus air travel safer, such as:

• Prohibiting students and recruits from flying on donated flights.
• Prohibiting flying into forecasted hazardous weather.
• Limiting the number of key passengers on any one flight.
• Traveling only on scheduled commercial services.

The full text of Safety in Student Transportation: A Resource Guide for Colleges and Universities is available in the Tools & Resources box above and through ACE’s online bookstore. It can aslo be accessed on the United Educators web site. The report is accompanied by a CD-ROM of supplemental material, including several university travel policies.

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Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 360,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 49,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA Championships in Division I, II and III sports. For more information, go to www.ncaa.org.

United Educators Insurance, a Reciprocal Risk Retention Group, is a licensed insurance company owned and governed by more than 1,100 member colleges, universities, independent schools, public school districts, public school insurance pools, and related organizations throughout the United States. Members range from small, private schools to multi-campus public universities.