Earlier today, Dean Susan Fournier announced the cancellation of all Questrom-sponsored spring break travel for students. In an email sent to students scheduled to travel to Brazil, Israel, and Silicon Valley, Fournier cited the quickly evolving situation and Governor Baker’s announcement from earlier in the day as the tipping point of the decision. The three trips canceled today join the European and Asian MBA field seminars and Questrom’s undergraduate Global Management Experiences program to China as the latest programs impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“While we had hoped to be able to continue to offer these programs given the low infection rate in the various locations, protecting the health and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and community is our highest priority,” stated Fournier.

The three MBA field seminars impacted today, were set to begin in their respective locations this Saturday, a fact that weighed heavily on the decision process. “This was not a decision we took lightly,” stated Barb Bickart, Senior Associate Dean of MBA Programs, in an email to the faculty leading the trips. “I know you all have worked incredibly hard to organize these trips and make this a valuable and exciting experience for the students, which makes this decision even more difficult.”

As with each of the Questrom-sponsored and run international trips canceled this spring, the both Fournier and Bickart reiterated that the school is committed to helping the affected students recover any losses incured by the cancellation.