Staff are available for support and assistance 24 hours a day. You will have clear guidelines regarding where you can go alone or with a peer. Despite many students being experienced and competent travelers, the BELL staff expects all students to stay with the group at all times and provide notice if you need to separate from the group for any reason.
The University of Alaska residence halls are secured 24/7, accessible via student ID cards. Interior hallways are restricted to residents of that floor, while individual rooms require keys.
Connecting with Pre-College Students
To contact us in an emergency, parents/guardians may call the BELL: Alaska On-Site Director. At certain times during the program, students and/or staff may experience lapses in cell phone service. Staff will be checking the program phone often to return missed phone calls or text messages as soon as they are able.
At the beginning of the program, staff will send out an email to confirm that all students have arrived safely in Anchorage and have started to build community together at BELL.
At the end of the program, after students have passed through the security gates at the Anchorage airport (or have met with their parents/guardians at the airport), the program staff will send out another email to confirm that students have started their journeys home.
Please note that these emails will be sent out to the parent/guardian email address that we have on file. If you have an alternative email address that you would like included in this list, please contact the On-Site Director to share an additional email address.
Swimming during BELL
BELL: Alaska does not allow any swimming; however, you will be spending some time near rivers, lakes, ponds and other bodies of water, so you should feel comfortable being near water.
Personal Health and Medical Emergencies
The BELL: Alaska program is a physically taxing program involving significant exertion in the outdoors. For your safety and comfort during the program, we expect you to fully disclose any and all pre-existing medical conditions on required medical forms.
In a medical emergency, you will be transported to a nearby hospital. All of our activities take place within 2 hours of a hospital. For minor medical issues, we have a well-equipped first aid kit and staff trained in First Aid.
Medications
You are responsible for safely storing and taking your own prescription and over-the-counter medication. If you are not accustomed to managing your own medication, you should work with your parents/guardians to determine the best approach to do so during the program. All students who are taking prescription medications should bring their prescribed medication in its original container and a copy of their prescription (which can be an electronic copy). Having a copy of the original prescription will enable us to replace medication if needed. Students with life-saving asthma and anaphylaxis medications (e.g., inhalers, EpiPens) must keep them on their person at all times. If your medication requires refrigeration, we will provide access to a refrigerator for the duration of the program.
Illness
You should inform program staff as soon as you are not feeling well and may be asked to self-administer tests for specific infectious illnesses and/or take your temperature, among other actions. If you are ill, you will need to be separated from others in the program to lower the possibility of any illness spreading and it is possible you may be asked to make plans to depart the program. Please note that there may be additional or different protocols implemented by a partner lodging site, field trip or local airport and are dependent on public health guidelines at the time of the program.
Curfew
Our days are busy, requiring a lot of your energy and attention throughout the day. You are required to check in with student life staff every evening at 10 p.m. AKST and remain on your floor until 6 a.m. AKST the following morning. The student life staff will place a call to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of any student who is late for curfew. Local authorities will be informed after an appropriate interval of time if a student has not checked in, and a protocol will be initiated to ensure the security of the student.
Adhering to the curfew policy is your responsibility. While student life staff will take reasonable measures to ensure that you adhere to the curfew, once you have been verified as being within the residence halls at the designated time, you will be in violation of policies should you choose to leave your residence hall. If we become aware of a curfew violation, you will be referred to our student conduct process. Repeated and/or serious violations of the curfew could result in dismissal from the program.