The CARE Team provides a centralized resource for bringing concerns about students to the attention of the people on campus who can best assist these students. Concerns may range from mental health issues to family problems, roommate issues, conduct issues, or feeling like Dickinson is not academically or socially fit.鈥� The CARE Team meets every week throughout the academic year to confidentially share information and exists to assess potentially unsafe situations within the Dickinson community or other more complicated cases.鈥� We attempt to intervene early to help students who show signs of鈥痙istress and those engaging in more harmful or disruptive behaviors. 鈥疶he CARE Team reviews each case individually and coordinates an appropriate action plan for response. The CARE also meets to discuss escalating situations needing more timely intervention. The Executive Director of the Wellness Center is a member of the CARE Team and attends these meetings to serve as a resource. Following professional and legal standards, the Executive Director does not share confidential information unless a situation is life-threatening.
Students experiencing challenges in one aspect of their lives also struggle in other areas. For example, a student with a roommate issue may suffer academically. Alternatively, a student under great academic stress may act out in unhealthy ways in their social lives. The purpose of our collaboration within the CARE Team between Academic Affairs and Student Life is to connect different pieces of information about students experiencing difficulties to have a larger context for what is happening in students’ lives. This, in turn, allows for better consultation with students to refer them to the most appropriate resources. Maximizing student success and student persistence to graduation are among the goals of our collaboration.
In many instances, students experience levels of anxiety or distress, for which faculty and staff can provide adequate support through empathic listening, facilitating open discussion of problems, and offering essential advice. There are times, however, when students require more serious intervention and support from appropriate staff members. The following guide will give the Dickinson community general guidelines for what to do if you interact with a student experiencing difficulty.
A comprehensive resource guide for the community can be found here.
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Students in Distress Evidence of behaviors that may be negatively interfering with academic or personal success warrants discussion by the Academic Affairs/Student Life team for appropriate support and information sharing to be facilitated. Examples include:
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In this category, the line between what is an academic concern and what is a social/personal concern can be blurred, as one often influences the other. .鈥�&苍产蝉辫;In distress-level situations, the CARE Team will share this information with the Residence Life staff for follow-up. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫; |
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Disruptive behavior Conduct is鈥痶emporarily manageable鈥痓ut requires an appropriately trained staff member to speak with the student to assess the situation and determine an appropriate response.
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Document the situation and The CARE Team will convene the necessary parties, decide on the appropriate intervention, and take action based on the assessment. While the behaviors in this category are not likely to be immediately life-threatening, they should be reported as soon as possible. |
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Threatening Behavior Conduct poses an鈥痠mminent safety concern鈥痜or the student, others, or the general campus community.鈥�&苍产蝉辫; Examples include:
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Call the Department of Public Safety immediately at 717-245-1111.鈥疨ublic Safety officers are the emergency responders on campus and are trained to intervene in emergencies. They will also marshal other resources as needed. These resources may include outside law enforcement or medical personnel, the College’s Emergency Response Team, the Student Life staff member on-call, and/or Wellness Center personnel. |