Faculty trained to refer students of concern to CAPS
Title
Faculty trained to refer students of concern to CAPS
Description
By: Johnny Perez
Posted: 4/18/07
As the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute awoke to a changed world this morning, new developments emerged about the alleged gunman whose shooting spree claimed 33 lives, including his own.
His name was Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior at Virginia Tech who was majoring in English.
And according to Carolyn Rude, the chairwoman of Virginia Tech's English department, some of Seung-Hui's schoolwork prompted officials to refer him to the university's counseling service - though the date and outcome of that action is not known.
Though developments about Seung-Hui and his writing are only beginning to come to light, officials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say procedures are already in place that allow staff members to alert Counseling and Psychological Services about any concerns they may have regarding individual students.
UNL began taking a closer look at how it handled potentially troubled students, staff or faculty members in 1992, after Arthur McElroy, a former graduate student, walked into Ferguson Hall and attempted to open fire on his classmates with a semi-automatic rifle.
The weapon jammed and McElroy was institutionalized. UNL administrators acknowledged the need to do a better job of talking to each other when what CAPS director Bob Portnoy calls "students of concern" are noticed.
Portnoy, who has worked at UNL since 1991, said campus-wide efforts from the CAPS office, University Police and the vice chancellor for student affairs have improved lines of communication, but every year concerns appear on his desk about questionable students.
"I can't think of a semester where that hasn't happened," he said. "I'm fairly confident we've gotten at least one call every semester."
What typically occurs, Portnoy said, is that an instructor will call a CAPS representative with, say, a disturbing essay.
The staff member will forward the piece of material that has caused concern and will share his or her thoughts while having it reviewed by a professional.
At that point, Portnoy said, CAPS will work with the faculty member to see if he or she is confident enough to approach the student about the material.
If the faculty member is "sufficiently frightened" by the idea of meeting the student alone, Portnoy said, CAPS will ask for a plainclothes police officer to stand by while the faculty member meets with a student - but this avenue is rarely utilized.
"In most cases, what we recommend is that they share with the student their concerns ... and the issues they're writing about in this essay may go beyond the particular faculty member's area of expertise," he said.
From there, the faculty member may choose to walk the student to the CAPS office, or give them referral information - but the office is prepared to handle emergency cases as well, Portnoy said.
Joy Ritchie, the chairwoman of UNL's English department, said new faculty members in the department undergo training to deal with a variety of educational issues, including advice on how to respond to a student's writing when problematic issues arise.
"One of the pieces of information they get is about the fact that we are not trained professional counselors, and so when we have concerns, we know that we need to refer students to the right professional people," she said.
Student privacy is also essential, Ritchie said, and instructors are encouraged to consult with the chair and vice-chair of the department if they have any concerns.
Ritchie said she could not remember specific instances of violence or depression that were addressed by faculty members but said University Police and CAPS had always been quick and responsive in dealing with any issues.
"I think the university has a lot of systems in place to support students, and that's important," she said. "I never felt that those were inadequate."
Portnoy said there was a fine line between seeing a threatening piece as a product of an active imagination or as a sign of a problem.
Part of the training of mental health professionals, he said, is to understand the symbolic meaning of communication.
"And we tend, at least in these sorts of cases whenever possible, to try and err on the side of conservatism," he said.
"Active imaginations shouldn't be discouraged, but occasionally it is a cry for help or an expression of a destructive way of thinking ... we have to evaluate each case on an individual basis."
In the end, Portnoy said, the university's efforts to spot students who could be threats to themselves or others are only another method of keeping campus safe - not a catchall system to keep Lincoln from becoming another Blacksburg, Va.
"They're capable, but of course there's no absolute safeguard," he said. "It's hard to know how often we've been right."
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/18/News/Faculty.Trained.To.Refer.Students.Of.Concern.To.Caps-2847956.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 18, 2007</a>
Posted: 4/18/07
As the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute awoke to a changed world this morning, new developments emerged about the alleged gunman whose shooting spree claimed 33 lives, including his own.
His name was Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior at Virginia Tech who was majoring in English.
And according to Carolyn Rude, the chairwoman of Virginia Tech's English department, some of Seung-Hui's schoolwork prompted officials to refer him to the university's counseling service - though the date and outcome of that action is not known.
Though developments about Seung-Hui and his writing are only beginning to come to light, officials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say procedures are already in place that allow staff members to alert Counseling and Psychological Services about any concerns they may have regarding individual students.
UNL began taking a closer look at how it handled potentially troubled students, staff or faculty members in 1992, after Arthur McElroy, a former graduate student, walked into Ferguson Hall and attempted to open fire on his classmates with a semi-automatic rifle.
The weapon jammed and McElroy was institutionalized. UNL administrators acknowledged the need to do a better job of talking to each other when what CAPS director Bob Portnoy calls "students of concern" are noticed.
Portnoy, who has worked at UNL since 1991, said campus-wide efforts from the CAPS office, University Police and the vice chancellor for student affairs have improved lines of communication, but every year concerns appear on his desk about questionable students.
"I can't think of a semester where that hasn't happened," he said. "I'm fairly confident we've gotten at least one call every semester."
What typically occurs, Portnoy said, is that an instructor will call a CAPS representative with, say, a disturbing essay.
The staff member will forward the piece of material that has caused concern and will share his or her thoughts while having it reviewed by a professional.
At that point, Portnoy said, CAPS will work with the faculty member to see if he or she is confident enough to approach the student about the material.
If the faculty member is "sufficiently frightened" by the idea of meeting the student alone, Portnoy said, CAPS will ask for a plainclothes police officer to stand by while the faculty member meets with a student - but this avenue is rarely utilized.
"In most cases, what we recommend is that they share with the student their concerns ... and the issues they're writing about in this essay may go beyond the particular faculty member's area of expertise," he said.
From there, the faculty member may choose to walk the student to the CAPS office, or give them referral information - but the office is prepared to handle emergency cases as well, Portnoy said.
Joy Ritchie, the chairwoman of UNL's English department, said new faculty members in the department undergo training to deal with a variety of educational issues, including advice on how to respond to a student's writing when problematic issues arise.
"One of the pieces of information they get is about the fact that we are not trained professional counselors, and so when we have concerns, we know that we need to refer students to the right professional people," she said.
Student privacy is also essential, Ritchie said, and instructors are encouraged to consult with the chair and vice-chair of the department if they have any concerns.
Ritchie said she could not remember specific instances of violence or depression that were addressed by faculty members but said University Police and CAPS had always been quick and responsive in dealing with any issues.
"I think the university has a lot of systems in place to support students, and that's important," she said. "I never felt that those were inadequate."
Portnoy said there was a fine line between seeing a threatening piece as a product of an active imagination or as a sign of a problem.
Part of the training of mental health professionals, he said, is to understand the symbolic meaning of communication.
"And we tend, at least in these sorts of cases whenever possible, to try and err on the side of conservatism," he said.
"Active imaginations shouldn't be discouraged, but occasionally it is a cry for help or an expression of a destructive way of thinking ... we have to evaluate each case on an individual basis."
In the end, Portnoy said, the university's efforts to spot students who could be threats to themselves or others are only another method of keeping campus safe - not a catchall system to keep Lincoln from becoming another Blacksburg, Va.
"They're capable, but of course there's no absolute safeguard," he said. "It's hard to know how often we've been right."
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/18/News/Faculty.Trained.To.Refer.Students.Of.Concern.To.Caps-2847956.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 18, 2007</a>
Creator
Johnny Perez
Publisher
Daily Nebraskan
Date
2007-09-03
Contributor
Sara AA Hood
Rights
Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
Language
eng
Citation
Johnny Perez, “Faculty trained to refer students of concern to CAPS,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 2, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1284.