A student causes a ruckus in the classroom over and over again. Peers are concerned, but they don’t tell their professor. Rather than be proactive, they tolerate and ignore.
But for those looking to express concerns about these troublemakers anonymously, a new Cal State Long Beach website, Campus Assessment, Response and Evaluation for Students, provides that outlet.
The site is designed to “provide a centralized structure for the campus community for early intervention of at-risk students through collaboration with campus departments, faculty and staff,” according to the CARES website.
Since the site’s launch two weeks ago, CARES has received 12 reports about students, which are reviewed weekly by the team, said Jeff Klaus, associate vice president for student services and dean of students.
Klaus said behavioral intervention teams like CARES were created after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, where Seung-Hui Cho killed himself after killing 32 people, according to the New York Times.
One of the fatal flaws in this situation was a lack of contact between several offices that were aware of Cho’s behavior, Klaus said.
“A number of offices had had contact with Cho, but they weren’t communicating,” he said. “Everyone was being very silent.”
Prior to the team’s formation, Klaus said several administrators noticed particular students, but there wasn’t an established process in place to address those concerns.
Klaus said the CARES team has met with various campus administrators and will continue to meet with others to spread knowledge about their services.
“We’ve tried to get the information out to faculty, [and] we went to the Academic Senate,” Klaus said. “The information got shared to the Provost’s Message. We’re going to go to staff council next week, and then we’re going to do the department chairs later this month.”
The CARES team is composed of seven members, including Klaus, who is chair of the team, Brad Compliment, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, Carol Roberts-Corb, director of Housing and Residential Life and Christopher Schivley, the University Police captain.
In situations where violence is not suspected, the team may reach out to the student’s parents or encourage the student to seek counseling. In more serious situations, however, where violence is a possibility, the matter is referred to police for further investigation or prosecution, according to the website.
Even though every situation may be different, Klaus said the team must first research the situation they are dealing with and the possible measures that should be taken.
“Some, we might just wait and monitor to see if it escalates,” Klaus said. “Other times, we might try to find if there’s a test-point the student already has that we might reach out to them. Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis.”
Klaus said that referral names are removed after a period of time.
If a situation is reported with a perceived likelihood of harm to members of the campus community, Klaus said a meeting with necessary staff members will be organized to investigate the situation.
Students, like freshman chemical engineering major Roy Jones, said CARES is a resource he would definitely use. He added that he would have liked the ability to refer some of his friends in middle school.
“I had a couple of friends that were troubled,” Jones said. “One of the boys was bullied, and he became a bully himself.”
Johnathan Morales, a sophomore anthropology major, said he would be willing to use the service if he believed there was a student who might harm him or herself.
“I know a friend who has experienced heartbreak, and he’s gotten to the point where he’s thought about [suicide],” he said. “If that were the case and I had some sort of service available like that when I couldn’t get through, I would say that I’d try it. It’s worth a shot.”
Klaus said there should not be any hesitation or concern about getting help for a student, nor is there a negative side.
“Maybe some [faculty and staff] might be concerned with violating a student’s privacy rights, but we’re CSULB employees who are in a position to share information because it would be a legitimate educational interest,” he said.
For a list of behaviors to look for and to use referral tools, visit the CSULB website. If a student does not want to fill out the referral form, he or she can contact Klaus at (562) 985-8670.
