Learn How to Respond to Students in Distress

Madison, Wis.—September 28— Students can present varying levels of troubling behavior that require different types of responses from faculty, said two experts on campus safety and student behavioral intervention during the recent Magna Online Seminar “A Guide for Faculty on Responding to Students in Distress.”

During the online event attended by more than 70 institutions, Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., president of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM), and W. Scott Lewis, chair of the University of South Carolina’s Behavioral Intervention Team, outlined the different types of behavior troubled students might display:

• a disruptive student engages in behaviors that might be familiar to most instructors—talking in class, arriving late, “anything that interferes with your ability to teach or a student’s ability to learn,” Sokolow said.

• a distressed student is “moving toward crisis,” perhaps prompted by a stressor like the breakup of a romantic relationship. This student might display some psychiatric symptoms.

• a disturbed student acts in a way that’s bizarre, erratic, or socially inappropriate. Such behavior is often an indicator that the student has lost touch with reality (although sometimes unusual behavior stems from other causes, such as Asperger syndrome, Lewis noted).

• a dysregulated student is a student who is in crisis. This student might be suicidal, hostile, or engage in self-injurious, risky behavior (such as cutting or substance abuse).

After offering these definitions, Sokolow and Lewis offered advice for responding to each type of distress. The presenters also discussed the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in working with distressed or disruptive students.

If you missed the live event and would like to order a transcript or CD of the event, visit our online catalog.

Magna Publications joined with the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management in presenting this seminar.

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.