How the Care Team Works

After receiving a report about a student of concern, the team will collect further information and coordinate with campus partners to provide additional support or apply specific interventions based on the report. After the review of the report and collaboration with members of the team, appropriate outreach will be conducted.

The Role of the Care Team

The Care Team provides resources and assistance to students, and is generally not a disciplinary body. The hope of the Care Team is to intervene before students act in ways that may result in disciplinary action.

The role of the Care Team is to help students with unique needs succeed. This may look like an email containing helpful information and resources, a meeting with the Assistant Dean of Students, or other actions deemed appropriate for that specific student.

The Care Team maintains all private information of students in order to protect privacy. the Care Team may or may not reach out to employees who submit a report, depending on the situation.

Confidentiality

All reports to the Care Team will be handled in a sensitive manner. Information will be shared with others only to the extent necessary to assess and manage the situation and in accordance with state and federal law. Both SUU and the law recognize and protect the confidentiality of communications between persons seeking care and their medical, mental health or religious advisors. SUU’s medical, mental health, and religious professionals respect and protect confidential communications from students, faculty, and staff to the extent that they are legally able to do so. However, those professionals may have to breach a confidence if they perceive a serious risk of danger to another person or property. SUU is also part of a larger community and context. If there is an independent investigation or lawsuit relating to an act of violence or a potential threat, those involved or others may be required by law to provide documents, testimony, or other information.

The Care Team will treat information and reports brought to its attention with the utmost discretion and confidentiality. It will keep any records that it generates in strict confidence and separate from SUU’s other records. If the Care Team determines that intervention is needed, they will work with the appropriate SUU offices and departments, and in accordance with applicable policies and procedures.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of students' educational records. Protecting student privacy is also a high priority of the Care Team. Records and proceedings of the Care Team are kept protected and private and are only shared on a "need to know" basis. This "need to know" basis complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

FERPA does not in any way restrict a University employee from sharing what they observe personally. In other words, a University employee would not violate FERPA by advising the Care Team of what the employee saw or heard when directly interacting with the student, observing a student interaction with others, or otherwise observing a student's behavior or demeanor.