Slide 1

Managing the Mosaic of Student IssuesMatt LamsmaAssociate Director of Residence Life& Jill Yashinsky-WortmanStudent Life Case Manager

Session ObjectivesLearn about the emerging field of Case Management in Higher EdExamine the integrated role of case managementDiscover how every professional serves as a Case ManagerDiscuss practical case management steps that every professional can use2Challenged & ChallengingTypical Challenged Behaviors

Typical Challenging Behaviors

Challenged & ChallengingChallengedChallengingAcute, Short TermEmergency RelatedMay use multiple servicesMay involve parentsOne time impact on communityChronic / OngoingUsing multiple servicesCo-existing IssuesMay involve parentsLonger term Community Chaos

Why we do what we doCase management is a role of all student affairs professional.

We are all called to help students develop and grow.

UWT:Welcome to the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Washington Tacoma. Our staff is committed to providing personalized attention to all students from the time they aspire to attend UW Tacoma until the successful completion of their degree. Student Affairs will provide the co-curricular and personal support necessary to accomplish the critical processes students must complete to achieve success.Our Mission and Vision focus on the importance of promoting student learning and providing an out of classroom learning environment that helps each student develop a sense of belonging, identify opportunities to get involved on the campus and make positive contributions to our UW Tacoma community.Our Values express the commitment of every member of our division to treat each student with respect, to assist them in accomplishing their goals, and teach them to be effective advocates for their own success.At UW Tacoma, Student Affairs will prepare you to "Live Your Potential."UW:At the University of Washington we are committed to our students' whole development - mind, body, purpose, spirit, and meaning. FROM UofO Strategic PlanCore Purpose:To transform and advance student learning.We value and are committed to: Community Integrity Excellence Multicultural competence Compassion Personal development Collaboration Responsible stewardshipPLU:The mission of the Division of Student Life is to promote the holistic development of students and steward a dynamic campus community. We engage students in purposeful experiential learning that challenges them to make a difference in the world as they care for themselves and others, and positively impact the diverse communities in which they live.The Division of Student Life works with partners across campus to provide programs and services that advance the development and well-being of students.We care about the holistic development of students in mind, body and spirit, and cultivate a campus climate that strives to be inclusive and supportive, and models respect for every individual.What you learn in class, you can apply (on campus, in the local community, globally)Accessibility and OpportunityDepth and BreadthChallenge and SupportUAA Student Affairs OverviewUAA Student Affairs departments and staff are committed to providing student-centered services and programs that support students' academic and social integration into the UAA community, engage students in active learning, and foster the growth and development of each student.GONZAGA:The office of Student Life offers numerous opportunities to Gonzaga students outside of the classroom. Our collective goal is to facilitate each student's development as a whole person mind, body and spirit. This development occurs within the Jesuit tradition of "cura personalis," which translates from Latin as the care and concern for the dignity of each person.Student Life complements students classroom experiences by becoming actively involved in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the many opportunities available to them. Our goal is to help students become well-informed, responsible and contributing members of the Gonzaga community.

5Case Study - BOBQuestions:Who are your allies / resources on campus?What do you need to do immediately or in the short term?What is your longer term plan for this student?Case study on MN with multiple layers- ED, anxiety, etc. Parent involved. DREAM, Res Life, Student Life, Security

Which student issues would you LOVE to be able to give to someone else?Which issues do you believe need someone else to deal with?

Questions for case study:1. How do you balance the needs of the community with the needs of the individual?

6Case Study BOBEmail programmed to go out to 30 friends after attempted suicideTwo students come to you concerned because they had received the email.Friends concerned because BOB has been using drugsPerception that BOB has the ability to call in favors to have people hurt.Case Study BOBQuestions:Who are your allies / resources on campus?What do you need to do immediately or in the short term?What is your longer term plan for this student?Case study on MN with multiple layers- ED, anxiety, etc. Parent involved. DREAM, Res Life, Student Life, Security

Which student issues would you LOVE to be able to give to someone else?Which issues do you believe need someone else to deal with?

Questions for case study:1. How do you balance the needs of the community with the needs of the individual?

8What is Case Management?Case management aims to:

Connect a student with resources

Help students move beyond behavioral issues

Provide accountability

Offer a framework for good self care and self advocacyFrom a broad perspective, this doesnt necessarily appear to be all that much different than an RD. All RDs look to connect students to their resources, help students become good community members, and love on them but hold them accountable at the same time. Lets look at the next slide to talk more indepth about what is really different between the two roles. 9Emergence of Case ManagementPost Virginia Tech

Rise of Behavioral Intervention Teams/Student of Concern Committees

Rise in numbers of students coming to college with pre-existing conditions

Virginia Tech was the precipitating event in US higher education that highlighted communication breakdowns about a student who had raised significant amounts of concern in a number of different areas. The need for consistent communication about students who were struggling in any number of ways arose from this incident.

Behavioral Intervention teams began to develop on campuses. These teams are typically composed of people from various aspects of the institution (Security, Academic Services, Counseling, Disability Accommodations, Housing, etc) get together to talk about students who are causing concern in a variety of areas. As we well know, students who are struggling with much bigger issues usually dont just struggle in one area Rather it becomes very evident that they are struggling in a number of areas and that when the stress of these struggles becomes too much to handle, the ways that they act out and draw attention to themselves (cries for help) typically occur in a number of different areas rather than in just one or another. Illinois and Virginia schools are actually required by state laws to have behavioral intervention teams. Both of these laws were put into place AFTER crisis on their campus (both were students with guns)

Finally, its very obvious that students are coming to us with a number of different pre-existing issues. STATISTIC! Additionally, certain mental health issues often emerge during the prime college years. Finally, for students who have come with pre-existing conditions, in high schools, they were guaranteed accommodations by the schools that they went to without having to request them. HOW DOES THIS WORK?. In college, this changes. Students needs to request that they be given accommodations through a disability office or accommodations office. Additionally, they are not guaranteed the same accommodations they have in high school. This simple change of having to actively seek our accommodations and not knowing how to do so can be the root of some of the issues we see.

FIND THE STATISTIC ON THE IMPACT OF MENTAL HEALTHY ON ACADEMIC SUCCESS- Daniel Eisenberg study???

10Why Case Management? High needs students are draining on the residential staff

High needs students tend to pop all over campus

Consistency of response to high risk/needs studentsDistinguish between behavior and disability

There is always the tension of the community versus the individual when a RD/RLC has to spend too much time trying to solve the issues of one particular student. While Residence Life staff can get back to their primary role of being concerned with the entirety of the community rather than spending an exaggerated amount of time on one particular student.

With high risk students, especially when we are already exhausted by the issues they are presenting, its sometimes easy to deviate toward getting them what they want rather than what they actually need to grow in their own ability to practice appropriate self care that is founded in their own self reliance and ability to seek out appropriate resources rather than creating chaos in the many offices the student will try to frequent to solve his/her problem.

11Type of BehaviorWhat You SeeExamplesRebellious DisruptiveIntentionally defiant, annoying, disrespectful behaviorsAntagonistic behaviors, questioning the rules, finding the loop holes, continuous disregard for others, pranks. etcEmotionally DisruptiveUnintentional behaviors usually precipitated by an underlying emotional crisis

Emotional outbursts, hygiene or behavioral changes, isolation, self harm threats

SOURCE: Hernandez & Fister, Journal of College Counseling, Spring 2001For students who are purely rebelliously disruptive, the easy solution is to remove them from school. The emotionally disruptive students are more challenging often because they may not be able to self identify their issues or practice good self advocacy yet. In addition, they often can function appropriately in the college environment if provided the correct resources, support, and guidanceand if they choose to use those resources appropriately.

Tricky line when students behaviors appear to be a result of a disability

Behaviors that go against the student code of conduct are not excused because of disability

Be careful with what appears to be a disability and what is actually on file with your accommodations office

In spite of a students disability, it is not an excuse for behaviors that dont align with the code of conduct. For example, if a student is depressed, we certainly wouldnt go through conduct for her being depressed. BUT if a student is depressed and is constantly telling her friends how depressed and suicidal she is, resulting in a great deal of panic on the part of her friends, we may consider conduct. The reason is that by our student code of conduct, she is inappropriately relying on her friends to care for her rather than practicing good self care and using the appropriate resources (counseling, wellness office, medications, etc).

12Case Manager InterfacesOn CamPUsOff campusCounseling CenterDisability / Accessibility OfficeHealth CenterAcademic AdvisingInternational Student ProgramsStudy AbroadSecurityResidence LifeBehavioral Intervention Team

Sexual Assault Advocacy AgenciesDomestic Violence Advocacy AgenciesLocal hospitals & cliniciansPsychiatricEating DisordersEtcSubstance Use CounselorsNote- These are not just once a week interfaces. These happen daily. The other important thing to note is that 13Res Life Staff as Case ManagersRes Life is the first level of Case Management:

Lowers the resistance

Offers resources/provides a connection

Great practice at low level difficult conversations

By having an RD who is typically someone the student is already familiar with do the first level conversation, we often have helped keep the level of anxiety and resistance with a student at a lesser level than if they feel they are being called into the principals office . Students often trust their RD/HD/RLC to have those conversations because they truly believe that their RD is there to help and look out for the, rather than to get them in trouble.

WE NEED TO DEFINE 1st LEVEL CASES A BIT HERE14Case Management and Res LifeHow are they the same?

Care of the whole person

Focused on student success

Work within institutional structure and resources

Balance the needs of the community versus the needs of the individual

How are they the different?Case ManagerResidence DirectorRelationship based on referral

Works with students over a long period of time

High needs students

Constant communication with on and off campus agencies for specialized resources

Point person for putting the puzzle togetherRelationship with student rooted location

Short term problem resolution

Lower overall needs

Less communication for specialized resources

Student doesnt necessarily have a puzzle that needs to be put together.

From a simple logistics perspective, Case Managers dont live in. The first question I am often asked is if I am on call all of the time. The answer, thankfully, is NO!16Case Study - JUDYQuestions:Who are your allies / resources on campus?What do you need to do immediately or in the short term?What is your longer term plan for this student?Case study on MN with multiple layers- ED, anxiety, etc. Parent involved. DREAM, Res Life, Student Life, Security

Which student issues would you LOVE to be able to give to someone else?Which issues do you believe need someone else to deal with?

Questions for case study:1. How do you balance the needs of the community with the needs of the individual?

17Case Study JUDYCommunity members come to you with concerns about a roommate who they think has an eating disorder.They do NOT want you to talk with JUDY, but it is obvious that this is stressful to them.

Mannys self harm case

Good place to debate why it goes to one place or another and the impact of the community versus the impact on the individual18Case Study - JUDYQuestions:Who are your allies / resources on campus?What do you need to do immediately or in the short term?What is your longer term plan for this student?Case study on MN with multiple layers- ED, anxiety, etc. Parent involved. DREAM, Res Life, Student Life, Security

Which student issues would you LOVE to be able to give to someone else?Which issues do you believe need someone else to deal with?

Questions for case study:1. How do you balance the needs of the community with the needs of the individual?

19Professional Develop StepsLearn how to accurately assess a high and low risk situation quickly and accurately

Learn University & Departmental policies and practice

Understand and articulate the balance of support & accountability