Responding to Students In Crisis
Vassar College has a number of response mechanisms in place to respond to student crisis situations, or to incidents or behaviors that threaten the quality of campus life for students. This can be an event that is accidental, occurs without warning, or which is intentional and meant to cause harm to our students or the campus community. The Dean of the College Division works to ensure communication between departments and across campus to:
- RESPOND quickly to immediate threats to the well being of our students, the affected community, and the greater campus community;
- PROTECT members of our community, and when necessary protect the physical and/or financial assets of the college;
- COMMUNICATE openly and proactively, recognizing the importance of balancing an individual’s rights to privacy with the community’s need to know how the college is responding to an incident;
- DEMONSTRATE through its management of the crisis that the college is maintaining responsible control of the situation, viewing each incident seriously, and viewing each incident as an opportunity to establish trust and conviction in campus response mechanisms.
Campus Life Response Team
The Dean of the College has established a Campus Life Response Team (CLRT), which may be convened to ensure that affected student(s) have access to appropriate resources, to assist the division in its response, and to facilitate a coordinated campus response to crisis incidents, threats or potential threats to the well being of our students or to the campus community as a whole. Coordinated responses may include, but are not limited to, identification of and referral to appropriate support services and resources on- or off-campus, informal resolution measures such as mediation, facilitated dialogue between parties, discussions in residence halls or at other campus locations, disciplinary action for violations of College Regulations, recommendations for campus notices for fact sharing, and efforts toward wider educational awareness, prevention, and outreach. The Campus Life Response Team does not play a role in the investigation of alleged incidents or render any decision concerning guilt or innocence in the parties involved.
The Campus Life Response Team is responsible for:
- SUPPORTING AFFECTED PERSONS through referrals on- and off-campus;
- DETERMINING A PLAN OF ACTION to the incident, in consultation with the affected person(s) and necessary college officials and/or departments;
- ASSESSING COMMUNITY IMPACT of the incident by paying attention to principle parties involved as well as those connected to the principle parties.
- DISSEMINATING ACCURATE INFORMATION to the affected person(s) and the larger campus community, as appropriate.
- IDENTIFYING OTHER CAMPUS RESOURCES beyond CLRT for addressing an incident.
- RECOMMENDING CHANNELS FOR EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH AND PREVENTION.
The Campus Life Response Team standing membership includes:
- The Associate Dean of the College for Campus Life, who serves as the coordinator
- A member of the teaching faculty (house fellow)
- Dean of Students
- Director of Equal Opportunity and/or the Faculty Director of Affirmative Action
- One representative each from security, residential life, and the counseling service
- A member of the College Relations staff
- Other members of the Vassar community as it is appropriate.
Role of the Campus Life Response Team (CLRT) Coordinator
The Associate Dean of the College for Campus Life is the Coordinator for the Campus Life Response Team. The CLRT will coordinate the Dean of the College division’s efforts to respond to incidents recognized as a threat or potential threat to the wellbeing of students. The Associate Dean of the College for Campus Life will convene the CLRT within 24 hours to determine initial steps, and to identify additional offices or members from the campus community who can assist with the college’s response to the incident or situation being addressed. If the Associate Dean of the College for any reason of conflict of interest, illness, or prolonged absence is unable to carry out his or her responsibilities, a designee from the Campus Life Office or the CLRT shall be appointed by the Dean the College.
The CLRT Coordinator will inform the Dean of the College and other Senior Administrative Officers, as appropriate, of CLRT’s response and recommendations for institutional response measures. In consultation with appropriate college personnel, the CLRT Coordinator will work to ensure appropriate follow-through on commitments made during the response period and after the crisis or situation has subsided. In addition to addressing particular incidents, the CLRT will meet on a monthly basis to review campus incidents and/or identify priorities for educational programming and intervention. The Campus Life Office will maintain a historical record of documented incidents to evaluate the college’s response, and improve upon procedures and effectiveness of response systems.
Privacy
Safety, well being, and privacy are of the utmost importance. All incidents addressed by the Campus Life Response Team shall be handled with privacy and discretion. Efforts will be made to protect the identity of, and to maintain the level of privacy requested by individuals involved. Information about an incident may be disclosed (i.e. nature of the incident, location of incident, etc.) in the form of safety announcements, summary report updates, or as required by law.
Dean of the College Division Student Crisis Resources
Departments within the Dean of the College Division have special response systems and crisis protocols for dealing with student crises. Vassar College resources not listed below as well as off-campus resources may be contacted to assist in the College’s response and support efforts for students in crisis. Please go to Student Services for an alphabetical listing of all Vassar student services.
Administrator on Call System, Ext. 5221(C.R.C.)/Ext. 7333
Dean of Students Office/Office of Residential Life
The Administrator on Call System (AOC) serves as the official contact for the College after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends, especially in cases where a student or housing issue is involved, or when responding to the health and safety of students in the residence halls. The Campus Response Center (CRC) serves as the dispatch unit for Administrator on Call and emergency services. The AOC responsibilities rotate amongst the professional house advisor staff of the Office of Residential Life throughout the academic year. The Back-up Administrator on Call (BAOC) serves as a resource for decision-making processes in crisis situations, when needing to contact guardians or parents, and in extreme health and safety situations involving students. The BAOC responsibilities rotate amongst the dean of students, the director of health education/SAVP coordinator, the director of residential life, and assistant director of residential life.
Campus Life Office, Ext. 5426
The Associate Dean of the College for Campus Life coordinates and convenes the Campus Life Response Team. The Campus Life Office coordinates support services for improving the quality of campus life for all students and works closely with other offices and student communities to accomplish this goal. Through a variety of student-based and campus wide programs, the office seeks to build affirming environments and a sense of campus community. The office also advises students and student groups of resources for the resolution of campus conflict and promotion of inclusion and diversity.
Counseling Service, Ext. 5700/Ext. 7333
The Counseling Service provides a variety of services to help students handle difficulties associated with academics, college life, and personal development. In addition to providing individual and group counseling services, the Counseling Service has designated crisis counselors available 24 hours, seven days a week during the academic year to respond to student psychological emergencies. The Counseling Service also responds to crises that affect the college community, as needed. Any member of the campus community can request Counseling Service assistance for immediate critical incident response, consultation, debriefing, or other intervention.
Dean of Students Office, Ext. 5315
The Dean of Students is directly concerned with the non-academic aspects of the lives of students. The Dean of Students is responsible for, but not limited to, responding to emergency situations that affect Vassar students, individually or in groups, determining whether a student should be placed on immediate leave of absence (LVI), and responding to emergency situations that affect Vassar students who are away from campus participating in college sponsored programs or activities both domestically and internationally. The Dean of Students oversees the following student service areas: counseling services, health services, health education, residential life, and the advisor to international students.
Dean of Studies Office, Ext. 5255
The Dean of Studies Office works closely with students who experience any personal, family, or medical difficulties or emergency situations that threaten to impact a student’s academic performance. Any student who needs to be away from campus because of an injury or illness, or who is considering a leave of absence or withdrawal from Vassar should be referred to consult with the Dean of Studies, the Dean of Freshmen, or their class advisor in the Dean of Studies office, as appropriate.
Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Ext. 7584
The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EO/AA) handles inquiries about issues of discrimination and harassment within the campus community, and provides counsel on the College's nondiscrimination and nonharassment policy and grievance procedures including informal resolution. Discussing an incident with the office does not commit one to making a formal charge.
Health Services, Ext. 5800/Ext. 7333
The Health Service is designed to promote the health of the student community and to treat medical issues as they emerge. The Health Service medical staff maintains weekday clinics during the academic year for routine medical and gynecological care. After hours and on weekends, the nursing staff handles acute medical and physical emergency care needs with on-call medical staff backup. For emergency medical situations or injuries that require immediate treatment, students should contact the Campus Response Center, ext. 7333, who dispatch emergency medical services. In the event of a campus-wide emergency, the Health Services staff will mobilize to support the needs of the community.
International Student Services Office, Ext. 5860
In emergency situations involving or affecting international students, linguistic, cultural and logistical issues should be accounted for such as (but not limited to) the primary language spoken in the home of the student’s family, religious practices and customs that may conflict with western medical practices, the proximity of the College to the home country of the student if sudden travel back home is required, and governmental restrictions and limitations of exit and re-entry into the United States by international students. When these situations and/or populations involve international students, the Director of International Student Services is ready to employ different areas of support and information for the responding college officials.
Religious and Spiritual Life (RSL), Ext. 5550
The RSL Office helps students integrate their religious and spiritual commitments and practices with their learning experience at Vassar. The office offers pastoral presence, support and care to individual students, student groups, and the general campus community during times of crisis, loss, or moral challenge. The RSL staff, advisors, and community partners bring experience and training in pastoral counseling from a diversity of religious and spiritual traditions. In response to events on campus, and as appropriate, the office is ready to offer special opportunities for reflection, prayer, and meditation—including simple observances, vigils, or prayer services and expanded access to spiritual spaces on campus.
Security, Ext. 5200/C.R.C Ext. 5221
Security is a first responder to emergencies on campus of any kind, and provides 24-hour/7 days a week/year-round security and safety services for all members of the campus community. The Director of Security and/or the Associate Director of Security is notified immediately of emergency situations on campus, such as a fire, bomb threat, injuries of a serious nature, situations that require dorms to be evacuated, situations which require assistance from the police, situations involving any crime, whenever a student or college community member is reported missing, or any situation that the duty supervisor (or his/her designee) deems important to call. The director/associate directors will launch an investigation, coordinate campus and community emergency response systems, and notify the proper law enforcement authorities as required.
Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention Program. Ext. 7769 Emergency Ext. 7333
The Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention Program is operated out of the Office of Health Education. Vassar is committed to a victim-centered approach when responding to students who have been sexually assaulted, have experienced relationship abuse, or have been the victim of a stalking crime. A victim-centered approach means that the individual who has been assaulted has been included in, agrees to and is comfortable with everything that happens to them once they become known to any campus resource. SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) members are trained faculty and administrators who are available to provide individual support and information to persons who have been or think they have been a victim of sexual assault or abuse. SART members can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling the CRC, ext. 7333 and asking to speak to the SAVP coordinator.