Instructors sometimes encounter special situations. For instance, sometimes students may share personal situations in which you may wish to direct them to Student Counseling Services. Other unfortunate incidents, such as a student’s major injury or death, may require special assistance for the entire class. In either case, please take advantage of the Student Counseling Services as described below.
Students’ Mental Health. Occasionally, instructors may encounter students who have personal problems or show or articulate severe stress about their first year in college. Such signs may show up in a student paper, in a remark in class or in a conference, or in a small-group discussion with the student’s peers.
Any humane standard of conduct dictates that we treat student pleas for help seriously—especially those that reveal suicidal tendencies—and that we try to get the student help as quickly as reasonably possible.
Below are some guidelines for handling such situations.
- If you think the student would benefit from counseling, contact Student Counseling Services (515-294-5056) or the Student Accessibility Services Office (515-294-7220).
- In the evenings or on the weekends, if you believe the student is a threat to him- or herself or others, contact the Campus Police (515-294-4428), or dial Emergency at 911.
- For additional resources, please go to the Student Counseling Services website: https://www.counseling.iastate.edu/in-crisis/
Student Injury or Death. If a traumatic event occurs (e.g., one of your students is seriously injured or dies during the semester), the Dean of Students Office should contact you. When you receive this information, please contact the Director of ISUComm Foundation Courses immediately and explain the situation. Student Counseling Services has a clinical team that can provide outreach and consultation to students or instructors on general issues related to students’ well-being. The Director of ISUComm Foundation Courses can arrange for a crisis response effort such as having a counselor share the news with your class, respond to questions, or provide counseling to the class, as well as to individual class members or to you.