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| How do you address the student with your concerns? |
- Talk to the student in private
- Express your concern for their well-being. Be specific about the behaviors that have raised your concern. For example, “I’ve noticed you have not been going to class and I’m concerned.”
“I’ve noticed you have not been hanging out with …and keeping more to yourself, is there something going on?”
- Listen to what the student has to say- Avoiding judgment
- Encourage the student to utilize their support system (friends, family, etc)
- Suggest talking to a counselor, for example,“Wow, it sounds like you have a lot going on. Have you ever thought about talking to a counselor about this?”
- Be prepared to address some of their concerns and fears related to counseling
- Leave the option open for them to accept or refuse your suggestion/referral for counseling
- Give your student some time to consider your suggestion. They may need to think about it.
- Follow up with your student about what action they took, following up shows you really care and have an interest in their well-being.
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| How To Make A Referral |
- Both the student and the faculty member should download and fill out the Career/Counseling Referral form (pdf).
- Advise the student that he/she can call or stop by Counseling Services to make an appointment.
- Offer to make the initial call if the student desires and/or sit with the student while he/she calls to make the appointment.
- Share your concerns with the Dean of Student Development, who can make a more formal referral, if needed.
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| Referral Don’ts |
- Don’t bring up your concerns in front of the student’s peers, faculty, etc.
- Don’t try to trick the student into counseling.
- Don’t make the student talk to a counselor- this is not effective.
- Never promise a student that you will keep everything in confidence. Under the Duty to Warn, you must break confidence in the event that you have knowledge of suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation or child abuse.
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| If you have a concern about a student, contact a counselor. |
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| Instructions For Using Internal Referral Form |
| Internal Referral Form is to be used when referring a student to the following services: Career and Counseling Services, Health Center, Campus Ministry, Residence Life, and Academic Achievement. The form is a tool which provides the student with information regarding the reasons for the referral as well as the contact numbers for those services. This form also provides an opportunity for staff and faculty to inform the referral source of their concerns about a student. The instructions for using this form are as follows: |
- After noting that a referral would be beneficial for a student, fill in the blank spaces on the form and make three copies.
- Talk to the student about the reason for the referral and give them a copy of the form. Instruct the student that they need to call the appropriate office to make an appointment.*
- Send a copy of the form to the Director of the department to which you are referring the student.
- Keep the third copy of the form for your own records.
- This next step is specific to the Career and Counseling Services. After the referral is received, the director will assign the referral to one of the counselors based on their availability and expertise. While it is preferred for the student to initiate contact for services, it is also understood that this is not an easy thing to do. If the student has not made contact with Career and Counseling Services after two weeks from the date on the referral form, the counselor will follow up with the student by phone to inform them of the referral and offer support through counseling.
- Give the student 48 business hours to respond. If no response after the third try, document all the calls, indicating date and time you called the student, on the Internal Referral Form and place the original copy in the yellow folder, which is titled “Misc. Concerns, Second-hand reports of MHS”, this folder is found in front of the personal active counseling files in the file room, and put a copy of the form in the student’s file. (The yellow folder contains Inquiry & Call Referrals, as well as Academic dismissal letters which the Academic Dismissal Committee decided on and the Dean of Students signed.)
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| If you have any specific questions regarding this process, please do not hesitate to contact the Career and Counseling office at (616) 632-2905. |
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| *At times, it may not be possible to inform the student of the referral (ex/ the student does not come to class). If this is the case, please make note of this on the referral form prior to sending it to the office of the referred services. |
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