Student of Concern and Early Alert Program
The Student of Concern Program was developed to assist students who may be having difficulty adjusting to the Friends University community or who may need additional support to be successful in the university environment.
The goal of the Student of Concern Program is to identify students who appear to be troubled or troubling and intervene before the situation reaches a crisis level. To this end, we require the support and participation of students, staff, faculty and parents to provide information to the vice president of student affairs.
Student of Concern Program Operations
An initial report comes to the vice president of student affairs who may forward to appropriate committee members. A specific Student of Concern form is available in the student affairs office or you can click here to fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
The Student of Concern committee members may include, but are not limited to: campus and career transitions, security, campus and community development, counseling, health and wellness, ADA, international advising, campus ministries, athletics staff, vice president of student affairs, academic advisers and faculty.
In the majority of cases, an initial contact is attempted either asking the student to meet with the vice president of student affairs in non-critical cases, or with the counseling center in critical cases. Research is done prior to these meetings by contacting the student’s adviser, residence life staff, professors, and/or athletic coaches as appropriate, to gain additional information.
At this initial meeting, the student is presented with the reason for the concern and the situation is discussed. The majority of students are relieved to discuss their situation and grateful for intervention efforts. Occasionally, students are resistant to intervention so the situation is then further evaluated.
Parent involvement is not standard in these cases but in more serious cases, parents may be notified. We attempt to partner with parents to make the best decisions for their student’s health and well-being. Families also have participated by referring their students to this program.
Students of Concern data is considered confidential and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protections apply to all records kept by the university.
Student of Concern Form
For additional information, please contact Preston Todd, Associate Academic Dean at todd@friends.edu or 316-295-5623.