Responding to the Tragedy at Virginia Tech:
Identifying and Responding to Students in Crisis

Dealing with Students in Crisis

Online Instructional Resources from the Office of Faculty and Organizational Development: http://www1.provost.msu.edu/facdev/instructionalresources/Learners/students-in-crisis.asp

Emotional distress can seriously interfere with a student's ability to perform well in class. Instructors are in a unique position to recognize distressed students and intervene. This URL offers links to handbooks and materials to guide professors in recognizing students in crisis and acting appropriately to help the student. Although the interventions may be specific to the colleges that created the documents at this URL, the guidelines and procedures are universally useful.

Faculty/Staff Guide for Assisting Students in Distress

MSU Counseling Center: http://www.couns.msu.edu/forms/faculty_staffguide.pdf

University students may experience a great deal of stress during the course of their academic experiences. While most students cope successfully with the challenges these years bring, some students find the various pressures of life unmanageable or unbearable. As faculty members, teaching assistants, and other staff, you may encounter distressed students in your office or your classrooms. Many of these students have not sought counseling and may be unaware of the services available to them. Your role could be a positive and crucial one in identifying students who are in distress and assisting them to find the resources available to help themselves. This PDF brochure is intended to provide suggestions for faculty and staff on assisting students in distress.

Selected University Policies: Related to Disruptive Students

Office of the Ombudsman, MSU: http://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/disrupt.html

This link provides an overview of MSU policies to help instructors identify and understand expectations and policies around student behavior. It is structured in an FAQ format in order for instructors to understand how to best deal with disruptive students within the paramaters of university policy.

Mental Health Code (Excerpt)

Michigan Legislature: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(hwifnw45vq5cbjmjo1qz2q45))/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectname=mcl-330-1401&queryid=17647849

An excerpt from the State of Michigan mental health code which details the situations in which a police officer can take a person into protective custody as a “person requiring treatment.”

MSU Emergency Management Information: Violence Involving Firearms or Other Weapons

MSU Police and Public Safety: http://www.police.msu.edu/vinfo.asp

An overview of MSU’s plan for emergencies, and information about protocols related to violence on campus.

Grief Counseling, Campus Security, and Risk Management: From the Chronicle's Archives

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/free/2007/04/2007041811n.htm

This site includes lnks to previous articles from The Chronicle pertinent to the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

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