Academic or Personal Problems of Students
You should strongly encourage instructors to notify a student's college dean whenever a student is in academic trouble or when there seems to be a basis for concern about the student's health or personal welfare. The college deans are eager for early warning of any such difficulties, and their intervention is often of considerable help.
Every instructor has a responsibility for maintaining the safety of the community and its individual members. Yale is fortunate to have a police force, security personnel, fire safety officials, and its own health and counseling services, as well as specialists in environmental safety and emergency preparedness, to maintain public safety. Information about these services and contact details can be found on the University's Public Safety Web pages.
But all of these professionals necessarily rely on each member of the Yale community to help identify potential threats of harm or violence and to connect support services to people who seem to be at risk or to be putting others at risk. Because of your regular contact with Yale undergraduates, you may be one of the first to notice a student who is troubled or troubling. It is important to communicate your observations and concerns to those who can best assess such information and manage such situations.
On occasion, you may become worried that the behavior of one of your students or advisees poses a risk of harm either to the student himself or herself or to others, including yourself. You may, for example, have observed disruptive or significantly inappropriate behavior in class; overheard or read threatening statements made in person, in writing, on Web sites, or in e-mails; or noted that the student has been habitually withdrawn or absent without explanation. A marked change or escalation in any previously concerning behaviors may be a matter of particular concern.
Any disturbing behaviors should be reported to the student’s residential college dean. A list of the residential college deans is available on the Yale College Web site. The residential college dean is likely to know the student personally and can evaluate what sort of intervention needs to be made, whether by the dean or by others. If the residential college dean is unavailable or if your concern involves a group of students, contact the Dean of Student Affairs, Dean W. Marichal Gentry, by phone (432-2907) or e-mail. If a threat of violence seems imminent, contact the Yale Police directly at 911 (Emergency from any on-campus phone) or 432-4400.
A report of concern will not necessarily lead to disciplinary action. Indeed, in many cases, counseling or some other risk reduction strategy is the most likely next step. If you have any questions about what to report, or to whom to report it, please contact Dean W. Marichal Gentry at 432-2907.
