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Policy Number: 4.6.8
Effective Date: February 5, 2019
Revision History: None
Policy Contact: Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Purpose and Policy Statement
Georgia Gwinnett College’s Student Behavioral Concerns Team (SBCT) promotes campus safety and the well-being of students through the identification, assessment, intervention, and management of student situations that may pose a threat to the safety and well-being of the campus community and/or the individual student.
Scope
This Policy is applicable to faculty, staff, and students of Georgia Gwinnet College.
Roles and Responsibilities
Student Behavioral Concerns Team (SBCT):
- Promotes campus safety and the well-being of students through the identification, assessment, intervention, and management of student situations that may pose a threat to the safety and well-being of the campus community and/or the individual student.
- Develops intervention and support strategies and takes appropriate action to help connect the student to any necessary resources and/or further resolve the situation.
- Meets when necessary as determined by the chairperson to review reported student behavioral concerns.
Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students:
- Serves as the chairperson of the team and appoints other campus professionals to serve on the team.
- Shares the Student Behavioral Concerns Team recommendations with the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost.
Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost: Reviews the recommendations of the Student Behavioral Concerns Team and notifies the student in writing of his/her decision when warranted.
President: Hears appeals and makes the final institutional decision regarding actions taken by the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost
Vice President of Enrollment Management: In cases of involuntary medical withdrawal, reviews the recommendations of the SBCT and will notify the student in writing of his/her decision when warranted.
Student Behavioral Concerns Team Review
The Student Behavioral Concerns Team develops intervention and support strategies and takes appropriate action to help connect the student to any necessary resources and/or further resolve the situation. Should further action be needed, the Student Behavioral Concerns Team shall make recommendations to the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost or his/her designee with regard to a student’s ability to continue at Georgia Gwinnett College.
These recommendations may include but are not limited to recommending voluntary, involuntary, or hardship withdrawal; mandating medical and/or psychological assessment; and/or other requirements. The Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students will then share the Student Behavioral Concerns Team recommendations with the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost.
The Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost or his/her designee shall review the recommendations of the Student Behavioral Concerns Team and will notify the student in writing of his/her decision when warranted.
The student may appeal the decision of the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost or his/her designee to the President of the College. All appeals must be in writing and submitted within five (5) College business days of receipt of the decision. Students neither meet with nor make oral presentations to the President. There may be times, however, when the President requests a meeting in order to gather further information relative to the matters associated with the appeal.
The President will notify the student in writing of the decision on the appeal. The case materials, including a copy of the decision, will be returned to the Student Behavioral Concerns Team. The decision of the President is considered the final institutional decision.
Student Behavioral Concerns Team records are protected by FERPA and will be maintained by team members.
Involuntary Medical Withdrawal
A student may be involuntarily withdrawn from the College and/or from College housing when, in the majority judgment of the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost and Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students and a professional member of the College’s Health Services or Counseling Services staff, it is determined that the student’s physical, mental, emotional, or psychological health:
- Poses a significant danger or threat of physical harm to the student or to the person or property of others; or
- Causes the student to interfere with the rights of other members of the College community or with the exercise of any proper activities or functions of the College or its personnel.
Upon this determination, a recommendation for involuntary medical withdrawal will made to the Vice President of Enrollment Management or his/her designee.
Except in emergency situations, a student shall, upon request, be accorded a meeting with a College official or a hearing prior to a final decision concerning his or her continued enrollment at the College. If the student requests a hearing on such a matter, the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost and Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students shall appoint a hearing body, consisting of faculty and/or staff.
The student may appeal the decision of the Vice President of Enrollment Management or his or her designee to the President of the College. All appeals must be in writing and submitted within five (5) College business days of receipt of the decision. The President will notify the student in writing of the decision on the appeal. The decision of the President is considered the final institutional decision.
Mandated Mental Health Assessment
In circumstances where the SBCT determines a student exhibits or threatens behaviors that pose or suggest a significant and/or immediate threat of harm to themselves or others or which interfere in the orderly operation of the institution, the SBCT may require a student to participate in a mandated assessment. This should serve as an objective assessment of a student’s ability to participate in the social and/or academic life of the college and will be used by the appropriate GGC office in making a decision regarding the student’s on-going participation at GGC.
The student may appeal SBCT’s mandatory assessment requirement to the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost. The appeal must be submitted in writing within three (3) business days after receipt of notice of the mandatory assessment. The Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost will review all relevant evidence to determine whether to uphold the mandatory assessment directive. The decision of the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost is final.
Mandated Mental Health Assessment Procedure
GGC’s Counseling Center will perform an initial review of the student’s exhibited behavior to determine if there is a basis for requiring an outside mental health assessment. Such an initial review may be based on written/verbal reports concerning the student, speaking with the student directly and/or any other information deemed sufficient by the GGC Counseling Center to provide its determination of whether the student is required to seek an outside mental health assessment. The initial review by the GGC Counseling Center shall be in writing.
If the student is required to seek on outside mental health assessment, the GGC Counseling Center shall provide the student with a written individualized requirement(s) which must be addressed in the outside mental health evaluation. In addition, the student will be provided a release which the student must sign and provide to both the GGC Counseling Center and the mental health provider which will permit/require the mental health provider to respond to queries from GGC as well as providing GGC with the written assessment by the mental health provider.
If GGC’s Counseling Center determines an outside assessment is warranted, GGC will require the student to see an outside mental health professional sufficiently capable to provide an assessment based on GGC’s Counseling Center’s individualized requirement for the particular student. The student may select the mental health professional to provide the assessment. If the student does not have a mental health provider, GGC may offer a list of such providers for the student to use. The student shall provide the mental health provider with a signed release provided by GGC which permits the mental health provider to discuss the matter with GGC and provide GGC with a written report regarding the concerns set out by GGC.
The College will provide a release for the student to sign, allowing GGC to communicate its concerns and individualized assessment requirements directly to the mental health provider as needed or requested.
The SBCT will consider the individualized assessment as part of its evaluation in conjunction with the GGC Counseling Center staff’s professional opinion. Participation in the evaluation and receipt of a positive assessment outcome does not in itself guarantee that a student will be able to retain student status or continue participation in all aspects of academic and student life at GGC.
A separate independent mental health assessment (2nd opinion) may also be required, at the expense of GGC, if deemed appropriate by the SBCT.
The SBCT will also consider any additional relevant information, including but not limited to, that which the student wishes to have considered in conjunction with the mandatory assessment.
Related Regulations, Statutes, Policies, and Procedures
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA)
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