Eight days after the news of the Virginia Tech shooting hit college campuses across the nation, there are still concerns as to how the red flags exhibited by Cho Seung-Hui passed by professors and faculty members, and whether the same red flags would pass by staff members of other universities.
According to an article in last Thursday’s New York Times, many colleges across the country do not have the ability to force a student with an incapacitating mental illness to withdraw and they also lack the ability to inform a student’s family about medical problems without his or her consent.
But at Binghamton University a student can be involuntarily removed from campus in certain instances, according to Dr. Elizabeth Droz, director of the Counseling Center at BU.
‘Only in rare cases [does the University have the power to force a student to take a withdrawal],’ Droz said in a written statement. ‘It is rare when a student disagrees with an evaluation. In the last 10 years I have been doing this, it has happened two to three times.’
The procedures require an evaluation of whether the student is a threat to him or herself and others and a consultation with the Counseling Center. The office of student affairs then has the power to involuntarily withdraw a student from the University based on the Center’s report.
‘Students may be involuntarily withdrawn from the University based on the recommendation of the medical director of the University Health Service or the director of the University Counseling Center without academic penalty; that is, they may continue as students in good academic standing and are eligible to return upon clearance by the associate vice president and dean of students,’ reads the section for Involuntary Medical or Psychological Withdrawal of Students in the University Bulletin.
The student has the option of appealing the decision to the vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
‘We would probably deal with that as more of a psychological issue, and in a case such as that, I could require the student to undergo a medical assessment,’ said Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Lloyd Howe, referring to the writings of the Virginia Tech shooter. ‘If through that assessment the recommendation comes to me that the student should be medically withdrawn because he or she is a danger to himself, herself or others, then we could medically involuntarily withdraw that student.’
According to both Howe and Droz, forced withdrawal is highly infrequent. ‘There are times when behaviors are such that I can mandate an assessment of whether or not a student is safe to be here,’ said Howe. ‘In some cases, we find that they are not. However, in practically all cases, the student agrees with the assessment and takes a voluntary medical withdrawal.’
Although there is no formal obligation for faculty and staff members to report specific behaviors that may indicate a student’s instability, Howe said they are ‘encouraged to do so.’ Residential Life staff, such as residential directors and residential assistants, are also taught to look for certain signs in a student’s behavior, he added.
‘Faculty members consult with us as well regarding how to assist students ‘ these are case by case situations,’ Droz said. ‘Decisions are based on in-person evaluations. When appropriate, we also use information from therapists or other professionals the students see in the community.’
Droz maintained that her office conducts between 25 and 30 consultations a year, with purposes ranging from a student’s need for treatment and hence his or her withdrawal, whether it is appropriate for a student to return to school, and in few cases, other ‘psychological accommodations.’
When it comes to a student’s outright violation of the code of conduct, Binghamton University’s student handbook cites that a student is innocent until proved ‘responsible’ for a violation, and remains unaffected unless the student’s continued presence ‘would constitute a clear and present danger to themselves, to the safety of others or to the property of the University.’
If a student is indeed found to be a threat to others while awaiting his or her judicial hearing, he or she may be required to leave BU ‘immediately and will be considered to be trespassing if they return.’ According to Howe, this type of process is used more often in dealing with ‘violation of rules. It usually involves an assault or drug trafficking.’