The Experience of Senior Student Affairs Administrators Making
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THE EXPERIENCE OF SENIOR STUDENT AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATORS MAKING PARENTAL NOTIFICATION DECISIONS ABOUT DISTURBED AND DISTURBED/DISTURBING STUDENTS Holly M. Asimou A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2013 Committee: Maureen E. Wilson, Advisor Courtney M. Holmes, Graduate Faculty Representative Michael D. Coomes Patrick D. Pauken © 2013 Holly M. Asimou All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Maureen E. Wilson, Advisor The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how senior student affairs administrators experience disturbed and disturbed/disturbing students on their campuses and make the decision to involve parents in their care. Greater numbers of college students are coming to campus with mental health issues of increasing severity (Mowbray et al., 2006). Parental involvement is believed to be an appropriate response to critical incidents of this nature because of the relationship that exists between millennial students and their parents (Dickstein & Christensen, 2008). While FERPA allows for such contact, little is known about how it is employed during crises of this kind. Participants in this study were senior student affairs administrators from small private liberal arts colleges and universities. Seven participants with at least three years of experience in senior level roles with crisis management responsibilities were interviewed. The first semi- structured interview was conducted either in-person or over Skype. A second interview was facilitated over the phone. All seven participants came from different institutions and represented a variety of backgrounds in terms of professional experience and education. Three broad categories of themes emerged from this study: beliefs about involvement, experiencing the disturbed and disturbed/disturbing student, and the decision for contact. All participants expressed a commitment to student autonomy, but acknowledged that safety ultimately trumps student privacy. Participants described their experience of disturbed and disturbed/disturbing students as involving confidence and concern, working with parents and student peers, and being affected by institutional culture. Finally, participants described the iv decision for contact as determined by certain factors including the imminence of risk, the student’s inability to function, consultation with colleagues, hospitalization, and the exhaustion of institutional resources. Conversely, destructive familial relationships and timing were identified as reasons participants might reconsider contact. A number of implications were presented based on these findings. First, campus administrators can help educate parents about appropriate involvement with their student and about college student mental health. Second, administrators should also develop crisis management training for professionals at all levels of the institution. Third, utilizing a community-based approach to crisis management will likely lead to the most effective responses to it. Finally, administrators should remain cognizant that campus mental health professionals may be over-burdened and take steps to alleviate their loads. v This dissertation is dedicated to Stephanie. For changing everything . ~ “He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.” Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are so many people to whom I owe gratitude for making this possible. I’d like to begin by thanking my family for providing endless love and support (in every sense of the word) as I made my way through this process. Mom and Dad, the best of me comes from you. Thank you for making intentional decisions about my education, for instilling in me the desire to contribute to the lives of others, and for always being there. I could never thank you both enough for what you do. George, thank you for being my biggest cheerleader, for teaching me how to write, and for being the best big brother I could ask for. Reese, thank you for being my constant companion and lying patiently at my feet as I worked into the night. Stephanie, you are one of the strongest people I have ever known. Thank you for taking care of me, for the greater sense of purpose that you bring to each day, and for bringing Leopoldo into my life. I love you all – this is as much your achievement as it is mine. I’d also like to acknowledge the great friends that I made in Bowling Green. Kirsten Brown, thank you for your guidance along the way, and for being my study buddy, editor, and friend. Jacob Clemens, thank you for helping me navigate this process, being my BG brother, and for listening. Lisa Kirchner, thank you for your wisdom, perspective, serving as my peer reviewer, and for helping me find my cheetah pumps. Bryan Austin, Liane Ortis, and Jude Leary, thank you for your friendship, encouragement, and for the laughter. I’d also like to thank the people who I consider to be mentors. Matha Thornton, thank you for encouraging me to pursue the Ph.D., for telling me the things I needed to hear, and for being such an authentic professional. Mike Coomes and Maureen Wilson, you both have impacted me more than I could ever say. Mike, I don’t know that I could have gotten through the first two years of the program without you. Thank you for challenging me to make time for fun, for bringing me into HESA, your classroom, and your home, and for giving me a sense of vii belonging when I needed it most. Maureen, thank you for taking me on as an advisee, for challenging my old scripts, for teaching me about good music and the art of storytelling, and for being a wonderful mentor and friend. I will always be grateful for the commitment, care, and support that you extended to me during this process. Thank you all for touching my life. I’d also like to express my sincerest gratitude to my committee: Drs. Maureen Wilson, Mike Coomes, Pat Pauken, and Courtney Holmes. I approached all of you to be a part of this process because I believed you would value my study and make this manuscript better. Thank you for the time and effort you put towards this end. I’d also like to thank the professionals who allowed me to interview them for my pilot study and those that served as participants. In your roles as institutional leaders, you are constantly called to give of yourself to others. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with me and for the care that you offer to students. We are all better for the work that you do viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 The College Mental Health Crisis.............................................................................. 2 Student-Institution Relationship ................................................................................ 3 In Loco Parentis ............................................................................................. 4 Bystander Era ................................................................................................. 5 Facilitator Era ................................................................................................. 6 In Consortio cum Parentibus .......................................................................... 6 Millennial Students ........................................................................................ 7 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 8 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................. 9 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 10 Rationale and Significance ........................................................................................ 10 Research Design Overview ........................................................................................ 11 Definitions of Key Terminology ................................................................................ 11 Overview of the Study ............................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE............................................................... 16 Parental Involvement ................................................................................................. 17 The College Mental Health Crisis .............................................................................. 18 Mental Illness and Violence........................................................................... 19 College Counseling and Mental Health Services ........................................... 21 Legal Issues ................................................................................................................ 23 ix Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act .................................................. 23 The Health and Safety Emergency Exception ................................... 24 Issues Surrounding Disclosure ........................................................... 25 Federal Disability Law ................................................................................... 26 Section 504........................................................................................