By Mary Sprague
Elm Staff Writer
The Office of Student Affairs has recently implemented the CARE System, an online program available for students to voice concerns about a peer’s well-being. CARE is not restricted to issues of mental health, but is a valuable resource for reporting concerns about physical health, academic success, or anything else.
Candace Wannamaker, associate vice president of Student Affairs and Title IX Coordinator for the College, said that CARE is a cloud-based solution for behavioral intervention services.
“[I]t allows Washington College … administrators to identify and track what individual actions are being taken to engage and support a specific students,” she said.
Once the reports are made, they are then sent to the appropriate resource on campus to provide the necessary support for the student.
“CARE provides a mechanism for us to be able to detect and address student concerns hopefully before they become unmanageable,” she said.
Rachel Boyle, director of the Prevention Education and Advocacy Center, said that there are many support services on campus for students, “both those who have concerns about a fellow student and those who may be experiencing their own set of struggles and concerns.”
Boyle said that Health and Counseling Center, the Center for Career Development, Department ofPublic Safety, Intercultural Affairs, Student Engagement, Residential Life, PEAC, Athletics, and Title IX address these issues.
Now with the CARE System, cases will be more easily guided to the corresponding department.
“With CARE we can effectively collect and share key data in real-time to guide important decision-making concerning support services for students. … Sometimes faculty, staff or other students don’t know where to go for assistance. This allows everything to funnel to one source and be triaged to the correct office to respond,” Wannamaker said.
In addition to CARE, WC provides many other modes of outreach for students.
Boyle said that the Health and Counseling Center and PEAC.
“From that point, I believe that working together to determine next steps as it seems fit to the needs of that individual is the best approach. Many times, just knowing that you aren’t alone and have a support system behind you can be instrumental in moving through the struggle,” she said. “WC has an incredible amount of supportive staff and faculty, and truly one of the most important things a student can do (when concerned about another student) is reach out, and speak up to a staff and/or faculty member.”
Wannamaker agreed. “CARE provides another venue for our community to follow the See Something-Say Something mantra. For providing information, CARE is the perfect resource.”
Students are encouraged to take full advantage of the College’s physical and mental health resources. CARE is available at washcoll.edu/care.
Health and Counseling Services are located on the first floor of Queen Anne’s House, and open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be made at 410-778-7261, or, specifically for Counseling Services, at vanderson2@washcoll.edu.
For immediate concerns, Public Safety is available at 410-778-7810.