Students of Concern Team

Report to the Students of Concern Team

If you think there's a student on campus in crisis who could use help or who might be a potential risk to self or others, here's what you can do:

• Refer a student to the Students of Concern Committee
• Meet with the SOC MSW Interns
• Email the Office of Student Life at studentlife@bakersfieldcollege.edu
• Call (661) 395-4614
• Call the Department of College Safety (661) 395-4554
• For immediate assistance, call 9-1-1 

About Students of Concern

Colleges and universities across the country have begun organizing systematic ways to address students of concern to provide needed help and interventions before students' needs are escalated. In theory, these teams are meant to ensure the sharing of appropriate information among key personnel and serve a number of purposes to:

• Quickly identify and assess at-risk students
• Facilitate and ensure the safety of the student(s) involved and the mitigation of threats
• Address the issue of student retention, and to facilitate student success
• Recommend and organize appropriate campus interventions and help students through any emotional or other crisis.

Research shows that in most instances, the student's need for intervention or help may have been evident to faculty, advisors, staff, or other students and friends but usually no single person had the full picture of the student's concerns, or the training to evaluate and respond appropriately. Critical campus incidents, such as the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, accelerated the drive to organize teams that address student crises and provide mental health services through collecting and analyzing reports and developing interventions. These teams focus on student success but also develop cross-functional, collaborative threat assessment strategies seeking to make informed judgments and on how credible the threat itself is and to what extent the individual has the intent and means to carry out the threat (motivation, resources, etc.). The Students of Concern (SOC) Team was formed to become the campus nexus, develop care and threat assessment systems, and initiate a team-based response system. Alongside the BC's Starfish alert program, SOC helps in a systemic referral process and response coordination.