K. Intimacy & Consent

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us so we can help. In order for students to feel comfortable opening up to us, there must be a non-disciplinary framework to receive the support they need. The Intervention Model suits these needs perfectly and is a community approach to supportively addressing behaviors.

If a student’s behavior, performance or demeanor attracts the attention of the Deans Office, if we get that “feeling” that the student may be struggling with something big, we will pool together information from as many different sources as possible in order to create a better picture of what is going on. We will inform the student’s parents/guardian of our concerns and request their support in our endeavors to provide assistance. The crux of the process is a meeting with the student and key personnel at the school. At a minimum, the Dean of Students will meet with the student and their advisor. Depending on the situation, others may join, such as the student’s parents/guardians, Director of Health Services, School Counselor, Dean of Residential Life, dorm parents, teachers, friends or student leaders. The exact composition of the intervention group will be dependent on the situation.

In the meeting, we will directly communicate the perspectives and concerns of the community and ask the student if there are grounds for our concern. If there are, we will offer whatever assistance we can within the limits of our program. If there is suspicion of substance use (drugs or alcohol), the student will be notified we will test them with a tox-scan (urinalysis) after the meeting. We will explain to the student in this intervention context that if they admit being involved in substance use and ask for help before we test them, it will be treated as a health issue instead of a disciplinary issue. If a student claims they have not been involved in substance use but the test comes back positive, the student will be subject to full disciplinary consequences. Our purpose is to encourage honesty and willingness to ask for help, which will pave the way for us to assist them. In cases not involving suspicion of substance use, we will do our best to provide the right atmosphere for the student to share with us anything we need to know and provide for them alternative avenues for assistance.

Sometimes our concerns and suspicions will be misplaced or we will not get through to the student. We will continue to monitor concerns, however, because we would rather be wrong than overlook a situation that could jeopardize the safety or welfare of one of our students.

K. Intimacy & Consent

To help students make good choices about relationships, WMA provides programs, such as Health classes, designed to educate students. Our on-campus health professionals are also important resources.