Suggestions for Helping Students in Distress
- Jennifer Lodi-Smith
- Amy Beiter
***Please make sure to visit and familiarize yourself with the Canisius Cares! resource space***
Mental Health. Counseling Center (https://www.canisius.edu/student-experience/student-support-services/counseling-center): Students are often hesitant to use the counseling center. It may help to assure them that:
The center is free and many students use counseling services for a variety of common issues including stress, concerns about money and finances, relationship issues, sadness, family issues and so on.
All aspects of a student’s relationship with the Counseling Center are completely confidential. The center will not even reveal whether an individual is a client.
There are drop-in hours every day from 3 to 4 pm. Such appointments are informal consultations intended to help the student determine what steps they need to take to address their concerns.
If a student is in real distress and is amenable to help, it can be helpful to call the counseling center while meeting with the student and allow the student to get on the phone and make an appointment. They can be reached at 888-2620.
Title IX. For more information on Title IX reporting please visit https://www.canisius.edu/title-ix-coordinator.
Bias Resource and Response Team. For more information on reporting incidents of bias please visit https://www.canisius.edu/brrt.
Special Needs. Students with existing special needs do not always disclose their status at the time they enter the college. If such issues surface in conjunction with academic issues, it may be helpful to assure them that the Accessibility Support Office can provide confidential assistance. See https://www.canisius.edu/student-experience/griff-center-student-success/student-accessibility-services. Students can determine eligibility for support services---both long and short term--by scheduling an appointment with the Office of Accessibly support. Students with short term issues such as recovery from documented illness, surgery or concussions are often eligible for support. Students with ongoing needs often find it is possible to use proof of a K-12 Individualized Education Program (IEP) to begin receiving servicing. The staff in Accessibility Support will provide complete guidance including a list of specialists and service providers if needed. The list is available from Accessibility Support and includes service providers for Buffalo, Rochester, Central NY and NYC.
Veterans. Veterans dealing with assimilating to the college environment often need a network of services, including help with the complexities of funding, support for special needs and more. Working with Veterans Affairs staff in the Griff Center is an essential first step. There are additional support services noted at https://www.canisius.edu/student-experience/griff-center-student-success/veteran-support
Food Insecurity. Petey’s Pantry is located in the lower level of Palisano (Room 002, across from Shop 120).
Career Planning. In some cases, students are struggling to find career direction and motivation. The Griff Center provides Career Counseling Services including self-assessment tools such as the Strong Interest Inventory. In other cases students are torn between multiple majors and their needs require an intimate understanding of what may or may not be possible in combining such majors and/or minors. In such cases, working with program directors, department chairs or an assistant/associate dean is recommended. Here are a selection of 0 and 1 Credit courses to help students think about their career planning.
Financial Aid Issues. Financial Aid issues are increasingly complex. Student aid packages are a blend of federal and state aid combined with College scholarships and various other sources. Students are assigned alphabetically to aid advisors who will in turn refer them to assistant and associate directors for further assistance. To receive financial aid, a student must remain “in Good Academic Standing.” For further information, the student should read the section of the Catalog entitled Satisfactory Academic Standing. http://catalog.canisius.edu/undergraduate/tuition-fees-aid/student-financial-aid/#applyingforaideligibilitytext
Leaves & Withdrawals. Please see https://catalog.canisius.edu/graduate/academics/records/leaves-and-withdrawal/ for leaves and withdrawal policies. If a student communicates they are considering withdrawing, please report this via iAdvise.
Students on Probation. A student will be placed on probation for failing to meet a minimum grade point average of 2.0 or for failing three courses in a semester. In combination with this, they may have aid problems because they have not completed the required number of cumulative credits or who have not completed the required number of credits for a given semester often have aid issues. They are required to meet with their Assistant/Associate Dean to discuss their academic status and at that time they are asked to sign an academic recovery plan which includes information on this point.
Housing Issues. Roommate issues are not uncommon and the Residence Life staff often assists with mediation of conflicts and in some cases relocation of a student to another room.
An important part of our benefits at the college are the resources available to us to support our own health and wellness. Information on these resources is available at Benefit Information for Canisius University Faculty, Staff, and Facilities. You can reach out to Human Resources for additional information at any time.
Suggestions for additional resources? Please contact assistant vice president for academic affairs, Yvonne Widenor, at widenory@canisius.edu.