campus security: [april 2008]
Published: 03/30/08
- How Deeply Should College Admissions Offices Dig to Uncover Signs of Trouble in Applicants?
From "NIU, Virginia Tech Shootings Have Impact on College Admissions" by: , Chicago Tribune - Students applying to college typically do not reveal any history of mental treatment for fear that information could become a deciding factor in a college's admissions process, while federal privacy laws prevent institutions from accessing mental health data about applicants. As a partial solution, the Common Application, now accepted by 300 colleges across the United States, added a question last year related to past behavioral misconduct and criminal convictions, probing school disciplinary records. Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers says the issue is complicated and that admission committees may know about predicting academic performance, "but not about who does or does not pose a threat."
Full disclosure of an applicant's history of behavioral issues is one solution, but faces obstacles and opposition on multiple fronts. For one, there is the trust issue between the student, high school, and college, notes Dan Saracino, admissions director for the University of Notre Dame. "As a group you could decide whether this would be a good environment ... But this is a very litigious era we're in, and counselors hold back." Another issue is that students could be less apt to seek treatment at an earlier age if that treatment is disclosable.
In addition, students with histories of psychiatric problems often excel at college, while those with no such history can experience problems. Rather than focusing on the behavioral histories of applicants, Paul Appelbaum, an expert on psychiatry, law, and ethics at Columbia University, says colleges should focus on providing adequate mental health services and implement outreach programs to encourage students to use those services while providing insurance coverage.
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