Wentworth Institute of Technology Helps At-Risk Students Resolve Problems

College students have been known to skip a class or two, but at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, faculty and staff know that a chronically absent student might be in need of help. The 4,300-student institution has created a detailed system to identify, counsel, and provide resources for at-risk students that includes risk assessment/intentional intervention teams and an online program to track each student’s case from the initial report to resolution.

The online tool, Advocate, enables faculty and staff to call attention to students they’re concerned about, said Brian Burns, director of compliance and risk management. Faculty and staff members can use Advocate to submit a “CARE Report” about the potentially at-risk student.

“The reports can be anything from a student who is missing a lot of classes to one who has expressed concern about a family situation or who has experienced a death in the family,” Burns said. Other red flags include a student who has an emotional outburst in class or one who expresses an interest in self-harm or in harming others.

The Office of Student Affairs handles the Advocate system and brings the reports to the Wentworth Risk Assessment Prevention (WRAP) team. The campuswide WRAP team meets weekly to review new cases and provide updates on active situations. It includes members from student affairs, risk management, public safety, counseling, academic affairs, athletics, residential life, and continuing education. The broad representation increases the likelihood that someone on the team can easily connect with and offer the resources necessary to help students.

“Once the issue has been presented to the WRAP working group, there’s a discussion about who may or may not have a connection to the student,” Burns said. A person who is familiar with the student will reach out. If no one has a connection, the team identifies the appropriate resource and intentional intervention. The outreach might be as simple as a professor scheduling a meeting to talk with the student about why he or she is missing class. Other students might receive referrals to on-campus counseling, or wellness or academic support services. “We have had students demonstrating behaviors that have been alarming, but through the intervention, they have gone on to thrive at the Institute,” Burns said.

Urgent issues—such as sexual assault, partner abuse, or attempted suicide—get immediate attention from the appropriate areas across campus, including Wentworth’s Behavioral Intervention Response Team (BIRT). BIRT responds to threats of harm to self or others made by students, faculty, staff, or other campus community members. Team members include risk management, human resources, student affairs, academic affairs, technology services, chief of staff, and public safety representatives.

Seeing Results

As the student’s case progresses, the liaison assigned to the student can post updates to the Advocate system, tracking progress from the initial care report through resolution. The system, which has been in use for about six years, archives all the reports, so team members can identify repeated issues.

Institutions can also use Advocate to manage student conduct, Title IX, and behavioral intervention incidents in compliance with HIPAA, FERPA, and Clery Act regulations.

The WRAP team works on 20 to 30 cases in varying states of progress each week. In a year, faculty and staff create about 250 reports, said Peter Fowler, vice president for student affairs and associate dean. The most common concerns are attendance issues, followed by students suffering academic or financial stress. Less frequent are reports about students who may be at risk of harming themselves or others.

Faculty and staff at Wentworth have learned not to discount seemingly minor issues that to students represent significant problems, Burns said. He and Fowler recalled one case in which several faculty members noticed a student responding to frustration with disruptive behavior. They worried that he might harm himself. The faculty members reached out and offered support to the student and submitted a report to WRAP. An assessment found he was in no imminent danger. The root cause of his frustration was academic-related stress. Once he learned tools to manage frustration and alleviate stress and received tutoring services, he completed the semester successfully. He continues to make academic progress.

That case shows how the team approach—which Advocate enhances—enables Wentworth to identify and help at-risk students in a timely and effective manner, Fowler said.

By Donna Davis, a freelance education writer