Bentley Care Referral FAQs
A Care referral is an online form someone can submit when they have a non-urgent concern about a Bentley student. The Care Team will review the referral, typically within 1-2 business days, and determine the most appropriate follow up to support the student.
The Care Team is a small multidisciplinary group of professional staff members on campus. Members work closely, both in weekly meetings and ongoing discussions, to address current referrals and coordinate appropriate outreach. The individuals on the Care Team collaborate with other members of the Bentley community to best support students.
Faculty, staff, students, families, or anyone who has a non-urgent concern for a Bentley student can submit a Care referral.
Yes. Care referrals can be submitted for any student (graduate or undergraduate) at Bentley. The Care Team is here to support all students.
When in doubt, please share your concern with the Care Team. Your referral could be critical to the Care Team in determining whether an expressed concern is an isolated event or a sign that a student is experiencing more significant challenges.
If the problem is urgent and you are worried about a student's immediate physical or mental health, call University Police at 781.891.3131 (available 24/7) when on campus or 911 if off campus.
If you are concerned about a student and it is NOT an emergency situation, please fill out a Care referral form.
You can fill out a Care referral online here.
The person submitting a Care referral is required to share their name and contact information to ensure that the Care Team can follow up on a concern to the best of their ability. Sometimes, it may be necessary for the Care Team to contact the referrer to obtain supplemental information. If you are a Bentley student sharing a concern about a fellow student, the Care Team also wants to make sure that you have the support and resources you may need.
As a general rule, the Care Team does not share the identity of the referrer with the student but there may be situations where the student can deduce who shared the concerns. However, we find that students may be more receptive to support when the referrer has a caring conversation with them prior to submitting a referral and is open about wanting to connect them with the Care Team. See tips on how to approach a conversation under Care Team Tips here.
If you have concerns for a student and feel they could benefit from additional support, please share your concerns with the Care Team. Please do not promise confidentiality as you may very likely have to break this promise if a student's well-being is at stake. An acceptable response to this request is, "I cannot promise total confidentiality, but I do promise that I will only share this information with those who need to know and who can help. I care about you and want to make sure that you have the support you need."
Employees are encouraged to follow the guidelines set forth by their supervisor when it comes to communicating students of concern. Please share this communication with the Care Team as well, when appropriate, so the team can coordinate early outreach to this student and in conjunction with the actions the referrer, supervisor, department chair and/or dean plan to take.
Although it is your personal decision whether you will share concerns with the Care Team, please strongly consider whether keeping this information isolated within your department benefits the student.
Care referrals are reviewed during University business hours (Monday through Friday 8:30am- 4:30pm during the academic year; Monday through Thursday 8:00am- 5:30pm during the summer). If you submit a Care referral for a student, you will typically receive confirmation from a Care Team member within 1-2 business days that your referral has been received and reviewed.
If there is an emergency, contact University Police at 781-891-3131. The University Police department is staffed 24 hours a day.
Once a referral is submitted and reviewed, a member of the Care Team will contact the referrer, typically within 1-2 business days, to acknowledge that the referral was received and gather any additional information that may be needed. However, the referrer may not know the exact actions that we may take as we seek to protect the privacy of our students.
Any number of responses/actions may be appropriate following receipt of a Care referral. In some instances, we may take no action and, in other instances, quick outreach to the student will be necessary. Our team follows an objective protocol when determining follow-up actions. The nature of the referral, severity of the concern, and the number of referrals we receive for the student all play a role in guiding the Care Team in actions that we may take. Most often, after reviewing the referral, an email is sent to the student to share campus resource information and offer a supportive conversation with a staff member. For significant well-being related concerns, the Care Team may also reach out to additional parties (e.g. staff and/or faculty associated with the student, other impacted students, the student's emergency contact or health provider) to best support the student.