Frequently Asked Questions

If the student is informed and expecting outreach from our office, we will initiate outreach. Our outreach is typically one business day after a form is submitted. If you indicated in the submission that you would like to consult or that the student is not expecting outreach, we will not contact the student. As access and empowerment are our core values, we do not initiate outreach without a student's knowledge and consent. You are welcome to share our contact information with the student and encourage them to connect as well.

A staff member within Student Care will speak with you by phone or review the information provided in our care inquiry form. We will work with the referral or the student to identify next steps. Our first step is usually to connect with the referral party by setting up a consultation or directly reaching out to the student if they are expecting this. If you submitted the Student Care Inquiry as a faculty, staff, or family member, our reception team will call you to set-up a referral consultation if requested.

If you haven't heard from our receptionist team to set up a consultation nor from a Student Care staff member in 2+ business days, please feel welcome to contact us again. It's our goal to always set-up a consultation or reconnect within 1-2 business days. We appreciate your patience during busy times of year, especially the beginning and end of the terms.

• Student Care inquiry forms should not be used if crisis or immediate response is needed. Please utilize 911 or crisis resources. We encourage you to submit a Student Care inquiry after urgent needs are taken care of if a student is seeking additional support and follow up.
• Faculty are advised to not use a Student Care for concerns that are solely academic in nature such as chronic absences, low quality work, academic misconduct, etc. – Consult with your department, school, or college on next steps best.
• For misconduct issues, please contact Student Community Standards.
• For confidential support for experiences involving rape, assault, stalking, or domestic violence, etc. contact OSU Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Education. If you are a staff member with a reporting obligation for these disclosures please contact the office of Equal Opportunity & Access directly.

If you’re unsure which resource or department is best to have initial connections with, you can call the Office of the Dean of Students for guidance.

Thank you for reaching out. Our team will contact you within one business day to discuss resources to consider as an initial step for your concerns and/or send you a link to schedule an initial meeting with one of our Student Care staff members. For more information on what to expect, please feel welcome to review this guide. 

We will try to meet with you as soon as possible, but do not have emergency availability. 

If you need to talk to a mental health counselor immediately:

• Call 988 or CAPS* at 541-737-2131 and select option 1 if after hours.

• *Cascades students can contact the Deschutes County Health Services Stabilization Clinic by calling 541- 322-7500 ext. 9, or by walking into the Stabilization Center which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The DCHS Stabilization Center is located at 63311 Jamison Street, Bend, OR 97703.

If you are in immediate danger:

• Call 911 or your nearest emergency department.

• For individuals on the Corvallis campus, the Corvallis campus Department of Public Safety and OSU Assist can be contacted at 541-737-7000. OSU Assist is the mobile emergency support team on the Corvallis campus and is available every day from 1 PM – 1 AM. 

It can feel very stressful to miss a few classes or an exam throughout the term. The university does not have an excused absence policy, but there are several options to consider to successfully complete the term. If your absence was for difficult unforeseen circumstances, please consider these steps:

1. Contact your Instructor or Faculty member
   • If possible, communicating your recent or anticipated absence should be your first step.
   • Review your instructor’s syllabus for expectations on communication. You may also consider including your advisor in your outreach if that has been encouraged in the past.
   • You aren’t required to provide significant detail, but enough for the instructor to have context.
2. Explore your options with your academic advisor by reviewing the Key Decision Points guide and the Final Grades flow-chart to weigh your options after contacting your faculty.
3. Contact us: we’re happy to consult on these options. Call us at 541-737-8748 or submit a Student Care Inquiry form for support.
4. Connect with the Academic Success Center to meet a strategist to map out the remainder of the term to complete it successfully.
    

Students are encouraged to work with their faculty directly around expectations for making up any missed work or absences, and faculty members should handle requests consistent with class and departmental policies without expectation of Student Care staff being involved. The Care Folder does have Extenuating Circumstances Guidance when faculty receive notification of absence from either the student directly or a third party (for example: academic advisor, academic counselor, Student Care) affiliated with OSU. Student Care can also share courtesy information with faculty if a student is connected and wishes to share that information for consideration. The Office of the Dean of Students may send an emergency notification by e-mail to instructors when a student is unable to contact instructors about an absence because of an extenuating circumstance.

Students may miss class or work for a number of reasons. If you haven’t heard from them in awhile, we would encourage exploring a few key steps:

1. Contact the student through more than one medium (e-mail, phone, text) and name your concern for their wellbeing
2. Encourage the student to contact you when they are able to come up with a plan to attend to missed work, exams, etc.
3. If they are unresponsive, consult with an advisor, supervisor, or colleague to see if there are other options.
4. If the individual is still unresponsive, inform them that if you are unable to hear from them by (insert date), you may request for additional help.

It can feel unsettling, but students have the right to refuse to go to class, to be unresponsive to repeated attempts to communicate, and several other actions some of us might deem unwise due to possible implications on their education, employment, finances, etc. You may have concern for the student and be wondering to yourself if a welfare check should be done. If you have reason to be concerned about an emergency health or safety concern related to a student, please call OSU Department of Public Safety at 541-737-7000. Welfare checks may not be the appropriate immediate first option to pursue when noticing a student’s absence unless there is danger of violence or a possible emergency.

Our office does not determine eligibility for extensions or excused absences or incomplete grades. However, the Care Folder has Extenuating Circumstances Guidance to help students and faculty navigate a difficult situation while supporting academic success. We encourage faculty to consult a supervisor and department to  develop a syllabi framework that offers options for absences that align with the class expectations to anticipate absences or parameters around incomplete grade requests. The Center for Teaching & Learning also provides consultation for pedagogical challenges that may arise when considering reasonable options after a request for consideration.

Generally, FERPA (a federal privacy regulation) prohibits OSU employees from disclosing student education records to anyone other than the student to whom the records pertain. If a parent, family member, friend, etc. has called and shared a concern for an OSU student, encourage them to contact our office for guidance and consultation on how we can best support the student.

Parents, families, and friends can be important parts of a student’s support network during their time in college or graduate school. All are welcome to share concerns about students with Student Care, and our staff can answer general questions about support resources and processes at the university which may inform your own insights or efforts. However, all OSU employees are required to maintain privacy around student records and therefore we are generally unable to share information with parents, families, or friends about a specific student.

The Peer Support Program is comprised of Case Manager Interns. This internship is a unique opportunity for upper-division students (undergraduate and graduate) to gain hands-on experience in non-clinical case management while making a meaningful impact on their peers. Interns work closely with the Student Care staff in the Office of the Dean of Students and directly supports students who are navigating personal, academic, or transitional challenges. This educational experience is designed to help interns develop professional skills in a supportive, student-centered environment.

For more information, you can review the 2025-26 AY Case Manager Intern position description.

This internship is ideal for upper-division students who have at least three or more terms remaining before graduation and see themselves as team players who are compassionate, critically-thinking, and creative. It’s especially relevant for students pursuing careers in counseling, social work, education, or student affairs. Due to privacy policies, only current OSU students can apply to be an intern. As all operations are intended to be in-person with technology provided by the office this internship is also limited to students on the Corvallis campus.

Interns meet one-on-one with students, provide consultation to faculty and staff or families, and participate in weekly case management meetings with professional full-time staff. You’ll gain experience in areas such as:

• Resource navigation
• Case management standards
• Policy interpretation
• Project leadership and assessment

You’ll also contribute to the development of tools, training, and communication strategies that support the work of Student Care. This internship is educational in nature and is conducted on a voluntary basis. While it is not a paid position, it offers valuable para-professional experience and may qualify for academic credit depending on your program.

Possibly! Many OSU programs require an internship or experiential learning component. Previous interns have earned academic credit for degrees in Human Development & Family Services, Psychology, College Student Services Administration, and more. To determine if this internship meets your program’s criteria, consult your academic advisor or department’s internship coordinator.

Recruitment typically begins in July, with interviews and selection occurring in late July or early August. Required training sessions are held in September before the academic year begins. Applicants will be asked to submit this interest form and attach a resume. Note the application link will not be available once the recruitment period has closed.