Should colleges seek more disclosure from high schools about students' health and disciplinary histories.

YES
by Charles Clarke
Seek information in response to an event

IN THE OLD DAYS—before Columbine, Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University—I would have said no to this question. Students come to college to create a new beginning. Even though they may not be fully autonomous, we tend to treat them as legal adults. Central to this is their right to privacy.

A social contract prevails on our campuses. Students show up capable of engaging in the shared learning process. We, in turn, assess their capabilities and make appropriate accommodations so the process can succeed. This requires students to disclose information. We do not see as inappropriately intrusive our requests for transcripts, personal information and records of routine physicals. However, historically we have avoided seeking general screening information for mental health fitness and arrest records. We want to avoid the potentially stigmatizing consequences of such a practice.

Yet, we live in volatile times that challenge the balance between privacy rights and public safety. Some of our students come to us marked by mental illness, poverty, disorganized and violent families, drug abuse, and criminal justice involvement. For this reason, I believe schools should adopt policies seeking greater disclosure of students' prior histories in response to a triggering event.

I propose that every college have an intervention team composed of experienced professionals from health services, counseling, public safety and student services that meets regularly to review violations of the student code of conduct. The counseling component should have at least one professional who is credentialed and experienced in the assessment and treatment of serious mental illnesses. In the event of a critical incident, the college should carry out a criminal background check of the offending student and ask the previous school's counseling services for information about the student's health and disciplinary status at that school.

Furthermore, the college application form should outline the college's critical incident response policy. It would request voluntary student permission for counseling or health services to make follow-up inquiries with the student's previous schools, physician and the person listed as an emergency contact.

I believe we need to evaluate evolving models and develop best practices for protecting the health and safety of students and the college community.

NO
By Lynn Linde
It would violate privacy and discourage treatment

MORE INFORMATION is not the answer to the problem of how to keep another horrific incident from happening on a college campus. Counselors and other mental health professionals work with individuals, families and groups on a variety of issues ranging from normal developmental and personal growth issues to severe mental and emotional disorders. Privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protect individuals' confidentiality, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. To give colleges access to more of students' personal histories, these laws would have to be amended to allow the exchange of currently protected information.

Changing these laws would present the troubling question of how to determine a new threshold for sharing information. Would information be shared about every student who has ever sought counseling?

Seeking help for mental and emotional problems still carries a stigma in this country for many people. Given this scenario, families and students might be reluctant to seek help if they fear that personal mental health information would be shared with colleges. This would only exacerbate the problem by potentially increasing the number of students transitioning into postsecondary programs without having received appropriate mental health treatment.

A second major concern is how the disciplinary and health information would be used by the colleges in the admissions process. There appears to be an underlying assumption that such information has a predictive value, that there is a correlation between having problems in middle and high school and problems in college. Where is the evidence for this assumption?

College can be a very stressful time for students. Many students may experience difficulties for the first time in their lives or are no longer able to manage their problems. Students need support and access to services to ensure that their needs are met and they do not become isolated or troubled. Prevention and intervention programs are useful for the entire student body and address larger issues.

It is always difficult to balance the rights of individuals against the collective good of the group. But this country has always protected the rights of the individual. It is not time to change that practice.