CARE Team:  Frequently Asked Questions by Parents

The CARE Team serves Middle Tennessee State University students.

A Care coach is a university administrator who is part of the Campus Action Response and Engagement (CARE) Team. These individuals are volunteers at MTSU who assist students who may have hit a rough patch as they navigate life as a Blue Raider. A Care Coach will talk with your student to determine if they can provide support by connecting the student to available resources to get through an unexpectedly tough time.

If a Care Coach reaches out to your student, it means that someone submitted a CARE Team report to the Office of Student Care and Conduct (OSCC) indicating concern for your student’s well-being. The Care Coach’s role is to check in with your student to see how they are doing.

Any behavior that raises a cause for concern can be reported to the CARE Team. Reported concerns cover a range of behaviors. Some examples of the kinds of concerns reported include but aren’t limited to, sadness due to an illness or death, seasonal depression, excessive absences from class, relationship problems, difficulty adjusting to college life, and not being motivated to go to class.

The CARE Team process is explicitly aimed at providing support to students and addressing situations that have the potential to impede student success and/or threaten the safety and security of the campus. The CARE Team does not address disciplinary issues or give out sanctions; however, it is important to note that the CARE process is not confidential, meaning that if your student discloses that they have violated a university rule or law, the CARE Coach may be obligated to report that behavior to the appropriate office.

A Care Coach will not contact parent(s) or guardian(s) unless there is evidence that indicates that your student poses an immediate threat to themselves or other people. If an immediate threat is present, Care Coaches are required to notify the proper authorities first.

If you want to speak to the Care Coach your student will need to fill out a FERPA form. These forms are available in the Office of Student Care and Conduct and online.

FERPA is an acronym for the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA is federal legislation that pertains to the privacy of educational records. Information contained in a care case is part of your educational record, thus it is protected by this federal law. The Department of Education maintains a FERPA website (with links to FERPA regulations) here.

You can discuss the issue with your student and keep an open mind about the issues and/or obstacles that your student may be dealing with. You can also support their decision to not disclose everything about the issues/obstacles to you in an attempt to deal with the situation themselves. Above all else, if your student is involved in the care process, it means that they may be dealing with some difficulty and keeping the lines of communication open will benefit both of you.