Critical Incidents Involving Students with Psychiatric Disabilities: The Gap Between State of the Art and Campus Practice

The proliferation of students with psychiatric disabilities and the severity of the issues they present pose significant challenges to campus personnel and specifically to student affairs staff. This study identified the specific types of critical incidents related to students with psychiatric disorders that senior student affairs officers found particularly problematic. In addition, the study examined the implications of these incidents on policy, resources, training, and communication. Our findings suggest that specific institutional issues and the complexity of these incidents are exacerbated, in part, by the limitations of current policies, a lack of appropriate campus and community resources, privacy issues, and relationships with and expectations of parents. We explore the implications of these findings on practice and policy development.