The Care Team may be the right place to turn if you are concerned about an individual on campus.

You may be concerned about an individual’s behavior. That behavior may not necessarily threatening to others, but you think may be unusual or that they may need help. Those behaviors might include;

• personality changes
• changes in behavior
• lack of engagement, missing classes more than in the past
• aggression
• extreme sadness
• cutting
• suggestions of self-harm
• eating disorders
• poor hygiene
• persistent disruption/rudeness in residence, off campus, in classes, clubs, organizations
• unhealthy drug/alcohol use

Our Care team can also help you with:

• Overwhelming sadness or feeling alone
• Death in your family, personal or college life
• Divorce
• Feelings of uncertainty about attending SUNY Poly or considering the need for a break from college
• Unexpected illness for you or someone you care about
• Life changes you did not expect or did not know would impact your college career

You can reach out to us if you or someone else is experiencing changes or challenges in your life and you need some help. These are things our Care Team can discreetly and privately assist with. If you are a student, friend, family member, faculty or staff member who is concerned for another student or yourself, you may contact the Care by submitting a referral. 

Our Care Team is also trained and skilled in violence and threat assessment, and we want to know about any of the following behaviors as often and early as possible. As it pertains to the prevention of violence, early reporting of alarming behaviors from everyone in our community is critical. Report immediately;

• Threatening words or actions toward faculty, students or staff
• Online posting in social media or journals that are threatening or demonstrate violence
• Online postings or writing that could be described as a “manifesto” or plans to act out against others with violence
• Suggestions of an attack in person, online or in written submissions or discovered in personal notes
• Uncharacteristic and/or extreme aggression toward others
• Projects or papers that convey clear intentions to harm self or others
• Observed self-injurious behavior, such as extreme thinness, burns or cuts
• Suicidality, including threats, gestures, ideation and known attempts of suicide
• Relationship violence
• Stalking
• Aggressive acts toward an identified group
• Students with weapons or an infatuation with fire, firearms, bombs, ammunition or weaponry
• Paranoia or delusion
• Flat affect or extreme lack of responsiveness
• Excessive class absenteeism
• Uncharacteristic poor academic performance
• Extreme/dangerous substance abuse

It is important to note that our team is not a punitive arm of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Our goal is to help all students succeed in their academic and personal goals, and to keep all students, faculty and staff safe, both the ones we receive reports regarding and all others at our campus. We work with you to determine what level of concern the behavior is causing and to make the appropriate, supportive response.

While we also work in partnership with many offices, and share information that is appropriate for their action, University Police, Community Standards and other departments respond in line with process and procedure as prescribed in the SUNY Polytechnic Student Code of Personal Conduct. All offices that work with the Care team must do their due diligence to intervene when appropriate, and with the same fair procedures they would us.