The CARE team seeks to ensure the well-being and safety of the NPC community while maintaining dignity and respect for all community members. The multidisciplinary CARE team works with staff, faculty, and students to identify, evaluate, and coordinate responses to students demonstrating signs of emotional distress or concerning behaviors. The goal of the college and the CARE Team is to promote the success of all students.
If you are experiencing emotional distress and need to talk to someone, you can receive 24/7, free and confidential emotional support by calling or texting 988. For more information, visit www.988lifeline.org
NPC students can receive online / distance counseling services through BetterMynd teletherapy. Learn more about this program here.
When should concerns be reported to CARE?
Non-emergency situations should be referred to CARE when there is reason to be concerned about a student's mental health or ability to cope with stress or when their behavior threatens or interferes with other members of the NPC community. Anyone can submit a concern, including students, faculty, staff, and other members of the community.
Examples of concerns to consider reporting include:
- Emotional outbursts
- Significant negative changes in mood or personality
- Visible agitation or tension
- Self-harming behaviors, e.g. cutting or burning oneself
- Suicidal thinking
- Noticeable increase in isolation or withdrawal from others
- Unusual drop in academic performance, e.g. sudden streak of absences or missing assignments
- Intoxication on campus
- Disruptive classroom behavior
- Bullying or demeaning behavior toward others
- Threatening or hostile behavior toward others
If you are not sure whether to report something to CARE, and it is not an emergency, then you can still report it. The CARE team will decide what actions should be taken, if any.
How do I submit a concern?
What happens after I submit a concern?
Unless you choose to remain anonymous, a member of the CARE team may contact you within 48 business hours to ask for additional information about your concern. The CARE co-chairs will review the information provided and decide whether to call an immediate meeting based on a preliminary assessment of the risk level involved, using the Risk Rubric published by the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association. In less urgent cases, the CARE team will review the case as a group during the next scheduled meeting, which occurs twice each month. Depending on the level of risk and the specific details of each case, the CARE team may:
- contact the student of concern to inform them about resources provided by the College, community, or other organizations that may help them.
- work with the student of concern to develop a plan to address their specific situation.
- refer the concerning behavior to other College personnel or departments if necessary, e.g. the Title IX Coordinator for cases involving sexual harassment.
- recommend the student be withdrawn or evaluated by a community mental health professional, if it is believed they might pose a high risk to themselves or others.
- take no action but continue to monitor the situation.
The CARE team strives to keep information confidential and maintain the privacy of both the student of concern and the reporting individual. At times, the nature of the report may reveal the identity of a reporter who wishes to stay anonymous, but reasonable steps will be taken to limit sharing information with anyone outside of CARE and other parties who need to be informed. Additionally, to respect the privacy of the student of concern, it may not be possible to update the reporting individual about the outcome of their report.
Who is on CARE?
CARE Team Members
- Catherine Buckhorn (co-chair)Office of Accessibility and Inclusion Coordinator | (928) 536-6246 | email
- Josh Rogers (co-chair), Director of Student Services and Interim Title IX Coordinator | (928) 536-6227 | email
- Cynthia Blevins, St. Johns Center Manager | (928) 524-7616 | email
- Chelsea Wood, Veteran's Certifying Clerk | (928) 524-7469 | email
- Alexander Henderson, Faculty in Mathematics | (928) 536-6235 | email
- Rachel Channell, Faculty in Behavioral Health | (928) 532-6251 | email
- Inez Schaechterle, Faculty in English | (928) 524-7363 | email
- Calandra Walker, Kayenta Center Adviser/Library Technician | (928) 524-7649 | email
- Robert Railey (ex officio), Manager of Emergency Services & Public Safety | (928) 532-6141 | email
- Michael Solomonson (ex officio), Interim NPC President/President for Learning & Student Services | (928) 536-6217 | email
