To the Editor,
The Counseling Center, located in the Student Health Canter, exists to provide support for students as they encounter transitions and difficulties in their lives at Rensselaer. Students who choose to seek help from the staff at the counseling center should be aware of a policy that can significantly impact their lives. It is standard procedure for counselors at the Center to evaluate the condition of each patient in their care to determine how much of a liability the individual is to Rensselaer. If a counselor feels he or she has a patient who presents a risk to the Institute, the counselor can request that the student be placed on an involuntary leave of absence.
The student may be notified after his or her class registrations, housing and meal plan contracts, and student privileges have been terminated. He or she may be given as little as 24 hours to vacate Institute property. During the prescribed leave, the student may not interact with his or her counselor or make use of the services of the Center. At the end of the leave, after completing an admittance interview and a paying a fee of $250, the student may return to Rensselaer. He or she will have had no rights to register for classes during the leave and so may be left with few options for the semester immediately following the leave.
This policy is described on page 16 of the 2002-2004 Handbook of Student Rights and Respon-sibilities. It also applies to leaves of absence issued for medical reasons. It is strange that the policy allows exceptions to any Institute rule or regulation to allow the student to be placed on leave. Also, confidential information can be revealed to people of the staff’s choosing. Rensselaer takes great care to be sure it can distance itself from students whom, in the opinion of any one counselor, might cause harm that would result in lawsuits or damaged reputation. Of course, the policy also exists to protect students from potentially violent individuals. It exists to provide a shockingly severe method by which the individual may be convinced of the severity of his or her condition. It exists for the rare cases that may cause the Institute difficulty if procedures were written more narrowly. But, since it exists, it allows a student who came seeking help to suddenly become victim of an act that is very difficult to appeal.
Students should think twice before making use of the services of the Counseling Center. Two large hospitals are within walking distance of Rensselaer and both offer counseling services. There, students can receive care without worrying if something they say might be misunderstood and turned against them. I write because I’ve learned that this is precisely what has happened.
Michael Gradziel
MECH ‘02
