Announcing Clery Center’s 2023 Campus Safety Impact Award Winner

Clery Center is pleased to announce that the Student Affairs Case Management Services program at the University of California, San Diego is the winner of our 2023 Campus Safety Impact Award. Key collaborators of this program include: 
Director: Andrew Hua
Assistant Director: Ana Bowens
Intake and Operations Coordinator: Diana Joy Go 
Case Managers: Martina Galvan, Kevin Baldueza, Jade Barrett, Annie Lin

Student Affairs Case Management Services program team members at the University of California, San Diego

Our National Advisory Council and selection committee considered many strong applications from colleges and universities across the country. When choosing a winner, we considered several factors, including collaboration with cross-campus and/or off-campus partners, innovation in developing new approaches to meet the evolving needs of the community, and commitment to advancing equity and inclusion. “UC San Diego’s program models the multi-disciplinary and proactive approach to campus safety that Clery Center champions, and we are glad to have the opportunity to recognize their leadership in prioritizing student health and well-being,” shared Jessica Mertz, Clery Center executive director. 

Student Affairs Case Management Services (SACM) at UC San Diego was created in 2014 to establish a culture of care on campus through inclusive, comprehensive support services that empower students to address all aspects of their health and well-being. Through their non-clinical case management model, SACM employees are able to connect students in distress to appropriate resources. 

Student Affairs Case Management Services program team members at the University of California, San Diego  Student Affairs Case Management Services program team members at the University of California, San Diego

The SACM team has created strategic partnerships across campus to make sure no student falls through the cracks. This includes working with liaisons in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Community Centers to ensure the accessibility and inclusivity of their services for students who frequent those spaces. 

Student Affairs Case Management Services program at the University of California, San Diego

This cross-campus collaboration allows them to generate a holistic support system that caters to the identities of individual students and to offer several resources to enhance a feeling of safety across campus including:

  • 24/7 phone line & online form for faculty and staff to report concerns regarding students
  • Training offered three times a quarter and on-demand to faculty, staff, and student leaders on how to identify indicators of distress and various support resources available
  • Multi-disciplinary behavioral consultation team who provides preventive and early intervention services to campus members whose behavior is highly concerning or threatening
  • Togetherall – an online, 24/7 peer-to-peer mental health support community monitored by registered mental health practitioners
  • A peer-to-peer support program that provides students help as they navigate seeking help for their mental health and holistic well-being

  • The Compassionate Response Team – a crisis response team of mental health practitioners that provides mobile crisis response, mental health wellness checks, and telehealth assessments for mental health challenges and substance abuse

The Student Affairs Case Management has supported an average of 382 individual students per academic quarter for the 2022-2023 academic year. 90% of surveyed students shared they would reach out to a case manager again in the future and that their concerns were addressed in their meeting with their case manager. 

We would also like to recognize three finalists who submitted compelling programs:

Embedded Confidential Advisors – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In 2019, the director of the Women’s Resources Center (WRC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hired the first-ever embedded confidential advisors to specifically serve the needs of BIPOC students. In an effort to make confidential services more accessible to survivors of sexual misconduct who may not feel comfortable confiding in the historically all-white staff of the WRC, the advisors each spend part of their time on-site at the campus’s Latinx cultural center (La Casa Cultural Latina) or the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, respectively. This has increased access to support services for BIPOC campus community members who might otherwise be underserved.

Green Dot and Violence Prevention Program – University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming leaders decided they needed to dedicate resources to violence prevention after a 2018 campus climate survey indicated higher than average rates of sexual assault on their campus. They instituted the Green Dot and Violence Prevention Program, a bystander intervention program that equips all campus community members with the skills to recognize sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; provides ways to safely intervene; and encourages cultural buy-in through extensive marketing and branding of the Green Dot logo. The program has proven successful – even accounting for the effects of the pandemic, the campus has seen a 10-20% reduction in sexual assaults and similar or greater reductions for stalking, intimate partner violence, and sexual harassment.

Student Engagement Advisory Team / Protest Response Team – Rowan University
Formed in 2019, the Student Engagement Advisory Team & the Protest Response Team at Rowan University in New Jersey work in tandem to support the community’s right to free speech. The Student Engagement Advisory Team proactively supports students wishing to hold a protest or march on campus, equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed to have a successful and peaceful event, even if they are protesting the university’s official positions. The Protest Response Team is composed of faculty, staff, and students who are trained in First Amendment and University policies, de-escalation and conflict resolution skills, and social justice advocacy. They offer a safe alternative to engaging with controversial protest groups that may induce feelings of fear, sadness, or anger.

 

We are incredibly grateful to each institution who took the time to submit their program for consideration and applaud the impactful way campuses are improving the overall well-being of their communities. Please be sure to check back next spring when we reopen the application for 2024 submissions! 

NCSAM Summit 2023

Learn more about UC San Diego's Student Affairs Case Management program in their session during our virtual campus safety summit on Thursday, September 14, 2023. The summit is completely free; registration is required. Register here.