Student Care and Support does not work alone! One of the ways we collaborate with other offices is with a Higher Education best practice known as a Behavioral Intervention Team or a Care Team. Our Team is called CAST (Care, Assistance and Support Team).
CAST Mission and Purpose
The mission of CAST promotes a safe, caring and productive learning, living, and working environment for students at Emerson. This is accomplished by coordinating resources and implementing a comprehensive response with the goal of providing assistance to the individual while mitigating risk in an effort to keep the Emerson community healthy and safe.
CAST is a multidisciplinary team comprised of trained staff from multiple Divisions of the College including Student Affairs, Enrollment, Academic Affairs and others as needed. CAST is focused on early intervention for any students for whom there are general concerns, may be at risk of harming either themselves or others, and/or who pose a significant disruption to the living, learning or work environment. The team receives and reviews reports of concerning student behavior for the purpose of developing a support plan.
CAST meets weekly during the academic year to review students of concern. The Team also meets as needed to address high risk situations or in the aftermath of an incident.
Working together to respect privacy and best supporting the student
Emerson College recognizes and respects students' right to privacy and follows all state and federal laws such as FERPA. If the student referred to CAST is already receiving care at the Emerson Wellness Center, Healing and Advocacy Collective or an outside mental health provider, information about that student’s relationship may not be obtained by the team from those agencies without written authorization from the student, in accordance with federal and state law.
However, our first priority is students' safety and well-being. Members of the CAST team are highly trained to only share information with other offices when it is in the best interest of supporting the student.