1. Wednesday 7:30 p.m. You find yourself worrying more about Robert, a student on your hall. Robert is a senior who has been on academic probation before. You've gotten to know him because he has come to you for help in a few classes you've had together. Now that you're an RA sometimes he just likes to talk. He has never felt like he fit in at Notre Dame, and he says his friends just like to go out and drink - so they're more like aquaintances than real friends. He feels like he's just not cut out to make it here - but he's getting extreme pressure from his parents to "try harder" so he can graduate. He feels guilty about "wasting" all the money they pay for tuition. In the past week he flunked his biochem exam and got a D and an F on two papers. He feels like a failure, and is becoming increasingly depressed and irritable. You've noticed he's been sleeping a lot, missing classes and meals, and he's getting drunk more often during the week.

2. Tuesday, 10:15 p.m. Debbie has been sad and morose for months. She has alienated most of her friends because she keeps asking for reassurance and advice, but nothing seems to help her. She began seeing a counselor at the Counseling Center this fall, but her behavior still hasn't changed. She comes to your room - and you can't help feeling put upon because you have a big paper you're trying to write and you don't want to spend the next hour listening to her. She's crying uncontrollably and flops herself down on your bed.

3. Saturday 6:50 p.m. For the past month you've been noticing that Amy has been sad, crying frequently, and she's been sleeping alot during the day. She refuses her friends' invitations to go out, saying she'd rather be alone to study, but she just sleeps. When she is around others, such as her roommate, she tends to make self-depreciating remarks about herself, and doesn't accept people's reassurances. She has made real weird jokes about death, to which people don't know how to respond. Her roommate comes to you and says she's concerned about Amy, because tonight Amy said she was going to spend the night in a hotel to "get away from it all."

4. Friday, 11:20 p.m. Mark's girlfriend broke up with him a month ago. He has tried repeatedly to get her to talk to him but she refuses. He is drunk and calls her, but she hangs up on him. His roommate comes to you and says that Mark is yelling, screaming, and smashing the phone against the wall.

5. Saturday, 1:00 p.m. Three students come to see you because they are concerned that their roommate, Lisa, has an eating disorder. They are upset, very worried, and they feel that something has to be done immediately.

6. Monday 1:40 p.m. Steve just found out that his girlfriend was raped last spring, and he knows the guy who she said raped her. He's angry and upset, but mostly feeling helpless. He comes to you for advice.

7. Sunday, 8:40 p.m. You walk down the hall and see Dan's door is partly open. Dan is just sitting on his bed so you stop to say hello. Dan's face is blank but ashen, and his eyes look scared. You ask what's the matter. He looks down and says in a numb voice, "My sister just called. She told me my dad had a heart attack and died."

8. Saturday 2:10 p.m. Julie's roommate Cindy comes to you to say that Julie has been waking up screaming from nightmares several times a week since the semester began. She always wants to sleep with the lights on, and sometimes Cindy walks into the room to only to find Julie sitting on the bed or the floor rocking and crying. Julie recently told Cindy that she has had dreams of her father chasing her as if he wants to hurt her. Cindy is concerned because Julie is becoming more and more withdrawn and won't eat.

9. Thursday, 5:45 p.m. Across the hall from you, three freshmen are having a very loud verbal fight. They are known to the section and the staff as the "odd triple." There has been no intervention up to this point in the semester and the fighting has been getting worse.

10. Wednesday, 11:30 p.m. You are with a group of women on your hall taking a study break, and talking about plans for the upcoming semester break. Everyone's excitedly saying how much they miss their family and can't wait to eat home-cooked food. Connie becomes very quiet and begins to cry softly. Everyone in the group notices and stops talking to look at her, not knowing what to say. You gently ask her what's wrong. She tells the group, "My father moved out of the house and my parents are getting a divorce. It's probably for the better anyway because my parents were fighting all the time... I just feel really bad for my younger brother and sister, they're only 6 and 12. I don't know where I'm going to spend the break - I want to go home but I know my mom is going to be crying all the time. Plus if I go there then I won't see my dad. I don't know what to do. I wish this never happened. Even with all the fighting, at least I knew what to expect. And I had a home." She continues crying. The group still doesn't know what to say. Somebody hands her some Kleenex.

1. ASSESSMENT - What's your assessment of the problem?

2. IMMEDIACY/SEVERITY - What's your evaluation of the immediacy and severity of this student's crisis? (Low, Medium, High)

3. YOUR ROLE - What's your role in helping this student?

4. REFERRAL - Should you also refer this student? If so, where?

a. TIMING - What's the best timing for making a referral?

b. FACILITATE - How can you best facilitate the referral?

5. FOLLOW UP - What kind of follow up could you facilitate?