Faculty members at UVI have the opportunity of ongoing direct contact with students and may be able to provide assistance to those who are struggling. Faculty members and staff are encouraged to make referrals to Counseling Services when students:

  • Display emotions that are inappropriate for the situation or are more exaggerated or erratic than normal (e.g., extremely withdrawn or animated).
  • Display emotions that are aggressive (e.g., resentful, irritable, abrasive, aggressive, hostile, frustrated).
  • Display emotions that are sad/depressed (e.g., tearful, hypersensitive, full of despair, worthless).
  • Act in ways that are aggressive (e.g., threatening others, discussing previous violent actions, develops antagonist relationships).
  • Act in ways that suggest a student may be sad, depressed or possibly suicidal (e.g., excessive change in weight, withdrawn or reclusive, giving away prized possessions, difficulty sleeping, listless, no energy).
  • Has a significant change in or poor school performance (e.g., used to get As and Bs and now receiving Ds and Fs, overly dependent on you, infrequent attendance, procrastination, turning in poor or no work at all, making repeated requests for special considerations like extended deadlines, have difficulty concentrating, display behaviors that interfere with class)
  • Act in ways that suggest a student may not be able to take care of oneself (e.g., decline in personal hygiene, inability to make decisions despite receiving help, disjointed thoughts and impaired speech, losing touch with reality, seeing/hearing things that aren't there)
  • Communicate messages to you that indicate problems (e.g., thoughts of suicide, being under an unusual amount of stress)

Emergency Situations

Get help immediately when you encounter any of the following symptoms in a student:

  • Expression of suicidal thoughts
  • Expression of homicidal thoughts
  • Sever loss of emotional control
  • Gross impairment in thinking ability
  • Bizarre behavior

Counseling Services strive to provide services to assist students which would enable them to succeed academically and professionally. We believe that faculty and staff share the same goals and we know these goals can only be accomplished by working together.

For your convenience, you may download the Counseling Services Referral Form  Return  to the appropriate campus office listed. For further assistance, please contact:

St. Croix Campus:
Patricia Towal
Phone: (340) 692-4187
E-mail: ptowal@uvi.edu		 Anyha Lord
Fax: (340) 692-4008
E-Mail: alord@uvi.edu

St. Thomas Campus:

Verna Rivers
Phone: (340) 693-1087
E-Mail: vrivers@uvi.edu

Dahlia Stridiron
Phone: (340) 693-1136
E-Mail: dstridi@uvi.edu		 Melissa Williams
Fax: (340)693-1091
E-mail: mwillia5@uvi.edu

Confidentiality
 Students have a right to privacy. Counseling Services recognizes that faculty often times would like to know the outcome of a referral such as did the student show up, will the student be all right, what type of action is being taken, etc. Ethical guidelines as well as legal statues governing psychological services prohibit Counseling Services from disclosing information about a student without their written consent. To that extent, Counseling Services will not disclose by way of acknowledgement or denial, any information about its clientele.

 Research has consistently shown that the most important factor in counseling effectiveness is the relationship between the counselor and client. The foundation of that relationship is trust. In order for students to take the risk of revealing themselves to another, they must feel confident that their privacy will be respected.

Obviously, there are limits to confidentiality and when necessary, the appropriate individuals or authorities will be notified under the following circumstances:

  • The student has signed a Release of Information Form
  • The student presents a risk of harm to self or others
  • Reports of child or elder abuse
  • Medical emergencies
  • The disclosure is allowed by court order.