Confidentiality

The Student Counseling Center respects your right to confidentiality. Although the Student Counseling Center maintains case files, our records are accessible only to authorized Center staff.  They are not shared with other offices or departments of the university and they do not become part of any central University record. You can be assured that no information, including the fact that you’ve made an appointment or sought services, is shared with anyone without your written consent. (The parents or guardians of a student under 16 years of age have more legal rights to records.)

The Center complies with all applicable federal and state laws and professional standards relating to the privacy of patient information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not apply to the Student Counseling Center. However, many people are concerned about privacy in the health care setting so we are providing this information to you on how we protect the privacy of your health care information.

There are, however, several exceptions to confidentiality:

• We are obligated by law to report suspected child abuse (sexual, physical, or emotional) and neglect to the proper authorities.
• We are obligated by law to report suspected elder abuse to the proper authorities.
• We are obligated to take appropriate action if you represent a threat of harm to yourself or to others, and we will take any necessary actions to prevent such harm from occurring.
• If you are involved in court matters, we may be required to release the record.

We also participate in a research study through the Center for Collegiate Mental Health.  Students can opt in or out of this study when they complete our initial forms.  We submit de-identified data to CCMH regarding college student mental health to a national database.