[Softball Fan]

here's an idea.  
maybe incoming freshmen could name a trusted person who could be informed, instead of a parent.
a friend, perhaps?

So I enroll and decide to have my roommate or maybe a friend from high school be this contact.  They get an email outlining some problem/issue I have, what are they supposed to actually do?  I’d guess most would call the parents unless they thought they were part of the problem, if the feel they cannot call the parents then what do they do?  I doubt 18 or 19 year old me would have had a good answer….

That's exactly my sentiments.  If it is a campus classmate, what do they do?  If it's a non-parental relative living far from campus, what do they do?  From a practical standpoint, I would guess 90% plus of the notifications would be for a student with a problem who has no thoughts of suicide.

If this system of notification has a workable procedure that can lead to a solution for troubled students, I'm all for it.  I just don't see this being all that helpful.  To me the university should notify services that provide counseling and professional help.

[Softball Fan]

here's an idea.  
maybe incoming freshmen could name a trusted person who could be informed, instead of a parent.
a friend, perhaps?

So I enroll and decide to have my roommate or maybe a friend from high school be this contact.  They get an email outlining some problem/issue I have, what are they supposed to actually do?  I’d guess most would call the parents unless they thought they were part of the problem, if the feel they cannot call the parents then what do they do?  I doubt 18 or 19 year old me would have had a good answer….

That's exactly my sentiments.  If it is a campus classmate, what do they do?  If it's a non-parental relative living far from campus, what do they do?  From a practical standpoint, I would guess 90% plus of the notifications would be for a student with a problem who has no thoughts of suicide.

If this system of notification has a workable procedure that can lead to a solution for troubled students, I'm all for it.  I just don't see this being all that helpful.  To me the university should notify services that provide counseling and professional help.