Correction Appended
Students' mental health history may no longer be private if campus safety recommendations are put into play.
ASU could begin reviewing this week whether it would be feasible and beneficial to campus safety to require students to disclose their mental health histories.
A group of ASU staff members is finalizing a report with campus safety recommendations that could include requiring mental health disclosure, ASU spokeswoman Leah Hardesty said.
In the wake of the April 2007 Virginia Tech University massacre, the National Association of Attorneys General recommended universities have greater access to students' mental health records. Following this proposal, the ASU committee may recommend that students inform the University of any mental health problems that could affect campus safety, Hardesty said.
About 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from at least one diagnosable mental disorder each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
If this number is applied to ASU, more than 10,000 students are affected by mental health disorders and may be required to disclose certain information if new policies are applied.
Paul Ward, the vice president of University Administration and Legal Affairs and staff group leader, said he was unable to comment on any of the recommendations regarding mental health disclosure until the report is finalized.
According to news reports, Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech University student who killed 32 people and himself last April, had a history of mental health-related problems that were not directly disclosed to the University.
And most recently, Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five people and himself last Thursday at Northern Illinois University, also had a history of mental health disorders that were not disclosed to his former university. Kazmierczak had been a former graduate student at NIU.
While University officials said it was too early to respond to the NIU shooting's impact on ASU policies, campus safety measures have been put under the national spotlight since the Virginia Tech tragedy.
Ward's group of staff members is currently finalizing an executive summary that takes into account campus safety recommendations from four reports, including one by the National Association of Attorneys General.
Following the April 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, a September 2007 NAAG report concluded that "referral and information sharing regarding mentally ill individuals [is] one of the biggest problems currently facing schools and colleges."
According to the report, laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protect student information, interfere with campus safety.
These laws "impede the appropriate flow of information from schools to mental health providers and back to schools," the report states.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, a member of the NAAG, supports the September 2007 National Association of Attorneys General report, which includes changing laws that currently restrict student mental health information from being shared, said his spokeswoman, Andrea Esquer.
Goddard, who was unavailable for comment for this article, told The State Press in September, "I think the University has an obligation to the greater community to know when someone has a mental illness that might cause [a violent act]."
But Michael Rice, a professor at the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, said he opposes actions taken to forcibly release individuals' mental health history.
"Statistically, you're more likely to be hurt by someone on the street than someone with a mental illness," Rice said.
Requiring individuals to disclose mental health information would unfairly stigmatize those who suffer from mental health disorders, he added.
"It would be very nice to offer a simple solution to a very complex problem," Rice said.
But he added that such a measure would not be effective in increasing campus safety.
Jason Robert, a professor with the School of Life Sciences, said a measure to keep track of students' mental health history could include harmless students and exclude potentially harmful students.
"There are all sorts of people who wouldn't be included who might very well be a danger," Robert said.
He added that it would include people who would not be at risk for committing violent acts.
"That doesn't strike me as a particularly promising strategy for improving safety on campus," Robert said.
Robert, who gave a presentation on Saturday on the complexities of mental health for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said people shouldn't jump to conclusions about mental health.
"The story is always more complex than that," Robert said.
Correction: Attorney General Terry Goddard's position was unclear. He supports the September 2007 National Association of Attorneys General report, which includes changing laws that currently restrict student mental health information from being shared.
Reach the reporter at: matt.culbertson@asu.edu.
