APU CARES
APU CARES: Cougar Alert, Refer, and Engage System
Students facing academic concerns, emotional distress and other significant wellness challenges are often first identified by faculty, staff, family, or friends. Although many students will choose to seek and access campus support services on their own, others may not be aware of what APU has available to help, or know how to get connected.
If you are concerned about a student, please click on the button below, and complete and submit the corresponding electronic form. If you are referring multiple students, please complete one form per student.
The CARES team typically reviews referrals during normal business hours (M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) Referrals are typically not are not monitored after hours, on weekends, or during official University holidays. This form is NOT designed for emergency response situations.
The Academic Success Center and Student Affairs offices are committed to student well-being and will coordinate a timely response to your report in an effort to connect the student with appropriate resources.
We appreciate your partnership in caring for our students!
If you believe that any student is in immediate danger of harm, please call 911 first, then APU’s Department of Campus Safety at (626) 815-5000.
After a referral is submitted, a member of the APU CARES team is assigned to coordinate support efforts for the referred student. Support efforts most often include personally reaching out to the student or requesting that a specific office contacts the student. Depending on the indicated needs of the student, multiple individuals may be asked to reach out. All outreach attempts are made with the goal of connecting the referred student with the resources or support they may need to cope with personal and/or academic challenges.
A member of the APU CARES team can typically be expected to reach out to a student within 1 to 2 business days of an APU CARES form submission. Multiple attempts are made to reach the student (at times, by multiple offices). How long it takes to actually make contact with the student depends largely on when the student responds to these outreach attempts.
If a student is referred to APU CARES specifically for academic reasons, the Academic Success Center will reach out to the student within 1 to 2 business days of receiving a referral. Additionally, the referred student will receive an email with directions on how to connect back to the Academic Success Center.
If you would like to provide updated information regarding a student of concern, you are welcome to submit another CARES referral form, or you can email Lori Lacy, Chair of the APU CARES team, at [email protected]. For academic-specific concerns, you can also contact the Academic Success Center at [email protected].
In line with FERPA regulations, only those on the APU CARES team supporting a student’s care efforts are notified of this referral, but after they connect with the student, the student may personally request that we notify their faculty (or other campus departments) of their situation.
A student is not penalized for needing or receiving support. This includes students who have historically stigmatized conditions or identities. (If a student feels that they have been penalized or discriminated against due to a condition or an individual/group identity, we encourage them to see APU’s Antidiscrimination Policy and Bias Incident Reporting webpages.) In cases where we find that a student’s behavior is harmful to the community, an accountability process may result. Even in these rare situations, however, we will work with the student to make sure they receive the support they need.