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Suicide: Opposing legislative bill rejected
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within three days of receiving a letter
to that effect and may be asked to at
tend three subsequent assessment
sessions in order to meet standards
for self care.
Students who are placed on leave
are immediately withdrawn from
classes and receive tuition and fee re
funds. The vice president for student
affairs can also decide to grant in
completes if the leave occurs late in
the term.
A long process
Leavitt said a team within the
Student Affairs division has been
working for about two years on how
to help the campus understand and
prevent suicide. She said officials re
alized about one year ago that
the University’s policies needed to
be updated.
Leavitt said she, General Counsel to
the University Melinda Grier and
Holmes worked through about
15 drafts of the policy before they
decided on the final proposal March 1.
A hearing on the changes will be
held in April or May, allowing com
munity members to submit written
testimony, Leavitt said.
Leavitt said much of the work
on the proposal involved determin
ing who had authority over which
parts of the process, allowing
physicians and psychiatrists to
provide input but not make final
enrollment decisions.
“We don’t want to sever (enroll
ment) unless it’s so severe,” she
said. “Almost all of it is about help
ing students or getting to a voluntary
leave situation.”
Leavitt said students are asked to
leave involuntarily in “very rare in
stances.” Only two students have
been put on involuntary leave in the
last 15 years, she said..
Leavitt said some people have ex
pressed concerns that the new policy
will make it easier to force students
out of school. Yet, she said, the policy
is intended to clarify the resources
and processes available to students.
ASUO President Adam Petkun said
he has conversed with Holmes about
the changes.
“I honestly do feel pretty comfort
able with what I’ve heard,” he said.
“I initially had concerns over the
mandatory leave policy and have
since learned from Robin that first,
it’s not a change, it’s something
they do already, and at the same
time it’s not something they just do
willy-nilly. ”
Petkun said he would have
questions for Holmes regarding
students’ readmission.
“So far she’s proven to me she has
the best interest of students at heart,”
he said.
Leavitt said the tendency toward
suicide is a part of the community,
but it doesn’t have to happen.
“That’s really what this is designed
to do — get help in time for
students,” she said.
Holmes added that officials need to
balance privacy and confidentiality
concerns with basic human rights.
“TVying to balance those very im
portant things with making sure this
is a safe community for everybody is
really a tough challenge,” she said.
She also emphasised that the
University is not dealing with
mental-health emergencies as con
duct issues, as she said some
universities do.
Bill dies in Senate
Until recently, the new policy
faced a challenge by legislation filed
Feb. 14 by State Senator Bill Mor
risette that would have placed con
straints on Oregon universities
recommending students take med
ication or be placed on medical
leave. The bill would have allowed
mandatory leave only if the student
in question was “given the opportu
nity to pursue treatment options for
the mental disorder that would not
necessitate a medical leave,” and the
“leave of absence ends when a psy
chiatrist or psychologist concludes
that the student does not pose a
danger to self or others.”
But Senate Education and Work
force Committee Chairwoman Vicki
Walker told the Emerald Thursday
she has decided not to hear the bill.
Don Bishoff, legislative assistant to
Morrisette, previously said Senate Bill
561 was designed as a “due-process
bill” that would “make sure that
students have the proper procedures
in place so students aren’t dealt with
arbitrarily by the system.”
“(Morrisette) doesn’t necessarily
believe the UO ... is going to be arbi
trary, but at the same time he thinks
it’s good to have rule in place to pre
vent arbitrariness in case it rears its
ugly head,” he said.
Walker said she decided not to
hear it because the legislation would
“get in the way” of counselors,
doctors and students.
“We’re talking about adults here,
and I don’t want to be micro-manag
ing their care,” she said.
She said she supported
Morrisette’s earlier attempts to
regulate medication for K-12 stu
dents, but said that was “quite a
different situation.”
“1 just think this bill would take
one of the tools out of the tool box,”
Walker said.
She added that she appreciates
the University’s attempts to
combat suicide.
Bishoff said the senator will sup
port any efforts by bill creator and
retired pharmacist Jim Whittenburg
to introduce similar legislation in
the House.
“Obviously Senator Morrisette is ...
unhappy and disappointed that the
bill won’t get a hearing because he
feels it is of considerable value,”
Bishoff said. “That’s the way things
happen sometimes.”
Holmes said University officials
had “very, very serious concerns
about that bill” because it would
have prevented nurse practitioners,
primary care physicians and psychia
trists at the University from prescrib
ing medication as they are licensed to
do anywhere in the state.
“It’s an ill-conceived, poorly writ
ten bill that’s vague, makes no
sense, and I think would be very
damaging,” she said. “You can’t leg
islate that someone can’t practice
their profession.”
Holmes said not allowing medical
personnel at the University to write
prescriptions would have been a
“huge loss for students.”
parkerhowell@dailyemerald.com
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