The Refractive Thinker® Vol. XXIV Mental Health: Chapter 9: Triage for Mental Health: Faculty’s Role and Assessment

The public knows about the importance of triage in the hospital emergency setting, but few are aware of this term in institutions of higher learning. Triage is simply matching students with priority order of resources most needed (Merriam Webster, 2023). Faculty can be the first line of defense or first responders in the classroom to provide students the help they need before escalation ensues. The focus of this article was to review the need for additional faculty training to ensure professors are part of students’ “network of care” (Sarraf, 2021). Disruptive student behavior is easy to detect in the classroom but as the online education market continues to grow, professors may be the first to identify mental health issues (Sarraf, 2021).