About
About SOS
CONTACT US
The office of Student Outreach and Support is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To speak to a member of our staff, please contact us via phone or email:
727-873-4278
Email
Student Outreach and Support (SOS)
The office of Student Outreach & Support (SOS) at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, is a student-first direct care case management team that supports students in managing stress that impacts their academics and overall health and wellness. SOS case managers meet with students to identifying strengths and needs, collaborating with the student seeking support by providing a variety of interventions such as; coordinating linkage with appropriate support services, assessing risk to self/others and threats to campus and student life, advocate for students internally and within the community, support the student navigate the university system, and foster self-advocacy through support.
VISION
The USF St. Petersburg office of Student Outreach and Support program aims to increase student success thorough direct service engage aimed at promoting health and wellness as well as encourage community safety through individual and campus-wide interventions.
MISSION
The Office of Student Outreach & Support with the University of St. Petersburg promotes student success through varying levels of supportive interventions appropriate to the student need(s) including but not limited to; identifying student strength(s) and need(s) through direct student engagement, facilitating linkage to on/off campus resources, and coordinating care among treatment providers to reduce student stress.
FERPA & Privacy
Student Outreach and Support staff are not counselors. Case management, although supportive and personal, is not the same as psychotherapy; therefore, confidentiality guidelines that apply to medical or professional counseling situations are different for case management.
Student Outreach and Support operates within the confidentiality rules outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This means that without a FERPA release provided by the student, Student Outreach and Support staff cannot share educational records with a parent, or anyone outside of the University, unless there is concern for the health and safety of the student. Within the rules of FERPA, Student Outreach and Support staff can share information with college officials on a need-to-know basis. When sharing information with other staff or faculty, Student Outreach and Support will only share information that is vitally important and always works to respect a student’s privacy by discussing what will be share with the student beforehand.
Many University employees do not realize that FERPA does allow them to disclose information about students when there is an educational need to know. This means that if a University employee is concerned about a student, they are allowed to share information with the Office of Student Outreach and Support in order to coordinate assessment and support for the student.