The Student Support and Advocacy Center assists students who are encountering a life crisis or significant barriers that impact their academic and personal success and/or overall functioning. Our goal through individual consultations is to best understand the student’s situation, answer questions, provide guidance, and make connections to appropriate on and off-campus resources.
Request Support
This form is appropriate for currently enrolled students requesting support for themselves. Please use the referral form if you are not a currently enrolled student seeking support for yourself.
Referral Form
This form is available to all users to notify our office of your concerns for a Mason Student. This includes faculty, staff, family, friends, classmates, roommates and community members.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mason Students
The SSAC staff is able to work with actively-enrolled Mason students. We may be able to provide general guidance to individuals who are no longer enrolled or those who wish to reenroll at the University, but there may be some limitations to the support we can provide due to lack of active enrollment status. If you do not have active Mason credentials (NetID/password), please complete this form
A member of the SSAC staff will review your submission and respond either via email or phone to schedule a meeting to further discuss your situation. Our staff will generally respond to your request within one to two business days.
- If your login credentials (NetID/password) do not work, please contact the ITS Support Center.
- If you are unclear which form to submit, please review all of the information on this FAQ page. If you still have questions, please call our main office line at 703-993-3686 during normal business hours (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday).
- If you are unsure if your form was successfully submitted (if you provide a valid email address, you should receive an auto-response confirming a successful submission), you can contact our main office line at 703-993-3686 during normal business hours (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday).
- The Request Support form is only available to active, enrolled Mason students. If you are not an active, enrolled Mason student or do not have Mason credentials (NetID/password), please use this form to share your information.
Mason Faculty and Staff
Your submission regarding a concern for a Mason student is not anonymous. In fact, it is most helpful that we share with the student you are concerned about them. Sharing the referring person’s name when we contact a student also increases the likelihood of their response to our outreach. Additionally, SSAC staff are deemed the appropriate “university employee with an educational need to know” in regard to student concerns. You will not violate FERPA if you report student concerns to the SSAC staff through the referral form.
You will receive an auto-response confirmation after a successful referral form submission. Additionally, you will receive an email response from one of our SSAC staff members acknowledging our receipt of your referral. A staff member may follow up with you via email or phone if there are questions or additional details needed. After receiving a referral, a member of the SSAC staff will attempt outreach to the Mason student. We attempt to connect with students both via email and phone.
We are unable to require that students communicate with us, but we will generally make multiple outreach attempts to increase the likelihood of a student response. In some instances, if there is a legitimate educational need to know, a member of our staff may provide you with updates regarding the student. Otherwise, it is unlikely you will receive future communication from us about your referral.
SSAC does not enforce nor have authority over the Code of Student Conduct. If your concern relates to a violation of the Code, please submit an incident report to the The Office of Student Conduct.
Yes, it is highly recommended that you inform the Mason student that you plan to or have already submitted a referral because you are concerned about them. We have found that if students are aware that someone is concerned and know that a referral has been submitted, it increases the likelihood that they actually respond to our outreach and support.
We attempt to connect with all active, enrolled students that we receive referrals for both via email and phone. We are unable to require or mandate that students communicate with us. We will generally make multiple outreach attempts to increase the likelihood of a student response. SSAC does not enforce nor have authority over the Code of Student Conduct. If your concern relates directly to a violation of the Code, please submit an incident report to The Office of Student Conduct.
If you have concerns about multiple students in your course, please submit separate referrals for each individual student. As an example, if three students each stopped attending class after the first month of the semester and have not responded to your inquiries, please submit three separate referrals, one for each student.
- If you are unclear which form to submit, please review all of the information on this FAQ page. If you still have questions, please call our main office line at 703-993-3686 during normal business hours (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday).
- If you are unsure if your form was successfully submitted (if you provide a valid email address, you should receive an auto-response conforming a successful submission), you can contact our main office line at 703-993-3686 during normal business hours (9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday).
Non-Mason Community, Family and Friends
Any family, friends, or other community members that are not either an enrolled Mason student nor a Mason faculty or staff member should complete this form. This is the referral form that does not require Mason credentials (NetID/password) to make a submission. Any person who wants to submit a referral for a Mason student can use this form.
A member of the SSAC staff will review your submission and attempt outreach to the Mason student. We attempt to connect with students both via email and phone.
You will receive an email response from one of our staff members acknowledging our receipt of your referral. A member of our staff may follow up with you via email or phone if there are questions or additional details needed. SSAC staff can always receive information, but we are unable to provide specific details or outcomes regarding our outreach to a Mason student due to FERPA policy limitations. Due to FERPA regulations, we are unable to disclose student information and educational records to parents, guardians, and other family members. SSAC staff members can explain general academic and institutional policies to help family members better understand processes without violating FERPA regulations.
Your submission regarding a concern for a Mason student is not anonymous. In fact, it is most helpful that we share with the student you are concerned about them. Sharing the referring person’s name when we contact a student also increases the likelihood of them responding to our outreach. Additionally, SSAC staff are deemed the appropriate “university employee with an educational need to know” in regards to student concerns. You will not violate FERPA if you report student concerns to the SSAC staff through the online referral form.