The Lute Faculty and Staff Support Network (FASSN) is a short term, confidential program designed to match faculty and staff with experience in life-changing personal experiences (colleagues
offering support) with faculty and staff seeking support on various personal issues (colleagues
seeking support). Our aim is to connect faculty and staff with common experiences to enable the culture of care that PLU values to extend to those of our own facing sensitive personal struggles.
The program is NOT designed to replace or even serve as professional counseling. Faculty and Staff should be aware that PLU offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) whereby counseling with trained professionals can be obtained.
Colleagues offering support are not experts in counseling but rather are willing to simply share their experiences and the resources they found helpful in their own journeys. A co-supporter option is also available for those who would be willing to walk alongside someone with similar struggles together.
The expected time commitment (a maximum of three one-hour sessions) is designed to protect the time of everyone involved.
Participants may drop out of the program at any time for any reason.
Confidentiality is a critical aspect to participating in Lute FASSN. Information about the program may be presented in the aggregate to PLU administrators overseeing the program and to the Lute FASSN development team. Names and responses will be de-identified before the summaries are shared with overseeing administrators. The identity of participants will remain as confidential as possible. Participants must commit that and their conversations should remain private, meaning that the discussions will not be disclosed without the other’s consent, unless legally compelled to do so (which is rare but possible such as in the event of a subpoena). The leadership team also signs a non-disclosure agreement, and data about participants are stewarded with the same protocols as a human-subjects research study.
