Michael Mardis, University of Louisville Kevin Bailey, University of West Florida Jen Day Shaw, University of Florida Guy Sims, Virginia Tech June 14, 2011 Round Table Discussion about Behavioral Intervention Teams

Roundtable Agenda Introduction Results of Exploratory BIT Study Current Best Practices from Panel Group Discussion

Questions for those attending Does your campus have a team? Are you on your campus team? What is the name? (BIT,TAT,SCT) When was your team created? Why was the team created? (Purpose) Do you have more than one team? Do you keep records? Respond to incidents when the person of concern if an employee? How do you maintain records? Does your team receive training?

Results – Descriptive Data 1044 institutions invited (Sent to SSAO) 51 undeliverable 993 invitations, 181 responses 18% response rate Do you have a team designed to respond to students in crisis or at-risk? -175 indicated having a team to respond to students in crisis/distress. 5 No team, 1 not sure 60 institutions (34% had had more than one team) 8 institutions had 3 teams Only 1 institution indicated having 4 teams ( BIT, Conduct Review Board, Critical Incident Team, Emergency Management Team )

Length of Time in Existence in Years (Team 1 – 175 Responses) Mean = 4.26 Minimum =.50 years Maximum = 30 years Median = 3 years

Team 1

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet… Student Crisis Action Team (SCAT) Communicating Action Response for Emergency (CARE) Care and Action for Students Team (CAST) Student Protection Response Team (SPRT) Action for Students In Suffering Team (ASIST) Ensuring Action for Students in Emergency (EASE) Action Crisis Team for Students (ACTS) Care Team Most common name: Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT)

Most Frequently Occurring Responsibilities Assessment and Referrals Making referrals for students in crisis (n = 164) Assessing at-risk students (n = 163) Sharing information among appropriate offices (n = 167) Responding and Identifying Crisis Situations Responding to a crisis that threatens the well-being of a student or students (n = 153) Ensuring appropriate follow-through with students (n = 154) Responding to student behavior that is disruptive to the university community (n = 151) Identifying student behaviors that disrupt the learning environment (n = 142) Record-keeping and Other Keeping records on students considered “at-risk” or who are in crisis (n = 132) Serving as a source of information to faculty and staff (n = 126) Initiation of internal review of the crisis situation (n = 112) Responding to incidents where the person of concern is a faculty or staff (n = 96) Dealing with students with academic difficulties (n = 52) Other functions (n = 12)

Situations Most Frequently Addressed (Team 1) Threats of Violence to Others (n = 165) Emotional Distress (n = 158) Suicidal Threats (n = 156) Inappropriate Communications (n = 150) Classroom Disruption (n = 149) Stalking Behaviors (n = 146) Diagnosed Mental Health Disorders (n = 129) Failing Grades (n = 49) Financial Difficulties (n = 40)

Identified Team Members (175 respondents) Counseling Center Director (153) Director of Dept. of Public Safety (139) Housing Director (125) Dean of Students (114) * Student Conduct Officer (112) Health Services Director (81) Faculty Rep (72) VP of Student Affairs (61) Others Identified (125) Academic Advising, Financial Aid, Disabilities Office Rep., Legal Counsel, University Ministry, Athletics, International Office, Women’s Services, Registrar, Wellness Director, Career Services Titles vary at types of institution (DOS and VPSA) *most frequently identified chair (DOS 72, VPSA 44, Other 38, Counseling Director 20)

Discussion Next steps as a profession Where do we see this going (What is the future)? Resources (Time & Funding) What are the implications for us as practitioners? Faculty Interaction Risk avoidance and liability issues – what can we do, what should we be doing, and what are we saying we can do with these teams? Team responsibilities for situations involving employees Areas for future research

Discussion Record Keeping/Documentation Centralized or Decentralized Formal informal Access to information Record keeping who has access from institution Staff Training Parental Notification Communication with Campus How are you sharing information Privacy Laws Who is on your team (faculty)? Areas for future study

Team Training % Receive Training % No Training Types of training In house (VPSA, Legal Council, DOS, Police, Counseling Center) Webinars Workshops Conferences NaBITA (National Behavioral Intervention Team Association) Brett Sokolow

Frequency of Team Meetings Frequency% Weekly31% As-Needed29% Twice Monthly24% Monthly10% Other6%

Record-keeping Does your team keep records of meetings? 79% Yes 21% No Does your team keep records of the specific students you’ve discussed? 94% Yes 6% No

Record-keeping: How teams keep records of information discussed at meetings. Notes (personal, informal) Meting minutes Programs (conduct software, Maxient software, Excel, Titanium) Student files (DOS, Conduct, Counseling Center, University Police) Shared Electronic Folder List of students names and date discussed only Individuals maintain records Record action items only

How do you make others aware of your team? Visits to units/departments (n = 102) Campus electronic notification to faculty staff (n = 99) Website (n = 65) Brochure (n = 39) Campus electronic notification to students (n = 37) Other: don’t make others aware, we don’t promote, faculty senate, Chairs meeting, faculty training, peer education

Contact Information Dr. Michael Mardis Dean of Students &Associate Vice President for Student Affairs University of Louisville Dr. Jen Day Shaw Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students University of Florida Dr. Kevin Bailey Vice President for Student Affairs University of West Florida Dr. Guy Sims Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Virginia Tech