Bretagne Ballard Jessica Oswald Shepherd University

1. RISK…It’s More Than a Game:A Guide to Building & Maintaining aBehavioral Intervention & Response Protocol Bretagne Ballard Jessica Oswald Shepherd University

2. Scenario….what would you do?? • On a Thursday night during final exams at Ficticious College, an alarm was sent out to faculty, staff, and students about a potential hostage situation on the third floor of the campus library. Upon the arrival of the campus and state police, this information was confirmed. Three enraged students had approached the library earlier that evening with their backpacks filled with weapons and ammunition. Witnesses who fled the scene, claimed the students were taking hostages at gunpoint. The perpetrators were holding the hostages in a computer lab on the third floor of the library. The students all had a history of depression, self abuse, and violent tendencies in their residence halls; no details were found about previous behavior modification and counseling support provided. • What could have been done differently earlier in the process? • Could the hostage situation been avoided?

3. Program Overview • What is a Behavioral Intervention Team (B.I.T.)? • Why create a Behavioral Intervention Team? • How to create a Behavioral Intervention Team • How to sustain a Behavioral Intervention Team • How to utilize a Behavioral Intervention Team

4. What is a Behavioral Intervention Team? • Scale of crisis (Zdziarski, Dunkel, & Rollo, 2007) • Critical Incident: focused on one student/group of students • Campus Emergency: affects all of campus environment—may result in disruption of daily life • Disaster: far reaching events impacting outside of campus • A group of stakeholders getting together to discuss students and situations on campus on the critical incident end of the spectrum • “In the administration of a crisis, the key organizational structure that contributes to successful outcomes in the recovery effort is a campus-wide coordinating team” (Miser & Cherrey, 2009, p. 607)

5. Why Have a Behavioral Intervention Team? • “Student Affairs Professionals are generally responsible for the physical and emotional health and well-being of students on their campus” (Fried, 2003, p. 124) • Discussing provides the opportunity to think critically for solutions and intervene while the opportunity exists • “Relationships among staff [and students] are strengthened through their participation in the process of crisis management” (Miser & Cherrey, 2009, p. 613)

6. Organization before the crisis • Beforecrises strikes, it is important to have a plan of action for the possibility of having to leave the campus • It is important to have a central crisis management location that serves as the headquarters for information and instruction • There should be a means of quick and easy communication between those who need to handle the crisis situation • There should already be a framework of procedures (fire drills, tornado drills, hostage training) in place to guide the students, faculty, and staff

7. Your role on the Behaviorial Intervention teams • Before a crisis strikes, it is imperative to havea team in place that periodically assesses and evaluates the behavior of the students; therefore, the team may prevent any crisis in the future • During a crisis, there may be a disintegration of normal lines of communication; therefore, it is imperative to organize a team of administrators to deal with the crisis (Miser, K.M. & Cherrey, C., 2009) • It is important to have a clear hierarchy of decision-making but be very selective about who should participate in the decision-making process • The administrative team should include a representative(s) from Residence Life, Counseling Services, Student Conduct Services, and Campus Police. The Dean of Students may also want to be on the BIT. • Remember no information is trivial; it is better to be safe than sorry

8. Effectively utilizing the behavioral intervention team • In order to effectively utilized an Behavioral Intervention Team, there should be reoccurring meetings that take place weekly; therefore, you will be up to date with the needs of the students • The team should also be aware of the campus resources so the student can get the proper assistance when necessary • Confidentiality is one of the most important tools that a Behavioral Intervention Team can have; don’t share information unless absolutely necessary

9. Organization of shepherd’s behavioral intervention team

10. References • Fried, J. (2003). Ethical standards and principles. In S. R. Komives & D. B. Woodard (Eds.), Student services: A handbook for the profession (pp. 107-127). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • Miser, K. M. & Cherrey, C. (2009). Responding to campus crisis. In G. S. McClellan & J. Stringer (Eds.), The handbook of student affairs (pp. 602-622). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • Zdziarski, E. II, Dunkel, N., Rollo, J., and Assoc. (2007). Campus crisis management: A comprehensive guide to planning, prevention, response, and recovery. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass..