NaBITA MEMBER NEWSLETTER
October 23rd, 2013

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In NaBITA's monthly newsletter we share a Tip of the Week, spotlight a resource relevant to field, provide news, and share information about our upcoming events. In addition, each NaBITA newsletter brings you information relevant to the field of behavioral intervention and prevention, with current events and relevant resources. If you like the newsletter, we hope you will join NaBITA so that you can receive the weekly version of this great member benefit.

Resource Spotlight

Threat, Threat, Threat, Threat, or Threat?

by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., W. Scott Lewis, J.D., and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D.

Since the Tuscon shootings, “threat assessment” has again become the buzzword of the moment. Everyone now knows that colleges and universities have behavioral intervention and/or threat assessment teams, are forming teams, or know they need to form teams. But, what threats are they supposed to assess?

NaBITA has identified five differing legal standards for threats, all of which need to be known to and understood by those who practice threat assessment on college and university campuses. This brief article will explain each type of threat, what teams need to know about it, and how it differs from the others.

Tip of the Week

Risk Rubrics Assure Team Accountability

by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D.

The University of Colorado is being sued by the victims and families of the Aurora movie theater shooting in July 2012. No one is surprised by this, but it is sad to see the harmed parties turn in their anguish to blame an only tangentially-involved third party. Shooter James Holmes was a former student of the CU-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, neither under its care nor control. CU's behavioral intervention team, the BETA, will be a focus of the eventual trial, if the litigation goes that far. What did the team know, when, and how? How did it respond? Similar questions will mark similar suits in the future, and our teams need to be prepared. Is yours?

NaBITA will offer a Threat Assessment Tool Comparative Analysis during our Campus Threat Management Institute, which will be held in November and is open to NaBITA members. Register for the 2013 NaBITA Conference and Campus Threat Management Institute today!

Upcoming Events from NaBITA

2013 Annual NaBITA Conference and Campus Threat Management Institute

November 13-17, 2013 at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, FL

Registration deadline is October 31st

Use #NaBITA2013 for all conference related social media posts

Campus Threat Management Institute: November 13-17, 2013

New Featured Speaker Session:

Addressing Two Dilemmas in Counseling: Mandated Treatment and Clery Reporting
Presented by Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D. and W. Scott Lewis, J.D.

Join Scott Lewis and Brian Van Brunt as they address two central dilemmas facing many counseling centers today. For the first half of the program, they will discuss the challenges of offering mandated treatment as part of the scope of treatment given the rise in counseling requests, difficulty providing enough services to a higher risk population, pressure to provide increased outreach and dwindling resources. The presenters will address the central question, “If a center offers mandated treatment, how can this be done ethically and within the larger context of service delivery?” The second half of the program will address the separate issue of Clery reporting. Some counseling centers view their staff as exempt from reporting requirements. Others see anonymous, aggregate data reporting as a reasonable middle ground. The presenters will share their perspectives from the legal, psychological and administrative perspectives.

Newly published faculty guide aids college professors dealing with aggressive behavior in the classroom

College and university faculty are asked to serve an increasingly diverse and at-risk population of students. The classroom is now the scene of disruptive and dangerous behaviors that range from speaking out of turn to the misuse of technology to potentially aggressive and threatening behaviors. Written by Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D. and W. Scott Lewis, J.D., A Faculty Guide to Addressing Disruptive and Dangerous Behavior provides the practical ideas and guidance necessary to manage and mitigate these behaviors, from two respected professionals who've developed and implemented the field's best practices. Grounded in research and theory that addresses the interplay of mental health, substance abuse and aggression that may enter the college classroom, this accessible book serves as a necessary guide for busy faculty members facing challenging situations in their classrooms.

For more information on the book, click here.

To invite the authors to speak with your faculty, contact Alisha DiGiandomenico at (610) 644-3387.

Announcing NCHERM Group Online Trainings

The NCHERM Group Online Trainings is a new endeavor to provide quality, distance learning education and discussion opportunities to colleges and universities across the country and around the world.

Bringing experts from numerous fields, The NCHERM Group and its affiliated associations, SCOPE, ATIXA and NaBITA, will bring you quality programs that address the most pressing needs in threat assessment, prevention education, sexual assault prevention, higher education legal issues, administrative best practices and risk management.

Fall 2013 Online Trainings Schedule

October 16: Readmission Requirements Following a Psychological Crisis
Click here to purchase a copy of the recording.
November 1: Addressing Disruptive and Dangerous Student Behavior in the Classroom

Registration deadline is Tuesday, October 29.

November 6: Training Front Office Staff to Identify, Report and Manage Disruptive and Dangerous Behavior

Registration deadline is Monday, November 4.

November 19: Managing the Suicidal Student on Campus

Registration deadline is Friday, November 15.

November 20: Forensic Threat Assessment: Hire a Specialist or Train Existing Staff?

Registration deadline is Monday, November 18.

December 3: Seven Things We Can Do To End Hazing

Registration deadline is Tuesday, November 26.

Click here for official press release.

Announcing J-BIT, a multi-disciplinary academic journal for BIT research

The National Behavioral Intervention Team Association announces the launch of its flagship, peer-reviewed academic journal, The Journal of Campus Behavioral Intervention (J-BIT). J-BIT is a multi-disciplinary journal intended to encourage academic research and scholarship regarding the function, design, operation, and assessment of campus Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs) at two- and four-year colleges and universities.

To learn more about J-BIT, click here.