NaBITA Newsletter
October 15th, 2014
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In NaBITA's monthly newsletter we share a Tip of the Week, spotlight a resource relevant to the 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. Click here for more information.
Resource Spotlight
NaBITA is pleased to spotlight BIT Recordkeeping Best Practices and Model Policy, by W. Scott Lewis, J.D., Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. and Brett A. Sokolow, J.D.
Tip of the Week
BIT and Case Management Notes Part 1: She Gave Me a Pen
In the immortal words of Lloyd Dobler in the most excellent 80’s movie, Say Anything, “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.”
Ok, so maybe it’s a bit of a forced transition, but pens do lead to writing and writing is what we do when we create notes. So, this tip of the week is about pens, writing and notes. BIT and Case Management notes, to be exact.
To read the complete Tip, click here.
2014 Annual Conference and Campus Threat Management Institute
Registration Deadline is Friday, November 7th!
Hotel Room Block Closes on October 30th (subject to availability)!
Register online here.
Now in its sixth year, the Annual NaBITA Conference and Campus Threat Management Institute is the leading conference in the field of higher education threat assessment and behavioral intervention. Each year the conference provides valuable, substantive, sustaining, and energizing dialogue for professionals from various disciplines who are engaged in the essential function of behavioral intervention in schools, on college campus, and in corporations and organizations.
Dates: November 19th – November 23rd, 2014 (Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon). The NaBITA Institute runs concurrently with the NaBITA Annual Conference, and then continues for two additional days. Institute registrants will attend the NaBITA Conference (included in the Institute registration fee), in an optional special track for Institute registrants.
The NaBITA conference begins with the Opening Keynote on Wednesday, November 19th, at 7:00pm. The conference runs through Thursday, November 20th until 1:00pm on Friday, November 21st. The Institute continues for the remainder of Friday the 21st, all day on Saturday the 22nd, and then concludes at 1:00pm on Sunday, November 23rd, 2014. For more information on the Campus Threat Management Institute, including certification opportunities, click here.
Conference Keynote Speaker
NaBITA is honored to announce Dave Cullen as the Keynote Speaker at this year's Conference. Mr. Cullen is the author of the New York Times bestseller Columbine, a haunting portrait of two killers and their victims. Columbine won several awards, including the Edgar Award, Barnes & Noble’s Discover Award, the Goodreads Choice Award. The keynote presentation, Understanding the Gradual Evolution of How and Why Troubled Kids Become Shooters, will be Wednesday, November 19th beginning at 7:00pm. For more information on the 2014 conference keynotes and featured speakers, click here.
The Downward Spiral: Understanding the Gradual Evolution of How and Why Troubled Kids Become Shooters
Presented by Dave Cullen, author of Columbine
Most shooters plan their attack for weeks, but the real danger begins months or years earlier, as they spiral downward. This long, slow gestation phase is our best hope for intervention. This session will identify three main types of shooters, and focus on the largest: How does a killer progress? What does his downward spiral look like? How can we identify at-risk kids and intercede?
This session will identify three main types of shooters, and focus on the largest: vengeful depressives. They are the easiest to treat, yet our least focus to date. What does their downward spiral look like? How does a killer progress? Why? Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold vividly documented his 2-year battle with suicide. Scanned passages from his journal, stories, etc. will help participants get inside a killer’s mind, seeing the world from his perspective. We will widen out to put Dylan in context of other vengeful depressives, using FBI and Secret Service data, as well as perspectives from top forensic psychologists on other prominent shootings.
The speaker will be available for book-signing after the session.
Featured Speaker Sessions
The 2014 NaBITA Annual Conference features presenters chosen for their topical expertise by the conference committee.
A sampling of Featured Speakers sessions include:
BIT and Student Retention: Working Together Toward a Common Goal
Presented by Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., Senior Vice President for Professional Program Development, The NCHERM Group, LLC and Amy Murphy, Ph.D., Dean of Students/Managing Director, Center for Campus Life, Texas Tech University
Behavioral Intervention Teams are common on today’s university campuses. These teams meet to proactively identify students of concern, apply interventions to reinforce positive behaviors and change the course of negative ones, and to prevent violence and other threats to campus safety and wellness. Student retention efforts have been a growing area of focus for administrators looking to improve graduation statistics, increase student engagement and grow undergraduate and graduate student populations.
Join Drs. Murphy and Van Brunt as they review how BIT and student retention efforts can overlap to increase BIT presences and improve student retention efforts. While BIT and retention efforts may occasionally be at odds, they share the common goal of helping at-risk students become better connected on campus. Student engagement in clubs and organizations, educationally purposeful activities, interaction with faculty, learning with peers, high impact practices, and supportive campus environment each provide positive risk mitigation strategies useful for BITs.
Participants will learn:
- How to lobby for increased BIT funding and support on campus by reviewing the BIT’s impact on student retention.
- How to find areas of commonality between student retention goals of the university and the goals of the Behavioral Intervention Team.
- What limitations exist in information sharing between the BIT and student retention efforts.
- How Tinto’s model of student engagement relates to behavioral intervention.
BIT Recordkeeping
Presented by Saundra K. Schuster, J.D., NaBITA 2011-2012 President; Partner, The NCHERM Group, LLC
We are frequently asked questions about recordkeeping and the BIT process. Teams tend to be focused on development of the team, creation of a protocol to identify an individual’s degree of threat, and identifying appropriate responses using objective measurements, to the exclusion of a protocol for recordkeeping. Of course these elements for your BIT are all important to the functioning and risk management, but so is the way in which your team creates and maintains the records related to your meetings, your follow-up, your recommendations, and your follow-through. This session focuses on the seven critical elements that must be addressed for comprehensive and compliant recordkeeping.
Updating the NaBITA Threat Assessment Tool
Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., NaBITA Executive Director; President & CEO, The NCHERM Group, LLC
In 2014, NaBITA’s Executive Team decided to update the NaBITA Threat Assessment tool. While the functionality is still the same, we’ve made changes to:
- Improve accuracy
- Better demonstrate the literature, empirical and research basis for the tool
- Clarify the ways to use trajectory and baseline to assess risk more accurately
- Clarify confusion over the medical disability category
- Better represent the conflict/hostility-based pathway to violence, and
- Integrate the SIVRA-35 Tool
In this session, the presenter will review the changes that have been made, and discuss the process by which they were debated and determined. He will review application of some of the key updates, and provide an overview of how teams should be using the tool today. This session will feature lively Q&A.
Location and Hotel
The NaBITA Conference will be at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa. NaBITA has blocked rooms at the conference hotel, and the block will close on October 30, 2014. Please note that this is subject to availability, and it is possible that the room block may sell out before October 30th. Reservations made after October 30th will be subject to the standard rate and based on availability. Lodging reservations can be made directly with the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa by clicking here or by calling 888-421-1442.
Registration
Click here for information on registering for the Annual Conference.
Click here for information on registering for the Campus Threat Management Institute.
Conference Information
For more information, please visit our 2014 Conference website, or contact Samantha Dutill, samantha@nabita.org or 484-321-3651.
Keep Your Certification with NaBITA Up-to-Date
Introducing the Continuing Certification Credit (CCC) Program
Have you completed a certification training with NaBITA? Are you considering obtaining these
certifications? Do you benefit from ongoing professional development from The NCHERM Group? If so, the CCC program is for you. We have heard your requests to update and renew your certifications online, and we are excited to announce our online professional development platform called the Continuing Certification Credit (CCC) program.
Who can earn CCCs? Our CCC program allows clients of The NCHERM Group, including those certified by NaBITA, to track, maintain and extend their professional development through our programs. CCCs are a cost-effective way to stay current and maintain your certification from the nations leader in higher education risk management.
Learn more about our new program here.
Upcoming 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 2014 Online Trainings
- October 29, 2014: Addressing Risk Management in Study Abroad Programs
- December 18, 2014: Federal Changes In Policy Concerning Suicidal & Dangerous Students:
Fall 2013 and Winter, Spring and Summer 2014 Online Training Recordings Available for Purchase here
- October 16, 2013: Readmission Requirements Following a Psychological Crisis
- November 1, 2013: Addressing Disruptive and Dangerous Student Behavior in the Classroom
- November 6, 2013: Training Front Office Staff to Identify, Report and Manage Disruptive and Dangerous Behavior
- November 19, 2013: Managing the Suicidal Student on Campus
- November 20, 2013: Forensic Threat Assessment: Hire a Specialist or Train Existing Staff?
- January 7, 2014: Post-vention and Suicide Response
- February 11, 2014: The Role of Mental Health Professionals on the BIT
- February 13, 2014: Air Traffic Control for Helicopter Parents
- March 19, 2014: Fighting Mid-Semester Burnout and Stress
- March 25, 2014: Ten Practical Ways to Reduce Liability for Suicidal Students on Campus
- March 26, 2014: Addressing Two Dilemmas in Counseling: Mandated Treatment and Clery Reporting
- April 8, 2014: Title IX and BITs
- April 22, 2014: Counseling and Conduct: Working Together
- May 8, 2014: Should I Write this Down? BIT Documentation Do’s and Don’ts
- June 11, 2014: International Student Arrival: Preparing Your Campus's Faculty and Staff
- June 12, 2014: Update on Title IX and Compliance
- June 26, 2014: Separating Dangerousness from Anger: Assessing True Threat
- July 11, 2014: Issues of Gender Violence in LGBT Communities
- July 15, 2014: Responding to a Student Death
- July 16, 2014: Managing Faculty and Staff Expectations Following a BIT Intervention
- September 8, 2014: Update on the NaBITA Tool: What's New?
- October 6, 2014: BIT and Case Management Notes:101
Resources Available for Purchase
The Journal of Campus Behavioral Intervention
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.
Click here for more information about J-BIT and a look at our 2015 Call for Submissions.
Links to Relevant Articles
Suspect in Shooting Threat in Police Custody; Arraignment Set for Tomorrow
2 Arrested, Accused of Making Threats at Coral Springs Schools
Job Board
Case Manager - Ithaca College
NaBITA has created a Job Board page on our website for you to share any BIT-related job openings on your campus. You can find this resource at http://nabita.org/resources/job-board/. Please email any position announcements to Samantha@nabita.org.
Membership Renewal Reminder
If your NaBITA membership expires in September, October or November, now is the time to renew. Renew your NaBITA campus membership or join for the first time for as low as $639! Please download our membership renewal form here, or click here to renew online.
For more information on NaBITA, visit www.nabita.org or contact:
Samantha Dutill, Associate Executive Director
116 E. King Street
Malvern, PA 19355
Phone: 484-321-3651 *new*
Fax: 610-993-0228