CREATING A SAFER CLASSROOM - COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESPONSES TO CAMPUS VIOLENCE

For years, colleges and universities have had some form of addressing students of concern, though many of these processes were informal and focused on an immediate response and retention issues. Because of the rise in high level acts of school violence (Columbine High School, 1997; Virginia Tech, 2007; and Northern Illinois, 2009 to name but a few), universities felt a need to develop more formal processes to deal with students of concern. In some states this has become mandated legislatively. Many colleges and universities now have formal Behavioral Intervention Teams (BIT's) that have developed the capacity to pick up on, and evaluate, at-risk students and situations and to employ these results to develop strategies to prevent or reduce the potential for future problems. BIT's serve as a centralized collection point on campus for information in an attempt to break down individualized "silos" of information that was known, but not shared with other university stakeholders. The teams also provide a method to track this information, and these students, over time as well. BIT's work in tandem with other campus processes (i.e. the counseling center, campus police, faculty, the university's legal counsel, and health center psychiatrists) in order to make a good faith effort to address risks such as acts of violence, suicide, and behaviors that are disruptive, concerning or odd. Safety to the campus community is the BIT's priority and the goal is to mitigate risk while working to maintain student persistence. The team's work is not a "one size fits all" approach, and the team works to consider each situation individually while working within a framework and guidelines to ensure a thorough consideration of options for each case. Teams generally meet weekly although urgent matters are addressed more immediately.