Counseling

Behavior Intervention Team

The behavior intervention team (BIT) provides interventions and assistance to students who exhibit concerning behaviors, both to support students and assist faculty/staff.

Purpose

The team will collect and investigate reported incidents of students exhibiting persistent or significant behavioral disturbances in order to recommend interventions and resources to address the needs of students aimed at helping students achieve success. The behavior intervention process is designed to provide members of the College community, who have concerns regarding a students' behavior, with an easily-accessible avenue to report these concerns. BIT is not meant to take the place of classroom management techniques and does not replace the student code of conduct process.

BIT Goals

Minimize disruption to the teaching and learning process.
Intervene early. Provide support and timely response to students displaying varying levels of disruptive, disturbed, or distressed behaviors.
Review information from faculty, staff, students, and/or community members; conduct investigations to determine appropriate responses.
Centralize collection and assessment of concerning student behaviors reported from multiple sources and create an action plan.
Provide education and resources to the campus community in managing and maintaining a safe environment conducive to learning.
Utilize behavior intervention best practices.

Types of Behavior to Report

Demonstrating disruptive or disturbing behavior, especially if it is getting worse or not changing after instructor attempts to intervene
Showing dramatic changes in appearance, behavior or weight
Making disturbing comments in conversation, email, letters, social media postings or papers
Sad, anxious or experiencing dramatic mood shifts
Acting paranoid or suspicious
Frequently angry or easily frustrated

Incident Reporting Form

The incident report form is used to notify the behavior intervention team when a student is exhibiting concerning behavior that could escalate into harm to themselves or others in the campus community. After a report is submitted the team will investigate the situation and pursue appropriate intervention.

Protocol

BIT uses a protocol to ensure that critical student behavior or mental health issues or incidents are addressed appropriately. When a referral is submitted through the BIT incident report online form, team members receive the report through campus email. For reports that require immediate intervention, the BIT convenes immediately to assess the situation and develop an appropriate response. Otherwise, the team evaluates non-emergency reports during regular meetings to develop the appropriate response to each person of concern. In some situations, the BIT will communicate with the reporter regarding steps to gain additional information to better assess certain situations.

Once a referral is made, and depending upon the situation, immediate action may be taken:

The BIT team will meet and discuss the incident
Additional information from the reporter and other people may be collected
The NaBITA Threat Assessment Tool may be utilized
Appropriate intervention is determined and action/additional action is taken
Feedback is provided (when appropriate and in keeping with federal and state laws)