NCHERM: The National Center for Higher Education Risk ManagementView Cart

NCHERM Newsletter

Summer 2009

Welcome

Hello friends and colleagues.  Welcome to the SUMMER 2009 NCHERM Newsletter.

The sections in this newsletter include:

1.  An Update on NCHERM Happenings and Activities

  • NCHERM Partner W. Scott Lewis, J.D. elected president-elect of ASCA, the Association for Student Conduct Administrators.  Congrats Scott! 
  • NCHERM will be presenting HELIEI, the Higher Education Legal Issues Executive Institutes, in Chicago and San Antonio in July.  These institutes differ from conferences as they are designed to be intimate and in depth.  The Chicago event will be co-presented by NCHERM partners W. Scott Lewis and Saunie Schuster.  The San Antonio event will be presented by NCHERM Partner W. Scott Lewis. Don't miss these valuable risk management events. 
  • Samantha Dutill, who started with NCHERM in Client Relations has been promoted to Associate Executive Director.  Congrats Sam!
  • Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., has joined NCHERM as an Affiliated Consultant.  Welcome Brian!  Brian is the Director of Counseling and Testing at Western Kentucky University.   He is also president-elect of the ACCA.  In addition to expanding the range of expertise and consultation offered by NCHERM, Brian coordinates a new service from NCHERM, our Behavioral Mental Health Consultation Team.  Click here to jump to the BMHCT section of this Newsletter.  Click here to read more about Dr. Van Brunt.
  • NCHERM Partner Saunie Schuster recently served the Iowa Board of Regents as a consultant on revising its sexual assault and harassment policies, system-wide for all five Iowa public universities.  She and her co-authors are also hard-at-work on a second edition of their well-received book on the First Amendment.  Saunie is planning webinars for the fall on Undocumented Students and Sexual Harassment/Free Speech.  Stay tuned for details.
  • The Mental Health Association of Suffolk County, New York, recently honored NCHERM Affiliated Consultant Carolyn Reinach Wolf, J.D., and invited her to give a Keynote address entitled, “Emerging Mental Health Issues on the College Campus”. 
  • The April 2008 issue of the Journal of College and University Law featured an article entitled “The Liability of Colleges and Universities for Violent Campus Attacks,” authored by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., W. Scott Lewis, J.D., James A. Keller, J.D., Audrey Daly, J.D.  Download a copy here  PDF.
  • NCHERM is now offering Behavioral Intervention Team formation and training consultation.  Training is available in 1-4 day formats.  We offer training that focuses on basic team formation as follows:

    - Team Formation and Operation

    - Team Protocol Development

    - Intervention Best Practices

    - Team Communication and Privacy Issues

 We also offer training that focuses on advanced skills, such as:

    - Mental Health Law and Suicidality

    - Threat Assessment

    - Table Top Exercises

    - Advanced Risk Mitigation and Integration Topics

Please contact Kate Halligan, NCHERM’s Director of Client Relationships at (610) 579-3725 or kate@ncherm.org for more information.

  • NCHERM is offering a popular workshop topic for the fall:  Preventing and Responding to Disruptive Students, a seminar that can be presented for faculty, staff or both.  This topic is presented by NCHERM Partner W. Scott Lewis, J.D. in 2 hour, half-day, full-day and two-day versions.  More details are posted here.
  • The NCHERM Recession-Friendly Retainer.  We have adjusted our retainer program to help meet your needs in an environment of potentially more limited resources.  With our recession-friendly retainers, you’ll have access to our expertise by phone, email and fax any time you need it for an entire year. 

2.  Upcoming NCHERM Webinar and Seminar Schedule

7/14/09 - A Perfect Storm: Understanding and Managing Millennials

NCHERM/MAGNA Online Webinar presented by W. Scott Lewis, J.D. 1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT.  Register here. 

7/16/09 - CUBIT and the Case Management Model -- Promising Practices

NaBITA Online Webinar presented by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D., Erica Woodley, M.Ed., Sherry Hazelwood, M.Ed., Jennifer Van Norman, and Amy Powell, MSW.  1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT.  Hosted by NaBITA.  Register here. 

July 2009 - HELIEI -- The Higher Education Legal Issues Executive Institute

TWO REGIONAL, TWO-DAY NCHERM SEMINARS HOSTED AT:

1.  Loyola University, Chicago

2.  University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio

Presented by W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D.

Register online here or download the PDF registration form here.

7/28/09 - Tools to Reduce Personal Liability for College Administrators

NCHERM/MAGNA Online Webinar presented by Brett A. Sokolow, .J.D.., W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D. 1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT.  Register here. 

8/18/09 -- Behavioral Intervention Teams:  20 Frequently Asked Questions

NCHERM/MAGNA Online Webinar Rebroadcast featuring Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. and W. Scott Lewis, J.D.  1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT.  Register here. 

9/11/09 - BIT by Bit: The Basics of Forming and Operating a Behavioral Intervention Team AN NCHERM REGIONAL SEMINAR HOSTED BY SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE, NOTRE DAME, IN.  Presented by W. Scott Lewis, J.D. and Saundra K. Schuster, J.D.  Register here.

9/22/09 - Threat Assessment for Behavioral Intervention Teams

AN NCHERM REGIONAL SEMINAR HOSTED BY CLARK UNIVERSITY, WORCESTER, MA. Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D.  10:00am to 3:00pm EDT.  Register here.

11/6/09 - We've Intervened...Now What?

NCHERM Online Webinar Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. and Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D.  1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT.  Hosted by NCHERM.  Register online here.

NOW AVAILABLE

Campus Safety 101 -- New Online Course

NCHERM and MAGNA Publications are pleased to announce the release of Campus Safety 101.  This new 6-part online course is designed for faculty, staff and administrators and their role in identifying troubled students, getting them the help they need, and protecting the campus community.  Campus Safety 101 is innovative, affordable, and interactive.  For details, click here.

3. NCHERM Schedule of Campus Visits

NCHERM consultants are already scheduled to visit 35 campuses this fall, and there are still five open dates for student programs during orientation.  Perhaps we might visit your campus if we'll be nearby?  The schedule of campus visits may be accessed by clicking here.  To schedule a visit, please contact Kate Halligan, NCHERM’s Director of Client Relationships at (610) 579-3725 or kate@ncherm.org. 

4.  NCHERM Blogs!

We don't Tweet (Yet!), but we've entered the Blogosphere.  Every Friday, an NCHERM Partner or Affiliated Consultant posts a short blog entry to the NCHERM RiskMaBlog.  Please follow our blogging here, or use the RiskMaBlog button on the NCHERM homepage. 

5.  BMHCT -- The NCHERM Behavioral Mental Health Consultation Team

The NCHERM Behavioral Mental Health Consultation Team can be retained by your campus for year-round, 24/7 on-call case consultation.   The BMHCT is composed of the following five professionals:  

  • Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., Certified Forensic Counselor, Director of Counseling and Testing, Western Kentucky University
  • Perry Francis, Ed.D., LPC, Associate Professor of Counseling/Coordinator of Counseling Service, COE Counseling Clinic, Eastern Michigan University. 

The team is available 24/7 to consult with campus behavioral intervention and threat assessment teams on case management.   The BMHCT mental health professionals are not available for clinical therapy or assessment with students, but are intended to help inform teams that need diagnostic, forensic, behavioral, psychiatric, pharmacological and related advice.  Read more about the BMHCT here.

6.  Free Article

As with every issue of the NCHERM Newsletter, we provide you with what we hope is a thought-provoking article.  Please use this link to access Behavioral Intervention v. Threat Assessment:  Best Practices for Violence Prevention  PDF, by NCHERM Partners Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. and W. Scott Lewis, J.D.  If you read a similar article in the recent NaBITA Newsletter, this is a different take on the same theme.

Behavioral Intervention v. Threat Assessment:  Best Practices for Violence Prevention

By:  Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. and W. Scott Lewis, J.D.

Across the country, colleges and universities are implementing or revising their models for proactive, early intervention with at-risk students and staff.  We call these teams by varying names, including:

  • BIT (Behavioral Intervention Team),
  • BAT (Behavioral Assessment Team),
  • SOC (Students of Concern),
  • CARE (Campus Assessment, Response, Evaluation),
  • TAT (Threat Assessment Team),
  • CCT (College Concerns Team),
  • TABI (Threat Assessment and Behavioral Intervention),
  • CAT (Campus Assessment Team). 

Combine the last two, and you’d have a TABI CAT, among a myriad of other names, acronyms and approaches across campuses.  Some campuses have more than one team, while other campuses have only one.  For those campuses that have more than one team, it is common to divide functions between one team that is responsible for threat assessment (TAT) and a second team that is responsible for behavioral intervention (BIT).  High-risk situations go to the TAT, lower risk to the BIT.  While we think this approach can work, it would be an exception, not the rule.  Separating these functions may prove literally fatal on some campuses...click here to read more  PDF.

***

Thanks for reading!  We hope you have a great summer.  Please do not hesitate to call on NCHERM if you need us.

If you would prefer not to receive our quarterly newsletter, please e-mail us at NCHERM@ncherm.org and ask to be removed from the subscription list, or use the remove feature within this email.

BACK TO TOP