Hello Friends of NCHERM,
We had a flurry of calls this week asking about upcoming events, as many of you are trying to plan ahead and budget ahead. Here is what we have in store for you in the coming months. I hope you'll join us. Below are the five events (two webinars and three regional seminars) that are already posted on our website, but let me also give you a sneak peek at those that are coming and will be officially announced shortly. We're trying to give you a variety of online, one-day and two-day events to give you budget flexibility, and we're trying to do more regional events so that if you'd like to come, hopefully you'll have lower travel expenses if our event is close by.
May 19 & 20, our 6th Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment two-day Institute will be hosted by Tulane University. Details will be posted to the homepage by Wednesday of this coming week.
Last week of May -- John Byrnes and I will be presenting a one-day drive-in regional seminar on Threat Assessment and Aggression Management in northern Virginia. Details will be posted by next week.
Between June and August, two more of our two-day events are planned, but have not yet been officially scheduled. One will be in eastern Pennsylvania, and one will be at St. Mary's in Notre Dame, IN. We should have those finalized and announced by the end of April.
Finally, the roster of our monthly webinars with MAGNA is set until August. Events up to May are already posted to www.ncherm.org. In June, we're revisiting the current state of efforts to address student suicide on campuses. This event on June 9th will feature Carolyn Reinach Wolf, Esq., a mental health law expert, Jacqueline Wiebe, M.D., a psychiatrist on staff in the health service at the University of Southern Mississippi, and me.
In July, we'll present two webinars, one on the 14th and the second on the 28th. Scott Lewis will present the first one, entitled The Perfect Storm, about how the Millennial challenge became the vexing phenomenon we address daily, and how we can best function to support and cope with this generation of students.
July 28th will be a joint presentation by Saunie Schuster, Scott and me, bringing the three NCHERM partners together for our first joint webinar as partners. This event will focus on the growing trend of personal liability for college administrators, and what it may mean for you.
All our events are hosted by MAGNA Publications (www.magnapubs.com), and are listed on their site and ours 12 weeks prior to the event.
Below are the upcoming events already listed on our site.
NCHERM EVENTS
UPCOMING WEBINARS & SEMINARS
4/14/09 - Challenges in Creating and Assessing Campus Emergency Management Plans - NCHERM ONLINE SEMINAR
Presented by William L. Kibler, Ph.D. and Maureen Connolly, MBA
12:00 - 1:30 PM CDT. Hosted by Magna Publications.
4/17/09 - Best Practices for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment - REGIONAL SEMINAR HOSTED BY LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, JD and W. Scott Lewis, J.D. Two tracks, 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm.
4/22/09 - NCHERM Threat Assessment Seminar
REGIONAL SEMINAR HOSTED BY EDINBORO UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, JD. Registration is through the host campus.
5/13/09 - Best Practices for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment - REGIONAL SEMINAR HOSTED BY CLAYTON STATE UNIVERSITY NEAR ATLANTA, GA. Presented by Brett A. Sokolow, JD and W. Scott Lewis, JD
5/19/09 - Clery Act Compliance -- Getting the Big Picture - NCHERM ONLINE SEMINAR Presented by John Wesley Lowery, Ph.D., Brett A. Sokolow, JD and Douglas Tuttle, M.P.A. 12:00 - 1:30 PM CDT. Hosted by Magna Publications.
Well, Scott, Saunie and I are off to the ACPA conference. We hope to see you there.
Brett
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
March Madness
NCHERM Partner W. Scott Lewis here, with my first ever blog. Not just for this site, but my first ever. Period. I just returned from a series of speaking and conference engagements including NASPA and the NCHERM event at Occidental College. This was right on the heels of the SC Safety Conference, ASCA, and the Community Colleges Legal Issues Conference (with a webinar for Magna Publications in the midst of that as well).
At all of the national and regional events, I noticed a similar theme from presenters who were providing information on Behavioral Intervention Teams – the lack of distinction between “threat assessment” and “behavioral intervention.” I noticed (especially in the five sessions I attended at NASPA) that the terms were being used interchangeably. I believe that, in doing so, we do ourselves and the students, faculty and staff we serve a disservice by this misnomer.
Let me begin by saying that I am truly excited in seeing these teams (whatever they may be called) become more formalized and better developed than they were previously. As one who found himself in a quasi-hostage situation, seeing this “next generation” of teams evolve assures me that we will truly be saving students lives as we continue to develop these practices and teams.
Where I fear we may go astray is if we think in terms of “threat assessment” instead of “behavioral intervention,” and I think it goes beyond semantics. I recognize that the Presidential/Gubernatorial report(s) and multiple entities (including NCHERM, at times) have used the term “threat assessment” to describe these intervention teams, so I want to draw a clear distinction, in the hopes of creating better terminology, better practices, better reporting, and therefore, better teams.
“Threat Assessment” in my mind – and likely in the minds of many of our constituents – means exactly what it says, the assessment of threats (or threatening behavior). While Intervention teams certainly need to be able to assess the level of threat in certain behaviors, I would assert that we (and our communities) are better served when we are able to intervene long before the behavior reaches that which a layperson would think of as “threatening.”
This is where I think the use of “Threat Assessment Teams” as a term of art “threatens” (get it?) to undermine the early reporting culture we are trying to foster. Additionally, in marketing these teams, the terminology makes the assumption that all of the students we work with are “threats” as opposed to students who need some (hopefully) low level assistance. The language is limiting.
Rather than try to get everyone to switch the everyday definition of “threat,” I think we are better served by utilizing the term “behavioral assessment” or “behavioral intervention,” and then training the community to recognize low level and early warning signs of students headed toward crisis instead of waiting until their “threatening” behavior indicates that they are already in crisis. Then we can ensure that the teams are trained in behavioral recognition (and intervention) as well as in threat assessment.
In short, I think of threat assessment skills as an integral tool for Behavioral Intervention Teams, but as a subset of overall behavioral recognition skills that these teams – and ideally, the entire community – possess. I have engaged some teams in dialogue about this distinction, and I am glad to report that some teams are already changing their names to reflect this shift, as well as their training practices. I welcome the continued discussion, and look forward to hearing from you.
On a lighter note, speaking of “teams,” happy March Madness to everyone! Hope your brackets, favorite teams, alma maters, etc. are going well! Be safe and have a great weekend!
Scott
At all of the national and regional events, I noticed a similar theme from presenters who were providing information on Behavioral Intervention Teams – the lack of distinction between “threat assessment” and “behavioral intervention.” I noticed (especially in the five sessions I attended at NASPA) that the terms were being used interchangeably. I believe that, in doing so, we do ourselves and the students, faculty and staff we serve a disservice by this misnomer.
Let me begin by saying that I am truly excited in seeing these teams (whatever they may be called) become more formalized and better developed than they were previously. As one who found himself in a quasi-hostage situation, seeing this “next generation” of teams evolve assures me that we will truly be saving students lives as we continue to develop these practices and teams.
Where I fear we may go astray is if we think in terms of “threat assessment” instead of “behavioral intervention,” and I think it goes beyond semantics. I recognize that the Presidential/Gubernatorial report(s) and multiple entities (including NCHERM, at times) have used the term “threat assessment” to describe these intervention teams, so I want to draw a clear distinction, in the hopes of creating better terminology, better practices, better reporting, and therefore, better teams.
“Threat Assessment” in my mind – and likely in the minds of many of our constituents – means exactly what it says, the assessment of threats (or threatening behavior). While Intervention teams certainly need to be able to assess the level of threat in certain behaviors, I would assert that we (and our communities) are better served when we are able to intervene long before the behavior reaches that which a layperson would think of as “threatening.”
This is where I think the use of “Threat Assessment Teams” as a term of art “threatens” (get it?) to undermine the early reporting culture we are trying to foster. Additionally, in marketing these teams, the terminology makes the assumption that all of the students we work with are “threats” as opposed to students who need some (hopefully) low level assistance. The language is limiting.
Rather than try to get everyone to switch the everyday definition of “threat,” I think we are better served by utilizing the term “behavioral assessment” or “behavioral intervention,” and then training the community to recognize low level and early warning signs of students headed toward crisis instead of waiting until their “threatening” behavior indicates that they are already in crisis. Then we can ensure that the teams are trained in behavioral recognition (and intervention) as well as in threat assessment.
In short, I think of threat assessment skills as an integral tool for Behavioral Intervention Teams, but as a subset of overall behavioral recognition skills that these teams – and ideally, the entire community – possess. I have engaged some teams in dialogue about this distinction, and I am glad to report that some teams are already changing their names to reflect this shift, as well as their training practices. I welcome the continued discussion, and look forward to hearing from you.
On a lighter note, speaking of “teams,” happy March Madness to everyone! Hope your brackets, favorite teams, alma maters, etc. are going well! Be safe and have a great weekend!
Scott
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Middlemarch
It has been an interesting and engaging week at NCHERM. I visited the University of New Hampshire. Great to see my old friends there. In the course of our dialogue, a tough question came up for us. If a student submits a conduct hearing appeal letter, including some things that form the basis for the appeal, and other things which should not (and might take the form of rearguing, new evidence, etc), should the appeals officers see the entirety of those letters, or should some “gatekeeper” redact them first, to ensure the purity of the appeal? Not sure there are right and wrong answers. What do you all think?
The tail end of the week found Scott and me in Los Angeles at Occidental College for our Threat Assessment event. Oxy is an oasis, and a truly beautiful campus. Unlike many campuses where the architecture is haphazard, the buildings at Oxy blend stylistically, creating an effect unmarred by the “Howard Johnsons looking res hall” in the middle of campus that so many campuses suffer from. Obama went there before transferring to Columbia, and apparently, “90210 – The College Years” was set there. I can see why. Jon and Emily were amazing hosts, and went well above and beyond for us. Thanks!
Unlike our previous four such events where attendance ranged as high as 175 people, the Oxy event was more intimate; 30 and change. We can thank the economy for that, but also thank the economy for a different kind of event, engaging on a level and depth that the larger events could not attain. And thanks to the attendees for challenging questions. We had risk managers, campus law enforcement, student affairs, counselors, auditors, registrars and case managers forming our diverse group.
Scott and I enjoyed dinner with folks from William Rainey Harper College, Alta Colleges and Southwestern Michigan College. I went to my first Churrascaria, a delight for the carnivorous. It is interesting to hear about Alta, and the truly innovative things that proprietary colleges are able to do.
Finally, the week ended with an unusual twist. Filmmakers producing a documentary about the rape and activism of Linor Abargil, the 1998 Miss World, contacted me. They wanted to talk about an event I have upcoming at Princeton University, but when they found out I was in LA, and they were too, we agreed to meet Friday after the seminar. Scott dropped me off on his way to the airport, and I felt some irony on heading to a discussion on a documentary about rape as we crossed Rockingham Rd. in Brentwood (OJ’s former and more capacious digs) and headed into Santa Monica.
Our meeting was at a private home, and upon entering I could not help but notice that pictures of Gregory Peck were featured prominently. I asked if Peck had once lived there, only to find out that the film’s producer is Peck’s daughter Cecilia Peck Voll. The producers wanted some insights on how rape is impacting college campuses, and I am pleased to be able to inform their project. I saw some clips of footage they have taken already, and it is compelling. For more information, visit www.linordocumentary.com.
The home was graceful and my hosts gracious. A word about Gregory Peck. There are probably many young men and women who were inspired to become lawyers by Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. While that is true of me, it was Peck’s social activism that I admired most. Long before Clooney, Pitt, Penn and Robbins used fame as a tool of social justice, Peck was a great crusader. It is a pleasure to see his daughter carrying on this legacy with this film, and I am in awe of Linor’s strength and courage to speak out.
Have a great weekend.
Brett
The tail end of the week found Scott and me in Los Angeles at Occidental College for our Threat Assessment event. Oxy is an oasis, and a truly beautiful campus. Unlike many campuses where the architecture is haphazard, the buildings at Oxy blend stylistically, creating an effect unmarred by the “Howard Johnsons looking res hall” in the middle of campus that so many campuses suffer from. Obama went there before transferring to Columbia, and apparently, “90210 – The College Years” was set there. I can see why. Jon and Emily were amazing hosts, and went well above and beyond for us. Thanks!
Unlike our previous four such events where attendance ranged as high as 175 people, the Oxy event was more intimate; 30 and change. We can thank the economy for that, but also thank the economy for a different kind of event, engaging on a level and depth that the larger events could not attain. And thanks to the attendees for challenging questions. We had risk managers, campus law enforcement, student affairs, counselors, auditors, registrars and case managers forming our diverse group.
Scott and I enjoyed dinner with folks from William Rainey Harper College, Alta Colleges and Southwestern Michigan College. I went to my first Churrascaria, a delight for the carnivorous. It is interesting to hear about Alta, and the truly innovative things that proprietary colleges are able to do.
Finally, the week ended with an unusual twist. Filmmakers producing a documentary about the rape and activism of Linor Abargil, the 1998 Miss World, contacted me. They wanted to talk about an event I have upcoming at Princeton University, but when they found out I was in LA, and they were too, we agreed to meet Friday after the seminar. Scott dropped me off on his way to the airport, and I felt some irony on heading to a discussion on a documentary about rape as we crossed Rockingham Rd. in Brentwood (OJ’s former and more capacious digs) and headed into Santa Monica.
Our meeting was at a private home, and upon entering I could not help but notice that pictures of Gregory Peck were featured prominently. I asked if Peck had once lived there, only to find out that the film’s producer is Peck’s daughter Cecilia Peck Voll. The producers wanted some insights on how rape is impacting college campuses, and I am pleased to be able to inform their project. I saw some clips of footage they have taken already, and it is compelling. For more information, visit www.linordocumentary.com.
The home was graceful and my hosts gracious. A word about Gregory Peck. There are probably many young men and women who were inspired to become lawyers by Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. While that is true of me, it was Peck’s social activism that I admired most. Long before Clooney, Pitt, Penn and Robbins used fame as a tool of social justice, Peck was a great crusader. It is a pleasure to see his daughter carrying on this legacy with this film, and I am in awe of Linor’s strength and courage to speak out.
Have a great weekend.
Brett
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Inaugural Blog Post
March 3, 2009
Colorado Springs, CO
Dear Friends of NCHERM,
As of this writing, the NCHERM website (www.ncherm.org) has received 46,765 unique visitors since our launch nine years ago in January of 2000. While this may be many or few, depending on your perspective, 4,100 of those visitors have knocked on the NCHERM door (portal, I guess) in just the last six weeks. This is a rather startling spike in our web traffic.
The NCHERM website is, of course, our main means of staying connected with those of you who are our fellow travelers in this field. We may visit a campus a day, and connect with you more directly and viscerally during those visits, but in between, NCHERM.org is our way of maintaining, growing and nurturing the relationships we have with you that empower us to be positive influences on our field. At a time when the economy has made our visits to your campuses less frequent, and our ability to connect at conferences is impeded as well, it makes sense that traffic to the website would increase.
Because we value our dialogues with you, and want the website to be for you an increasingly valuable resource, we have decided to initiate a weekly blog. It will give you a regular reason to visit the NCHERM homepage and to connect with us, in a spirit of shared learning and exchange. We may post more often, too, when there are interesting things to report or reflect upon.
What can you expect? A post each week from Scott or Saunie or me. We'll identify who's writing each week, and you can expect an occasional guest blog, too. What will our topics be? A report of an interesting campus visit. Something learned at a conference. A frustration with a needed change that is coming too slowly. A new case that should be on your radar. A soapbox about an issue or topic that needs our attention. A best practice we have identified. A valuable upcoming event. Etc.
We'll try to keep the posts short and sweet, and we'll make sure the content is engaging enough to keep you coming back.
Welcome to the NCHERM Risk MaBlog. Happy reading.
Brett
Colorado Springs, CO
Dear Friends of NCHERM,
As of this writing, the NCHERM website (www.ncherm.org) has received 46,765 unique visitors since our launch nine years ago in January of 2000. While this may be many or few, depending on your perspective, 4,100 of those visitors have knocked on the NCHERM door (portal, I guess) in just the last six weeks. This is a rather startling spike in our web traffic.
The NCHERM website is, of course, our main means of staying connected with those of you who are our fellow travelers in this field. We may visit a campus a day, and connect with you more directly and viscerally during those visits, but in between, NCHERM.org is our way of maintaining, growing and nurturing the relationships we have with you that empower us to be positive influences on our field. At a time when the economy has made our visits to your campuses less frequent, and our ability to connect at conferences is impeded as well, it makes sense that traffic to the website would increase.
Because we value our dialogues with you, and want the website to be for you an increasingly valuable resource, we have decided to initiate a weekly blog. It will give you a regular reason to visit the NCHERM homepage and to connect with us, in a spirit of shared learning and exchange. We may post more often, too, when there are interesting things to report or reflect upon.
What can you expect? A post each week from Scott or Saunie or me. We'll identify who's writing each week, and you can expect an occasional guest blog, too. What will our topics be? A report of an interesting campus visit. Something learned at a conference. A frustration with a needed change that is coming too slowly. A new case that should be on your radar. A soapbox about an issue or topic that needs our attention. A best practice we have identified. A valuable upcoming event. Etc.
We'll try to keep the posts short and sweet, and we'll make sure the content is engaging enough to keep you coming back.
Welcome to the NCHERM Risk MaBlog. Happy reading.
Brett
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