Behavior Intervention Teams Offer Vital Services to Their Campus Communities

Madison, Wis.—January 25, 2008— Only half of the institutions attending a recent online seminar said that their institutions have a formal student behavior intervention team, despite a strong push nationally since the Virginia Tech shootings to form these teams.

During the seminar, three experts recommended that campuses consider implementing one specific model -- the College or University Behavioral Intervention Team (CUBIT) model.

The CUBIT model uses recommendations made in the Governor’s Virginia Tech Review Panel that convened after the incident, said Brett Sokolow, president of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM), during the January 25 seminar “Behavioral Intervention Team (CUBIT) Formation and Operation.”

But the CUBIT doesn’t just respond to incidents, it helps prevent them, said Scott Lewis, seminar presenter and the assistant vice provost for judicial affairs and academic integrity at the University of South Carolina.

In addition, the CUBIT model doesn’t just address mental health issues or aggression; it also helps the campus perform other important student services, such as introducing students to disability services, helping them recover from being a victim of sexual assault, or helping them with substance abuse issues, said Pete Liggett, the associate director of the University of South Carolina’s Counseling & Human Development Center.

If you missed the live event, you can order the program in CD or transcript format, both of which include the presenters' handouts. The program contains practical advice on:
• who should lead your team
• how many members it should have
• whether students displaying troubling behavior should be required to seek counseling

The seminar is first of a four-part series. Upcoming seminars address:
• advanced team protocols
• how to identify and respond to students’ “red flag” behaviors
• how to assess threats and manage aggression

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.