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"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Jill Biden Shines a Global Spotlight on American Community Colleges
Speaking at a Unesco conference in Paris, the vice president’s wife stressed the importance of two-year institutions to the nation’s educational goals.
Connecticut Public Colleges Lose 200 Professors to Early Retirement
Administrators are scrambling to plug holes in their course schedules for fall, with most expecting to do so by hiring more adjuncts or increasing class sizes.
U. of Georgia Paid 2 Fraternities $2.4-Million to Relocate, Contracts Show
The two were among five with houses on property where the university plans to build new academic facilities.
New Allegations in Admissions Controversy at U. of Illinois Suggest Ex-Provost Played a Role
Linda P.B. Katehi, the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Davis, has insisted she knew nothing of the admission of politically connected applicants at Illinois.
Sonoma State U. Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
North Dakota Board's Vote Puts 'Fighting Sioux' Mascot on Thinner Ice | 57
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January 14, 2009
Campus Threat-Assessment Teams Get a Professional Association
Before the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, threat-assessment teams were largely nonexistent — or dormant. Starting tomorrow they will have their own professional association.
The National Behavioral Intervention Team Association — abbreviated as the relatively pronounceable Nabita (nah-BIT-ah) — will provide professional development and support to colleges, schools, and workplaces that use what the group calls “caring prevention and intervention” to help troubled individuals and prevent violence.
“While many could argue that higher education is full of associations, as our field grows and evolves, new areas of specialized knowledge develop,” says a news release announcing the group. Its president, Brett A. Sokolow, and executive director, W. Scott Lewis, are partners in the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management, a nonprofit consulting firm that has helped hundreds of colleges set up behavioral-intervention teams.
Among colleges, schools, and workplaces, about 1,600 teams are now in operation, the vast majority of them becoming active only in the past two years, Mr. Sokolow said.
Annual institutional fees for colleges in the association range from $399 to $1,499, and the group is actively recruiting members. It has released a report, “Threat Assessment in the Campus Setting,” to mark its formation and plans to hold a national conference in December. —Sara Lipka
Posted on Wednesday January 14, 2009 | Permalink |Comments
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another association to make money
— mathew Jan 15, 06:06 AM #
What worries me more is the tendency of professionals to overdiagnose and overreact. When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
— swish Jan 15, 09:28 AM #
I’m looking through all the pages I can find on the NaBITA website, and can’t find anything to identify it as a not-for-profit association like most other professional organizations. Its parent organization has in its name “Center” (like, a unit in an academic college) but is described as a law and consulting firm. The president of NaBITA is a consultant/speaker with an active advertizing and promotional department for for-profit campus visits. Is this really a “professional association” or is it another for-profit consulting firm that is trying to make itself look like a professional association?
— HIED doc Jan 15, 05:42 PM #
All should be forewarned. This is just another attempt for Sokolow and company to rip off colleges.
— doc Jan 16, 08:58 AM #
This may be a sign of the shrinking economy. Sarah Lipka apparently had neither the time or the resources to do a complete story and to look into what is already going on around the country. Instead, the Chronicle seems to be happy to shill for a small number of entrepreneurs.
— Don Rosen Jan 21, 09:37 AM #