Miami's Institutional Response Team (IRT) took efforts this week to raise awareness among staff and faculty regarding how to handle students who might be in distress.
An informational brochure titled "Guidelines for Faculty and Staff in Responding to Critical Student Behavioral Situations," was distributed to every department.
The intended goal, according to Miami University Police Chief and IRT co-chair John McCandless, is to increase awareness of current programs that have already been in place to handle risk students.
"For a faculty or staff (member) or student who may not really know who to call if someone's in crisis, or (if someone) thinks there is a problem, I think the brochure walks you through the processes that have been in place for a long time," McCandless said.
According to McCandless, the brochure provides information for recognizing students in distress and responding adequately. It also describes what to do in the rare event of an active shooter being present. Also included are telephone numbers to dial for students in distress and students involved in emergencies.
He said these programs were in existence for many years, and weren't merely a response to the events at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University. Little in terms of policy or programs has changed since the shootings on other campuses, McCandless said.
"A lot of us have already been doing the things that have been in place to make Miami safe, but there is certainly a lot more 'what are you doing' and 'how does this work,' and I think the brochure kind of ties all of that together," McCandless said.
The IRT has been around for nearly 15 years, although it has undergone a few evolutions, according to Vice President of Student Affairs Richard Nault.
The brochure, McCandless said, is synthesizing what Miami already has had in place. He also said this increased awareness would not end up having any negative affects, such as negative consequences for innocent students.
"My hunch is that a lot of faculty would probably be uncomfortable calling the police if they have a student who is maybe not acting right," McCandless said. "Particularly before Virginia Tech, I think that would be a safe thing to say, they wouldn't want to get (students) in trouble. Faculty are kind of 'mentor-y' (and try to solve problems on their own)."
He mentioned the brochure includes four contacts for faculty to consult.
Aside from the chief of police, the IRT team is co-chaired by Dean of Students Susan Mosley-Howard. She said the brochure is simply "What we're trying to do is educate faculty and staff," Mosley-Howard said. "With any safety thing, such as in a school, you have fire drills so that in the event something happened it would be almost automatic and you'd know what to do ... Just as if your house catches on fire, (there) is not the time to figure out how you're going to get out or figure out where your meeting place is outside the house."
Howard also said that currently, the IRT receives about two or three "critical incidents" each week and about eight or nine psychological emergencies per week. When asked about the differences between the two categories, Howard said that decision is made on a case-by-case basis.
Howard Kleiman, professor in the department of communications, thought that having the contact information and directions of what to do for students in distress is a good idea and does not see any unintended negative consequences for students.
"I don't think there's any privacy issue here; nothing here is suggesting to snoop into the students background or follow them down the block," Kleiman said. "I'd be surprised if there was any unintended negative consequence of this. I think it's not a bad idea and I think and universities these days have an obligation to be proactive … if the student is a potential problem, then it's (helping) the community."
