Lipscomb's Behavioral Intervention Team aims to keep campus safe

Lacey Klotz  | 

At Lipscomb, it is a priority to not only establish, but also maintain on-campus resources that help ensure a safe and nurturing environment for the university community.

One resource available to the Lipscomb community is the Behavioral Intervention Team.

Established in 2007 through a collaboration of Lipscomb’s Office of Student Life, General Counsel, Security, Counseling Services, Student Advocacy and Risk Management, the BIT is a group of faculty and staff who assist in the safety, health and welfare of the university through a proactive, collaborative and coordinated approach.

“Oftentimes, teachers will notice a student’s behavior in class, an administrative assistant will encounter a disturbed individual, or an RA will interact with a student that is in the midst of an emotional health crisis, but these individuals aren’t sure what to do or who to contact,” said Sam Smith, dean of student life and chair of the BIT. “Our team helps provide a safe environment where various offices from across campus can share valuable information pertaining to a person who may be exhibiting harmful behavior, and in return, we assess that behavior and create an action plan.”  

Smith says the BIT desires to lift the burden off of individuals who see threatening behavior, and encourages the Lipscomb community to report these incidents instead of keeping these concerns to themselves.

“Thirty-two people died on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007. In that case, there were several individuals on campus who had concerns about the behaviors of Seung Hui Cho but no one ever expressed their concerns to anyone else on campus,” said Smith. “At Lipscomb, we are a safer campus when we are helping individuals who are struggling, and our goal is to assess the individual, connect them to resources and help set them up for success.”  

Smith said there are several examples of behavior that the community should look out for.

“Primarily, we want to look for behavior that is out of the norm for the specific individual. We call their norm their baseline. So when we see someone acting in a manner that is outside of their baseline we want it to be reported,” said Smith.

“If someone is referencing hurting themselves or others we want that information to be reported. If a student has stopped doing work in a class or even stopped attending class we would like this to be reported to the BIT. If someone has a verbal or physical confrontation in an office, classroom or residence hall we would like it to be reported to the BIT.”

Individuals can create a report for the BIT by logging into MyLipscomb, selecting the “develop” tab and clicking on Behavioral Intervention Team.

Smith stressed that BIT is not for reporting emergency situations or general policy violations, but rather a resource for identifying problems early on to help change the trajectory of a problem.

“The BIT is not a last minute resource, but rather a group that should be included as early as possible,” he continued. “This allows our team to assess behavior over a longer period of time and connect them to resources instead of waiting for a large scale or devastating event. If you are ever in doubt...file a BIT report. It is better for our team to have too much information than not enough.”  

The BIT meets weekly to review and assess reports that have been submitted by students, faculty and staff and respond accordingly based on a scale of low, moderate and high risk behavior. 

“Each case we work with is different and requires the creative and critical thinking skill of the whole BIT in order to provide an action plan when appropriate.” 

Current BIT members include:

  • Sam Smith – dean of student life
  • Frank Scott – director, Counseling Center
  • David Wilson – general counsel
  • Lindsey Miller – assistant professor, College of Pharmacy
  • Darrin Bellows – director, Security and Safety
  • Teresa Williams – registrar
  • Lanny Witt – Principal, Lipscomb Academy
  • Carla Brookins – director, Student Advocacy
  • Kaitlin Shelter – ACCESS Ability Program
  • Susan Lee – certifying official, Veteran Services

For more information please contact Sam Smith at sam.smith [at] lipscomb.edu.