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Behavior Assessment Team

Section: Student Services Index: D-13
Subject: Behavior Assessment Committee

Policy

UHV is committed to providing a learning environment that is conducive for students to develop to their fullest potential. The University will work collaboratively to protect, as much as possible, the health, safety and welfare of our students and the members of the University community.

The University, through the Behavior Assessment Committee, will provide a confidential program of identification, assessment and response to disruptive or threatening behaviors to maintain the opportunity for student success and the welfare of the University community.

Definitions

Behavior Assessment Committee coordinates the support services of the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) in order to assist students who have reportedly displayed disruptive, threatening or troublesome behavior.

Purpose

  1. To outline the official policy for committee composition, responsibilities and operations for the Behavior Assessment Committee.
  2. To outline procedures for committee consultation with faculty and staff who are concerned about the behavior of students exhibiting behaviors which are potentially dangerous to themselves and/or others or are disruptive or threatening.
  3. The purpose of the Behavior Assessment Committee is to serve as a resource for faculty, staff, and students to address the needs of students who are experiencing significant behavioral or emotional disturbances.
  4. Specifically, the charge for this committee is to:
    1. Assess situations involving students who pose a potential risk of harm to persons or property in the University community or are of substantial disruption to University activities in accordance with policies stated in the Student Code of Conduct.
    2. Consult with administration, faculty, staff and other students affected by the inappropriate behaviors of disruptive students.
    3. Coordinate the University’s response to violent, threatening, or significantly disruptive students.
    4. Develop a specific strategy to manage the threatening or disruptive behavior with regard to the safety and rights of others and to minimize the disruption to the University community.
    5. Recommend to appropriate university officials, actions consistent with University policy and procedure statements and with state and federal laws.
    6. Inform referral sources concerning next steps taken with students, given the confidential nature of the information and what is permissible under policy and law.
    7. Educate and train the community on the identification of potentially violent, threatening, or disruptive behaviors and options to assist students who exhibit them.
    8. Establish a process that is designed to be helpful to students, particularly when the rights of others or an individual’s own growth and development are being endangered.

Committee Composition

  1. The committee reports to the Vice President for Student Affairs
  2. The committee chair is appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs and core members include:
    1. Director of Student Life &Services
    2. Counselor/ Psychologist
    3. Director of Residence Life and University Commons
    4. Manager of Disability Services
    5. Safety Officer/ Peace Officer
    6. Associate Provost for University College
    7. A School Dean (appointed by Provost)
    8. Title IX Coordinator
    9. General Counsel Ex Officio
  3. Other University officials may be asked to serve on the committee as needed. They include but are not limited to:
    1. Director of Human Resources or designee
    2. Director of Facilities
    3. University Registrar or designee
    4. International Programs Director
    5. Athletic Director
    6. Victim Advocate

Operations and Procedure Guidelines for Case Management

  1. At the beginning of each semester, the Vice President for Student Affairs will send a notice to faculty and staff through appropriate communication channels, stating that the committee is available for consultation when anyone is concerned about potentially harmful, threatening, or disruptive behavior of a student or students.
  2. All incidents of seriously disruptive or threatening behavior, property damage, violation of University policies, or violated laws should be immediately reported via the Student Incident Reporting Form. This form can be found on the UHV website on the Current Students page or at Student Incident Reporting Form. 
  3. In time-sensitive or high-risk situations, a special committee meeting may be called by any member of the committee.
  4. In the event the Chair is unavailable, the meeting will be chaired by a core member of the committee as determined by the Vice President for Student Affairs.
  5. The committee may meet with affected members of the University community who desire to discuss the situation.
  6. The desired outcome of a consultation meeting is a recommended course of action based on the Student Code of Conduct and/or other appropriate policy document(s) to the affected members of the University community, to the Vice President for Student Affairs, and to University administration. Specific issues for consideration include the assessment of potential violence, evidence of mental illness as the possible cause of the behavior, containment of disruption, appropriate referral resources, setting appropriate behavioral boundaries within existing University policies, and specific departmental procedures or courses of action.
  7. Recommended departmental courses of action will be made only through appropriate administrative channels. Courses of action recommended to departments are for consultation only. They are not binding and do not carry the force of University policy.
  8. Following a case management situation and subsequent recommendation, the committee will meet to debrief and evaluate the outcome of the situation.
  9. The committee will discuss student referrals and reach one of the following recommendations.
    1. No action recommended.
    2. No action, further observation.
    3. Assist faculty, staff, or students in developing an action plan to manage the concerning behaviors.
    4. Referral of the student to existing on-campus support resources.
    5. Referral to appropriate community resources.
    6. Referral for Code of Conduct violation.
    7. Recommendation of parental notification. Upon recommendation, the Vice President for Student Affairs will decide if the student’s emergency contact person will be contacted.
    8. Recommendation of a Medical Leave of Absence.
    9. Recommendation of an Involuntary Leave of Absence.
    10. Recommendation of an Interim Suspension.

Case Information and Confidentiality Procedures

  1. Members of the committee may provide each other (or others involved in the case) with information as is necessary to protect the health, safety, and privacy of the student or other persons and to generate a recommended course of action in accordance with applicable legal and professional standards of confidentiality.
  2. If students involved in harmful, threatening, or disruptive activities are clients of the Student Counseling Center, information about such students’ counseling may not be obtained by the committee without written authorization of the students in question, in accordance with federal and state law.
  3. The purpose of the committee meetings is to provide consultation only. Therefore, official minutes and meeting records that contain identifying names or other identifying data will not be maintained. Minutes and meeting records will be maintained confidentially by the committee chair.

The Behavior Assessment Committee does not serve as a crisis response unit, nor does it replace faculty classroom management.

Approved by:

Signature Obtained                           Date
Raymond V. Morgan, Jr., Ph.D.           9/11/17 
President

Origination: Student Services
Next Review Date: August 2019