HOLIDAY CLOSURE
Student Advocacy & Support will be closed Friday, December 23, through Monday, January 2, 2023, during the university's holiday closedown. If you're in crisis, please call 402.472.7450 and follow the prompts for immediate assistance (24/7).
Submitting a Student of Concern Report
Best Practices:
- Give the context for your observations.
- If possible, carefully describe changes in student behavior.
- If possible, identify other sources who can confirm your observations.
- Use concrete descriptors for behavior observed.
- Maintain impartiality, particularly if in conflict or at odds with the student.
- Only include relevant information.
- Report early even if you are unsure it is a concern. The case manager will reach out to you after you submit the report.
Avoid:
- Making conclusions about individual’s state of mind or thoughts
- Personal judgements
- Extraneous information
- Diagnostic or clinical terms
- Reaching conclusions or making recommendations
- Criticizing other university staff/faculty
- Blaming or attributing student distress
When to report a student of concern
If you are unsure if you should report a student, please contact Student Advocacy and Support at 402-472-0878 or studentadvocacy@unl.edu for consultation.
Routine Worries
- One or two situational stressors, but student is coping
- Problem with a known solution
- Common campus resources for routine worries.
Elevated Concerns
- Multiple situational stressors
- Disturbed or distressed, with difficulty coping
- Single disruptive episode
- Suicidal ideations
Rapidly-Evolving Concerns
- Multiple disruptive episodes
- Follow-up communication or collateral revelation
In emergency situations:
Dial 911 or UNLPD (402) 472-2222
- After contacting emergency personnel, please fill out a Student of Concern report and indicate you reported to emergency services
What constitutes concerning behavior?
Anything that causes you to worry about a student’s mental health or emotional well-being, including:
- Suicidal ideation or attempt
- Hospitalization for mental health crisis
- Disturbances on campus or in the classroom
- Difficulty managing multiple or extreme stressors
- Unhealthy eating habits/concern for eating disorders
- Uncharacteristic changes in mood or behavior
- Showing symptoms of overwhelming distress causing ineffective or unhealthy coping strategies
- Exhibiting disproportionate emotional responses to situational stressors
- Marked changes in personal appearance resulting for poor maintenance and hygiene
- Disruption to academic progress or ability to engage with coursework (frequent absences, excessive missing assignments, etc.)
What is a Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT)?
This is a multi-disciplinary team of university faculty and staff whose purpose is to support students’ mental health and emotional well-being by detecting patterns, trends, and disturbances in individual or group behavior. Because all people experience stress, BIT is particularly concerned when students are unable to respond or manage distress in healthy and constructive ways. If the experience of personal challenges and difficulties begins to systematically interfere with a student’s functioning or leads the student to behave in ways that are inconsistent with community standards or conventional social or interpersonal behaviors the BIT is prepared to intervene. After receiving a report of concerning behavior, we investigate, perform a risk assessment, and determine the best mechanisms for support, intervention, warning/notification, and response.
The Behavioral Intervention Team is different from the Threat Assessment team. Student behavior that poses a threat of targeted violence or disruption of public order and safety are addressed by threat assessment. A report of concerning behavior can escalate to a threat of violence, and two members of the Behavioral Intervention Team also serve on the Threat Assessment Team to create seamless transition of such cases.
Learn more about BIT at https://www.nabita.org/.