Crisis team helps students, acts for campus safety

Your son's roommate has become increasingly hostile and disruptive, making threats about a professor who is failing him. What should your son do?

The 2007 tragedy at Virginia Tech underscores the importance of campus intervention before incidents escalate. There, a troubled student — who had already come to the attention of campus mental health and law enforcement officials — killed 32 and then turned a gun on himself in the deadliest shooting massacre in the nation's history.

At UC Davis, a special crisis team coordinates campus resources to protect campus safety and find help for students who could potentially harm themselves or others.

Tell your son — or daughter — to report concerns like this to Student Judicial Affairs, says its associate director, Don Dudley. The campus unit runs the Student Crisis Response Team, a group of campus experts that addresses volatile situations and works to diffuse them. Established in 1991, the team handled about 70 such cases last year.

Dudley and Jennifer Chow, a case manager in Student Judicial Affairs, help lead the team. Other members represent Counseling and Psychological Services, the UC Davis Police Department, Campus Counsel, Student Housing, the Campus Violence Prevention Program, the Student Disability Center, and the Academic and Staff Assistance Program.

Aggie Family Pack asked Dudley to tell us more about the team.

How does the Student Crisis Response Team work?

We meet every other week to discuss new cases and share updates on open cases. There are usually five or six cases to discuss at each meeting. We also meet as needed to address emerging cases that require immediate action.

What types of incidents do you deal with?

The situations we deal with include students with mental health problems who are either in distress or causing distress to others, sexual assault incidents, domestic violence, disruptive students, students who may pose a threat to campus safety, and serious substance abuse.

What issues do you grapple with when you intervene in a situation?

We are acting to protect campus safety while respecting individual student rights. This is often a difficult balancing act.

Questions we consider are:

• Does the student of concern pose a threat to himself/herself or to the campus? If so, what is the level of the threat?
• Is intervention necessary and, if so, what is the best form? Would it be reaching out to the student for help by case management, using the student disciplinary process, using the involuntary medical withdrawal policy, or police intervention?
• Who is the best person or department to intervene with an individual?
• What level of ongoing monitoring is necessary and in what form?

What lessons have you learned from the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007?

One of the major lessons campuses learned from Virginia Tech is that sharing case information among departments is critical. Key departments at UC Davis already had an excellent history of working together and sharing information. However, there is now increased documentation and monitoring of cases.

What other changes or trends have there been over the years?

We have broadened representation across campus. We've also added case managers in Counseling and Psychological Services and in Student Judicial Affairs to provide more focused attention and monitoring. And there has been increasing numbers of students to discuss.

We have learned that managing these cases is often an ongoing process. While some cases can be closed because the problem has been resolved, others must remain open as long as the student is at UC Davis, and in some cases, even after graduation.

So, has the team kept problems from escalating?

Yes. We have been able to provide assistance and get help for students with serious problems. Help may mean that the student needs to take time away from school or it may mean we get students connected with resources so that they can succeed at UC Davis.

We have helped students who have decided to stop taking medications. We have helped others who have an emerging mental illness get started with treatment.

We are concerned with the safety of our community. We also coach the campus community — faculty, staff, students and departments — on how to respond to difficult situations. We really do promote safety and help reduce the concerns and fears of those involved in these incidents. We want those who contact us to know that their concerns are heard and addressed.

Team members have also worked directly with parents to assist students.

What advice do you have for parents if their student is distressed?

Contact campus resources for help and let us know about the situation.

• The UC Davis Police Department. If there is an emergency or an imminent threat of danger to the student or to others, call (530) 752-1230. For nonemergencies, phone (530) 752-1727. (Both numbers are attended 24 hours a day)
• Student Judicial Affairs. This unit coordinates the crisis team. (530) 752-1128.
• Counseling and Psychological Services. (530) 752-0871.
• Student Housing. (530) 752-2033.