Risk Assessment Policy and Procedures

SECTION 1

Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for the prevention of general campus violence and reduce risk to the campus community.

NOTE: If you believe a student is at imminent risk of harming self or others, please contact Public Safety at 814-332-3357 or 911

Policy:
 Allegheny College prohibits threats and acts of violence on college property, within college facilities, at any college-sponsored event, while engaged in any college educational or athletic activities, or while traveling on college sponsored and/or related business. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Engaging in behavior that creates a reasonable fear of injury to self, others, or property. 
• Engaging in behavior that would subject a reasonable person to extreme emotional distress.
• Engaging in behaviors that could significantly impact the ability of others to participate in educational activities. 
• Causing injury to a person or persons (including oneself).
• Threatening to injure self, others, or property.
• Possessing, brandishing, or using a weapon while on College property and/or during College related activities; or threatening to use a weapon towards a community member and/or College property. 
• Retaliating against any employee or student who, in good faith, reports a violation of this policy.

Consequences of Policy Violation(s):

1. Students who violate the above policy will be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in the Student Handbook. In addition, students who may be identified as posing a risk to the campus community may be referred to the Risk Assessment and Intervention Team (RAIT)  (see Section 2). 
2. At times, the Risk Assessment and Intervention Team may determine that individuals pose a significant risk to the safety of the campus community and, as a result of that determination, may have safety measures put in place, up to and including removal from campus. (See Section 2).

Definitions:

• Threatening Behavior: includes harming, abusing, assaulting, threatening, endangering, intimidating, stalking, or harassing another person and extends to all oral or written statements, communications, conduct, gestures, expressions, or acts made in any medium (e.g., in person, via letter, telephone, text message, electronic mail, social media, or any other method) that causes a reasonable apprehension of physical or emotional harm to another person.
• Risk Assessment: An individualized assessment that includes an investigation of a threat, potential threat, or perceived threat towards an individual (including self), group, and/or property, as well as an examination, survey, and consideration of the behavior patterns, conditions, circumstances, and variables of danger in or surrounding an individual or group (Van Dreal, 2017). This can include, but is not limited to:
  • Mental or Medical Health Evaluation (if relevant)
  • Review of written materials such as emails, social media posts, texts messages
  • Conversations with faculty/staff/advisors
  • Any relevant surveillance materials such as camera footage and card access
• Risk Assessment Intervention Team (RAIT): A committee consisting of the following individuals: Dean for Student Life (Chair), Director of Public Safety, Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Title IX Coordinator who assess potential risks and threats, and determine appropriate responses. These committee members have all been trained in threat/risk assessment practices. Additional members of the community may be asked to participate as part of the RAIT, including, but not limited to mental health professionals, Human Resources, and others as appropriate. Members of the committee may be asked to recuse themselves by the Chair of the RAIT if there is potential for a conflict of interest.
• Interim/Preventive Measures: The College may exclude a student from or place special conditions on a student’s participation in College programs or activities if the RAIT concludes that the student poses a direct threat, meaning the student poses a high probability of substantial harm to the health and safety of self and/or others. These measures include, but are not limited to:
  • No Contact Orders
  • Housing relocation
  • Restrictions from certain places/activities
  • Removal from campus

SECTION 2

Practices:
The following is an outline of standard practices for the RAIT. At times, the RAIT may need to deviate from the following, but in those instances, will document the reasoning for the deviation.

Philosophy of the RAIT:
The RAIT is charged with evaluating and determining potential risks to the campus community, and implementing specific measures and interventions to help reduce or eliminate ongoing risks to the community. The RAIT bases their evaluations on industry standards of threat/risk assessments in educational settings. The RAIT is not charged with determining responsibility for student conduct (although students being assessed by the RAIT may also face disciplinary action through the College’s conduct process). 

Reporting of Potential Threat(s)/Risk(s):

Any person who believes that there is an imminent or immediate threat to the campus community, should contact Public Safety at 814-332-3357, or call 911. 

Reports of Potential Threat(s)/Risk(s) are also made in the following ways:

• Incident Reports
• Residence Life Reports
• Academic Reports
• Bias Incident Reports
• Title IX reports
• Written or verbal communication with administration, faculty, students, or family.

Initial Meeting:
When a potential Risk/Threat has been identified, the Chair of the RAIT will convene the RAIT as soon as possible. (These meetings generally occur virtually). The team discusses the potential risk and decides if it rises to the level of a full risk assessment, and, if so, are there any necessary interim measures that need to be put in place to help ensure the safety of the campus community, as well as any required documentation to be provided by the student.

*For individuals removed from campus as an interim measure regarding the Harassment, Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Policy, see Part 2 of the Harassment, Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Policy; section Emergency Removal for information regarding the individual’s right to appeal. 

Student Notification:
If the RAIT identifies the need to raise to the level of a Risk Assessment, the student will be notified in writing (sent electronically). The student will be notified of the potential risk that is being assessed, the risk assessment process, a timeline for providing documentation/statements/etc., and interim measures that will be put into place (if applicable). The notification will also contain resources available to the student if they are experiencing any distress related to the Risk Assessment process. 

Risk Assessment:
Upon student notification, the following will occur:

• Compilation of materials: the Chair of the RAIT will compile a variety of relevant materials to complete the assessment, including but not limited to:
  • Previous conduct record
  • Any incident reports related to the perceived risk(s)
  • Relevant card access data and/or camera footage
  • Relevant information from faculty/coaches/advisors
  • Documentation submitted by the student, including any required documentation (such as Mental Health Evaluation) and any statement the student wishes to include.
• The Chair will reconvene the RAIT and review the documentation and the details of the perceived risk(s). The RAIT will use industry standards/best practices in the review of the materials and make a decision, including any requirements put into place to ensure the safety of the student and the community.

Findings:

The student will be notified of the findings of the RAIT in writing (sent electronically) and any requirements put in place by the RAIT. This document will include an explanation of how the RAIT arrived at its findings.  This document will also include any applicable timeline, and reasonings for any requirements put into place. These findings could include (but not limited to) the following:

• No Contact Orders
• Housing relocation
• Restrictions from certain places/activities
• Removal from campus

Documentation:

All documentation related to the Risk Assessment process will be stored electronically in a case file in Maxient (conduct software). Students may request copies of the documentation by contacting the Dean for Student Life. Risk Assessments, as well as the process and policy will be reviewed on a biennial basis. 

SECTION 3
The following are forms and documentation frequently used in the Risk Assessment Process.

Incident Report Form
Title IX Reporting Form
Bias Incident Report Form
Notice of Risk Assessment
Sample Risk Assessment Mental Health Evaluation
Risk Assessment - RAIT Evaluation
Notice of Findings of the RAIT
Levels of Risk

SECTION 4
These policies and procedures were compiled from the following resources:

Cornell, D. G. (2018). Comprehensive school threat assessment guidelines: Intervention and support to prevent violence. School Threat Assessment Consultants LLC.

Deisinger, G., Randazzo, M. R., O’Neill, D., & Savage, J. (2008). The handbook for campus threat assessment & management Teams. Applied Risk Management.

Dreal, V. J. (2017). Assessing student threats: Implementing the Salem-Keizer system (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

Higher Education Mental Health Alliance. (2012) Balancing safety and support on campus: A guide for campus teams.

Sokolow, B., Lewis, W. S., Van Brunt, B., Schuster, S., & Swinton, D. (2014). The book on BIT (2nd ed.). NaBITA, National Behavioral Intervention Team Association.