After soliciting ideas from conduct officers at each Tennessee Board of Regents institution during the summer of 2015, the topic of behavioral and threat assessment (BITA) teams was deemed a priority training need for the entire System.

“The need for more detailed training on BITA felt like a logical next step in our efforts to provide affordable and convenient training to staff within the state,” said Heidi Leming, TBR assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs.

Chattanooga State supported and hosted both of these statewide summits on Feb. 11 and 12, which were open to academic and student affairs personnel within the Tennessee Board of Regents system.

"Recent campus shootings throughout the nation as well as other student behavioral concerns have made the BITA training extremely relevant for campus professionals," officials said.

On Feb. 11, keynote speaker, Dr. Chip Reese, president of the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association, discussed the foundation of behavioral intervention teams before describing how to create an environment of calm and directed leadership for the teams.

"NaBITA is committed to providing education, resources and support to professionals in schools and in the workplace who endeavor every day to make their campuses and workplaces safer through caring prevention and intervention," officials said.

According to Ms. Leming, “To have his (Dr. Reese’s) level of expertise available to staff for this summit was an opportunity that conduct officers and team chairs will value as they work in this challenging field.”

Afternoon sessions focused on suicide prevention, a proactive approach to prevention of sexual assault, responding effectively to students on the autism spectrum, a behavioral team’s approach, high impact programs and community engagement as well as a TBR judicial officer roundtable.

On Feb. 12, TBR’s Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Tristan Denley, reintroduced the Academic Mindset Think Tank and Faculty Summit that focuses on gaining perspectives on students and how to grow the knowledge base of understanding academic mindset to plan for the future of the higher education classroom. The Mindset project is funded by a $2 million grant that TBR received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

After focusing on non-cognitive factors during the morning session, the afternoon sessions zeroed in on “meaning making” such as understanding the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful student, promoting student success, building partnerships across campus, fostering belonging, and supporting career preparation.

Dr. Denley emphasized that how a “student learner thinks about him or herself affects how it influences and affects their work.” He went on to explain that the four traits vital to positive student outcomes include, 1) a sense of belonging, 2) questioning whether they can learn the material, 3) determining whether the material learned has a purpose, and 4) if what was learned is what is needed to put to use on the job.

For more information about behavioral and threat assessment visit https://nabita.org/. More on Mindset Academy can be accessed by contacting Dr. Heidi Leming at www.tbr.edu.