November 12-17, 2023
NABITA’s 15th Annual Conference

Registration Check-In

Monday, November 13, 2023 | 3:00pm-6:00pm ET

Join us anytime between 3:00pm-6:00pm ET to check in for the 2023 Annual Conference. Meet with NABITA staff and take a sneak peek at the exhibitor tables.

Opening Keynote: I Was Almost a School Shooter

Monday, November 13, 2023 | 6:00pm-7:30pm ET

Aaron had a chaotic and violent childhood and by the time he was a teenager he was homeless, angry, and traumatized. After his attempts to reach out for help were not only unhelpful, but actually destructive, he began to plan a mass attack of violence. Aaron planned his attack to occur at either the local high school or mall food court and began considering ways to obtain a firearm to carry out the attack. However, before he could secure a firearm, his best friend changed the course of his life with a small, simple act of kindness.

Aaron now travels the country to raise awareness around why mass attacks happen and how we can all play a role in preventing them. Aaron was featured on multiple national and international news channels including MSNBC, CNN, and The Washington Post. Aaron’s TEDtalk, “I was Almost a School Shooter”, currently has over 14 million views.

Join Aaron in this compelling keynote as he discusses his personal experiences and how the trajectory of his life was changed with one simple act of kindness. Aaron will share takeaways on how you can intervene, in even the smallest ways, to prevent violence and harm.

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Welcome Reception

Monday, November 13, 2023 | 7:30pm-8:30pm ET

Join NABITA for our Welcome Reception. All attendees and traveling companions are welcome to attend.

Featured Session A: Improving School Safety Through Bystander Reporting: A Toolkit for Strengthening K-12 Reporting Programs

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) has over 20 years of experience in conducting research on the thinking and behaviors of those who commit acts of targeted school violence, in an effort to prevent future tragedies. Key findings from this research indicate that those who engage in violence, or plot to do so, often communicate their intentions to others prior to the attack. This session will focus on guidance for local education agencies to establish and strengthen bystander reporting so that students exhibiting concerning or threatening behaviors can receive assistance as early as possible.

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Featured Session A: Legal Issues and the BIT

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Join the presenters as they walk you through an overview of legal pitfalls and challenges BITs to face as related to student conduct, ADA/OCR, free speech, threat assessment, parental involvement, FERPA, HIPAA, and state confidentiality laws.

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Featured Session A: Investigation/Interviewing Techniques

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

This presentation will focus on interviewing skills for your BIT/Case Manager. The presentation will provide your BIT/Case Manager a solid foundation for interim and long-term actions, as well as using additional threat and risk assessment tools, such as the SIVRA-35. Attendees will learn how to prepare, conduct, and document BIT interviews, as well as discuss how to manage interviews. Presenters will also review key issues regarding trauma-informed interviewing, open and close-ended questioning, reframing, credibility, and reliability.

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Featured Session A: Conducting an Effective Intake

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Effective case management plays a crucial role in supporting student success and well-being. A key component of the case management process is the intake session, which sets the foundation for understanding and addressing student concerns. This session aims to equip case managers with the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct effective intake sessions. The presenters will explore the importance of the intake process in building rapport, assessing student needs, and establishing appropriate interventions. Participants will learn strategies to create a welcoming and supportive environment that is also conducive to good information collecting, such as using active listening techniques, engaging in non-judgmental communication, considering culturally sensitive approaches, and actively building rapport.

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Concurrent Session 1: Keynote Q&A Follow-up

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

This session will allow participants to ask questions as a follow-up to the Monday evening keynote, “I Was Almost a School Shooter,” presented by Aaron Stark. The format will be mostly Q&A, with time available to go into much more depth in areas of interest to participants.

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Concurrent Session 1: A Case Study of One Institution’s Systemic Approach to BIT Frequent Flyers

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

This presentation outlines the approaches used by the Texas Tech BIT to address three case studies of “frequent flyers” this past academic year. The BIT took a systemic approach to reframe and resource presenting behaviors that were negatively impacting faculty, staff, parts of the university community, and the students themselves. In combination with NABITA best practices and standards, learn how we were able to intervene with these students to keep them off the weekly agenda.

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Concurrent Session 1: Proactive Stress Management: How to Use Energy Management to Prevent Burnout & Compassion Fatigue

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

Working as a helping professional in today’s climate can be (and is, for many) exhausting. More people are seeking support, the support they need is more complex, professionals are leaving the field, our work/life obligations are ever-growing – each of which are contributing to feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion for many. If we are not aware of how to proactively manage the energy we give to others daily, we will ultimately exhaust our own physical and emotional reserves. Over time, this will lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. This session is dedicated to providing helping professionals with burnout and compassion fatigue prevention strategies. During this session you will develop a foundational understanding of energy management, how you can proactively implement systems of self-care, and develop an awareness of your warning signs for burnout and compassion fatigue before it takes a greater toll.

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Concurrent Session 1: Common Emergency Terminology and Proper Use of Mass Notification Systems (MNS)

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

In a time of school crisis or disaster, information is a critical commodity. Decision-making is driven by information. Lockdown-barricade, shelter-in-place or evacuate, direction of evacuation, urgency of action; all represent precrisis decisions predicated on quality information. Is your community all on the same sheet of music when it comes to emergency terminology? This session will review the national best practices and standards for using campus MNS, when to alert your educational stakeholders, and what your message should contain. Participants will be provided a standardized white paper on crisis terms which will be reviewed in session. This session will explore and discuss:

• How are students and staff enrolled in MNS?
• Who has access to initiate an alert on your campus?
• Is there redundancy in your messaging systems?
• Have you created message fatigue by overusing your ENS?
• Do parents/guardians understand their role in an emergency?

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Concurrent Session 1: Free Speech, Activism, and Campus Threat Management

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

Student exercise of First Amendment freedoms has long been a hallmark of higher education in the United States, and Student Affairs professionals are often at the forefront to ensure student engagement in expressive activity while upholding institutional policy. This session will discuss important considerations in supporting first amendment rights, and techniques and structures that can be implemented to uphold free speech while reducing threat and risk to students and campus.

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Super Member Lunch

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 11:30am-1:00pm ET

Super Members and K-12 Professional Development Package holders are invited to join NABITA experts at a special lunch. Travel partners are welcome to attend.

Concurrent Session 2: Strategic Planning & Assessment for Threat Assessment Team

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

This session focuses on several different areas of strategic planning and assessment skill and knowledge. Practitioners will examine assessment specific to threat assessment/behavioral intervention teams and will focus on planning and executing strategic plans down to the everyday assessment needs with both formal and informal assessment tools. Using research-based models and case analyses, special emphasis is put on the role of using data and leveraging your case management system to inform policy, programming, funding, and student learning. Practitioners will leave with tangible learning objectives, assessment plans, and strategic tools. This session is open to all professionals and will use examples from various areas of student affairs.

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Concurrent Session 2: Building Competence and Confidence: Leveraging Case Management as a Process

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

Many of the professionals on your campus are engaged in CARE-adjacent work, and with the proper training and supervision can be better leveraged to bolster the interventions of the BIT. This session will explore leveraging case management as a position and a process to support the work of the BIT on your campus. We will review structural elements and a training and development model for building the competence and confidence of the professionals on your campus as they use the tenets of case management in their professional capacities to provide care and support to students.

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Concurrent Session 2: Student Connections: Identifying Students As Early As Possible

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

Understanding who your students are and the unique needs that each of them bring into your classrooms is the difference between preventing or responding to a critical incident. In this session, the presenters will share different strategies and techniques that they use in their schools, classrooms, and communities to ensure that no student is forgotten about or left behind. This interactive session will allow participants to review and practice different whole school and community approaches to truly knowing your student population.

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Concurrent Session 2: Optimizing the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and BIT: A Holistic Approach

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

This session will explore how to effectively partner with law enforcement in the BIT process. What skills and tools does your law enforcement representative bring to the team? How can you harness the information available to better develop a stronger understanding of the individuals referred to the team? What interventions are available to law enforcement to resolve conflict? Whether you are a law enforcement representative or a BIT member, this session will assist you in better leveraging the partnership between law enforcement and BIT, allowing to share resources and collaborate in the BIT process.

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Roundtable Sessions

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 2:30pm-3:30pm ET

Choose one of our roundtable sessions to attend. Roundtable topics coming soon!

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Featured Session B: Conducting Threat Assessments That Comply With IDEA, Section 504, & Title II

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 4:00pm-5:30pm ET

Students with disabilities can present unique challenges when applying the basic principles of school based behavioral threat assessment. State laws and federal protections are factors to consider when disabled students exhibit behaviors that can be interpreted as threatening. This presentation explores the steps to take and legal factors to consider when conducting behavioral threat assessments for students with disabilities.

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Featured Session B: What BITs Can and Cannot Do

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 4:00pm-5:30pm ET

Behavioral Intervention Teams play a crucial role in promoting safety, well-being, and inclusivity on college campuses. These interdisciplinary teams are tasked with assessing and addressing student behaviors that may pose a risk to the individual or the campus community. However, there are certain limitations and boundaries to what BITs can require from students. In this session, faculty will discuss the scope of authority that BITs possess and the boundaries they must navigate when intervening in student matters. Faculty will explore the legal and ethical considerations surrounding the actions and requirements imposed by BITs.

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Featured Session B: U.S. Secret Service Research, Analysis, and Key Findings of Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016-2020

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 4:00pm-5:30pm ET

Ensuring the safety of our communities is a responsibility that belongs to everyone. For over 20 years, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) has conducted research on the thinking and behaviors of those who commit acts of targeted violence in an effort to prevent future tragedies. This presentation will highlight past incidents as well as relevant findings and recommendations from NTAC’s latest research, which indicates that targeted violence is preventable. It will also discuss how communities can use a multidisciplinary approach to identify, assess, and intervene with individuals exhibiting concerning or threatening behaviors.

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Featured Session B: Assessing Case Management Services

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 4:00pm-5:30pm ET

Ever wonder how to demonstrate that your case management services are effective? Join the presenters as they discuss strategies for engaging in ongoing evaluation processes using research methods to measure the effectiveness of case management services. This presentation will provide strategies for implementing a strategic approach to evaluating the overall effectiveness of the case management program and services.

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Featured Session C: Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) with a Strengths-Based Lens

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, or MTSS, is an approach that leverages an entire school community to support learners. Its influence on educational settings from public to charter to private is undeniable, but there is a possible path to further increase its impact to better reach all students. What if the framing was “Multi-Tiered Systems for Student Success?” An asset-based approach that ensures all learners, not only those with different abilities, are set up for success in our education settings?

In this session, you will learn the philosophical underpinnings of MTSS, implementation strategies, and be introduced to an individualized learning plan that supports all students.

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Featured Session C: Title IX and BIT

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Behavioral Intervention Teams and Title IX Teams have distinct roles in managing risk and responding to behavior-related concerns; however, given the overlap and intersection of cases between the two teams, administrators need to be prepared to collaborate and communicate to fulfill their compliance obligations and best meet the needs of the individuals involved and the broader community. This presentation will discuss the overlap of BIT and Title IX and provide strategies for ensuring effective communication and collaboration. Additionally, the presentation will explore the role of Title IX on the BIT, jurisdictional requirements that govern institution’s response to Title IX incidents, processes for addressing problematic behaviors that do not fall within Title IX jurisdiction, and ways BITs can partner with Title IX offices in addressing concerning behaviors.

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Featured Session C: Involuntary and Voluntary Withdrawals

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Involuntarily removing a student from an institution can be a complex issue, often involving due process requirements as well as disability elements. A case manager can serve a significant role in managing circumstances when an individual’s behavior or expression of self harm or harm to others raises concerns and questions about suitability for continued enrollment. The role of your BIT will be important in establishing the nature of the risk posed and the severity of the risk to assist other institutional processes in applying an ADA-based Direct Threat standard or adjudicated through the student conduct process. This session will discuss current cases and challenges and provide recommendations for best practices in addressing these complex cases.

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Featured Session C: Culturally Informed Case Management Practices

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 8:30am-10:00am ET

Culturally informed case management practices are essential for providing effective and equitable services to clients from diverse backgrounds. This can be challenging and when not done properly, processes may be unduly influenced by bias or prejudice. This session explores the effects of bias and ways BITs/Case Managers might mitigate it’s influence on referrals, risk assessment, and interventions.

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Concurrent Session 3: Building the Bridge Between Six Campuses and the Community to Support a One College Case Management Model

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

Few would argue effectively managing a caseload for a BIT/CARE Team is a full-time commitment. However, it becomes more challenging for a college system with multiple campuses and students completing course work at several of the campuses. This program will explore the Tarrant County College CARE Team case management model, including our Student Emergency Assistance Fund, as an effective way to meet this challenge and assist with retaining our growing student population.

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Concurrent Session 3: Addressing Student Basic Needs Insecurities via CARE/BIT

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

Addressing student basic needs insecurities and having holistic support options is a critical piece of the work of BIT/CARE Teams. This session will explore the occurrence of college students with basic needs insecurities, what options institutions have to begin to address them, and how you can partner with community resources and build capacity around this work on your campus. Specifically, we will cover national survey data around student basic needs insecurities, share examples of one approach to building capacity and gaining momentum on a college campus, and illustrate connections between this work, the Behavioral Intervention Team, and an institutional culture of care.

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Concurrent Session 3: Trauma-Informed Delivery of BIT Services

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

As our understanding of how trauma affects the body, mind and behavior of our students continues to expand, the topic of trauma-informed interventions in education is becoming increasingly relevant in our profession.  This workshop will focus on trauma-informed delivery of BIT services in elementary schools.  We will provide a brief description of the clinician’s role as a BIT member, followed by an overview of the signs and symptoms of trauma in children, effective interventions, and the challenges of addressing trauma in our current school systems. Additionally, we will explore the impact of multigenerational, racial and medical trauma on families and the effectiveness of our interventions.  Case vignettes will be used to identify signs and symptoms of trauma in children and family systems and appropriate trauma-informed interventions based on this knowledge.

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Concurrent Session 3: How Cumulative Strain Contributes to Targeted Violence in Schools

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 10:15am-11:30am ET

To explain the genesis of mass murder committed by students at their schools, it is helpful to utilize a five-stage sequential model that recognizes several criminological theories to demonstrate their cumulative effect. These stages are as follows: chronic strain, uncontrolled strain, acute strain, the planning stage, and the massacre. Long-term frustrations (chronic strains) experienced early in life or in adolescence lead to social isolation, and the resultant lack of prosocial support systems (uncontrolled strain) in turn allows a short-term negative event (acute strain), be it real or imagined, to be particularly devastating. As such, the acute strain initiates a planning stage, wherein a mass killing is fantasized about as a solution to regain lost feelings of control, and actions are taken to ensure the fantasy can become reality. The planning process concludes in a massacre facilitated by weapons that enable mass destruction in schoolrooms and campuses, where students are closely packed together.

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Concurrent Session 4: The Makeup and Dynamic of Threat Assessment Teams on University Campuses

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

Session description coming soon!

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Concurrent Session 4: Managing High Caseloads

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

Let’s face it… many of us are receiving more referrals than we have ever received. While it may feel helpful to set a standard caseload number or ratio, it is often misleading and arbitrary. A balanced caseload is much more nuanced than any ratio could capture. Please join the presenters as they discuss considerations and strategies for case managers as they work to establish and maintain a balanced caseload.

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Concurrent Session 4: Restorative Practices in a K-5 Community

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

This session will review the use and implementation of restorative practices to build stronger communities. Our intent is to initiate a conversation about discipline and how changing the mindset around punitive measures can be challenging yet rewarding. An overview of the three tiers of restorative practices, how they work in conjunction with each other, as well as hands on tools and tips for getting started will be the focus of this session.

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Concurrent Session 4: Never Underestimate the Challenge of Underdeveloped Prefrontal Cortices in Large Groups: A Discussion of the Ongoing Development of the Organizational Risk Rubric

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 1:00pm-2:15pm ET

In 2022, Dr. Aurich was awarded the NABITA Research Grant award for his proposed development of a risk rubric with applications to student organizations. When incidents such as hazing, high risk alcohol and drug use, or assaults occur and are sponsored by or involve a student organization, the traditional route of addressing these concerns rests mainly with the campus conduct process. However, for campuses to holistically address these types of behaviors, support survivors, promote continued campus safety and student well-being, and acknowledge liability, BITs should have the most cutting-edge tools to do so. Attendees of this session will have the opportunity to get a first glimpse of the proposed “Organizational Risk Rubric,” its conceptual framework, decision-tree approach to addressing risks and/or threats while supporting students, and suggested interventions to deescalate. While Dr. Aurich has not yet completed his work, he hopes that attendees will engage with the presentation in a conversational way, sharing best practices and constructive feedback that may be implemented in his final product.

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Closing Keynote Session: The Value of Personhood - Its Transcendent Power to Cultivate Wellbeing on our Campuses

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 2:30pm-4:00pm ET

Higher education has always been central to the social issues of its generations. The last two decades have challenged higher education with an array of vexing social challenges including the unprecedented rise in mental health distress and mental illnesses, the lack of capacity to meet these needs, the arrival of social media now linked to mental health outcomes, an epidemic of loneliness, the need to advance and affirm diversity, equity and inclusion of all students, the burden of rising tuition with the calls for a better return on investment as defined by student success, political and social injustices and a global pandemic.

This closing session will seek to challenge us to examine the possibility that one of key drivers of mental health distress is that we have lost sight of one of our most important values-the value of personhood.  These last two decades have ushered in a view of our students, faculty, and staff more as commodities, than the unique people they are.  They are our tuition dollars, our salaries, our hopes and dreams, our liabilities and risks to be managed, our future endowers of funds; they are GPA’s in a march towards high paying jobs with the message that only happiness comes with such incomes and which students internalize;  they are the faculty and staff who are expected to do more and more with less and less; and all of these themes are reinforced in narratives on social media.  What if we were to re-center and re-focus this value of personhood in our institutions, our policies and practices, our classrooms, in our messaging and even in our families?  Could a values-based lens create a greater sense of belonging and safety and alleviate distress across our campuses? Come with curiosity and a willingness to wonder “what if?”

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Violence Risk Assessment of the Written Word (VRAWW)

Thursday, November 16, 2023 | 8:30am-4:30pm ET

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Case Management Advanced Interventions

Thursday, November 16 & Friday, November 17, 2023 | 8:30am-4:30pm ET

Designed to provide participants with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective 1:1 case management services.

Building on the Case Management Standards and Best Practices course, participants learn how to work 1:1 with students to address presenting issues, reduce risk, and increase safety. The course will deliver an overview of high-impact case management practices, as well as focus on the application of case management techniques with specific presenting issues.

Using an interactive format, participants will watch video demonstrations of case management services in action and engage in discussion with the presenters and fellow participants regarding the skills and techniques demonstrated in the video.

Click here to view more information.

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Structured Interview for Violence Risk Assessment (SIVRA-35)

Thursday, November 16 & Friday, November 17, 2023 | 8:30am-4:30pm ET

The Structured Interview for Violence Risk Assessment (SIVRA-35) is a 35-item inventory that is used to assist behavioral intervention team members and clinical staff in conducting a more thorough and research-based violence risk assessment. The SIVRA-35 is designed to assess the risk and protective factors related to an individual’s willingness to engage in violence.

This two-day course will provide an in-depth teaching on how to conduct an effective interview and gather information to score an individual using the SIVRA-35. This will include strategies for increasing likelihood of truthfulness, a discussion on how to phrase questions to probe for specific risk and protective factors, and the opportunity to watch demonstration videos and practice scoring them.

Click here to view more information.

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