Action plan outlines steps to deal with threatening behavior

Months after the murder of three nursing professors shocked the UA community, the Dean of Students Office has enacted tougher and clearer guidelines for handling threatening and disruptive behavior.

The office will announce today two new policies on threatening and disruptive behavior in the classroom that were enacted after the number of complaints tripled following the October slayings of three nursing faculty.

What to do if you feel threatened: · Leave the area immediately. · Call 9-1-1 and request an officer come to the location. Inform the police if it's a repeat occurrence. · Report threatening behavior promptly to the Dean of Students Office by filing a Student Code of Conduct complaint. · If you are an employee, you must also notify your supervisor and the dean or department head.

Now, if disruptive or threatening behavior occurs, students, faculty and staff will have specific guidelines to follow to ensure safety.

According to the policy, disruptive behavior is described as "conduct that materially and substantially interferes with or obstructs the teaching or learning process in the context of a classroom or educational setting."

If an incident of such behavior arises, faculty should first communicate with the student. If the behavior continues the instructor is advised to issue a written warning. But if it persists, the instructor should file a complaint with the Dean of Students Office.

From there, the dean of students will decide what disciplinary action should be taken, said Melissa Vito, dean of students.

The policy also suggests that instructors should inform students of the rules at the start of the course.

Additional steps must be followed in situations of threatening behavior.

The policy defines threatening behavior as "any written or oral statement, communication, conduct or gesture directed toward any member of the university community, which causes a reasonable apprehension of physical harm to self, others or property."

This action is separate from a plan approved by the Faculty Senate Monday.

The dean's policies are meant to help guide faculty through the process of handling a threatening or disruptive situation with a student, Vito said.

They are aimed at streamlining the former policies, which were scattered within 26 parts of the Student Code of Conduct, Vito said.

"It really is a roadmap. We're putting into writing a clear way faculty can handle these situations," she said. "We were looking at the issues but not the policies. It was clear there was a lack of information."

Faculty and students who feel threatened should immediately leave the area, call police, report the incident to the dean of students, and then notify a supervisor, dean or department head, the policy stated.

University of Arizona Police Department Commander Kevin Haywood said these guidelines are key to alleviating some of the confusion surrounding disruptive or threatening behavior.

"If there's a clear-cut way to handle things, that's the way to go," Haywood said.

In addition to policies regarding classroom behavior, the Department of Human Resources released a revised policy for staff regarding workplace violence, which was permanently adopted on Jan. 27.

The policy outlines prohibited acts of workplace violence, which include but are not limited to threats, intimidation, physical attack or property damages.

Employees who believe they are the targets of such acts must immediately report to the police department, their supervisor or manager and Human Resources.

"The university encourages all employees to be alert to the possibility of violence on the part of students, former students, employees, former employees, customers and strangers," the policy stated.

A Workplace Violence Crisis Management Team is available to assess and review violence incidents.

The two student policies will be in the interim phase until April, allowing students and staff time for comment submitted through a University of Arizona Human Resources Web site.