College Revamps Campus Security

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz announced in an email last week the formation of the Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) team, a committee of college experts in fields ranging from mental health to technology, assembled to provide a transparent process for compiling and addressing threats to student safety.

Liebowitz acknowledged in his email that the decision to form the TAM team comes in the midst of higher levels of concern for safety on college campuses in the wake of mass shooting incidents in recent years, such as the Viriginia Tech massacre of 2007 and the shootings in Aurora, Colo. in July. Tragic events like these have highlighted the need for an on-campus threat management system.

While the College has had a system in place in the past, these events have encouraged the College to revamp its security efforts.

“Middlebury College had a crisis team in the past, but it did not include as many college departments or areas of expertise,” said Director of Public Safety and Chair of Threat Assessment and Management Lisa Burchard.

“We felt that it was important to engage the broader Middlebury community and develop a more systematic and transparent approach to managing threatening behavior [with a team of] faculty and staff … who have been trained to analyze and respond sensitively to reports of potential violence or other concerning behavior,” wrote Liebowitz of the decision to form the revised team.

Administrators say that community reporting and engagement will be crucial to the success of the TAM program.

“Early intervention is critical. Research has shown that perpetrators of serious campus violence don’t just ‘snap,’” wrote Human Relations Officer Sue Ritter in an email. “Most [perpetrators] — over 75 percent — consider, plan, prepare and discuss their plans with others before they engage in violent behavior … A critical element of the threat assessment process is encouraging the campus community to look for and report warning signs.”

The new approach to threat assessment on campus will include what Ritter described as a “transparent, systematic and widely publicized approach” and administrators hope it will encourage students to feel more comfortable coming forward with their concerns.

The new TAM policy includes a regulation addressing retaliation: “Retaliating directly or indirectly against a person who has in good faith made a report under this policy or who has supported or participated in an investigation is prohibited.” New provisions such as these are intended to protect complainants and encourage student reporting of suspicious behavior.

The TAM team has members with expertise in a wide array of areas. The team is chaired by Burchard, and includes members from the Office of Human Resources, Business Services, Academic Affairs, Communications, Library and Information Services and a representative for the Language Schools, Schools Abroad and the Bread Loaf programs. The responsibilities of each team member will vary depending on their area of expertise. The team has been receiving instruction and training in threat assessment, and will continue to meet regularly on a monthly basis for training purposes. The team also has access to nationally-recognized threat assessment experts who are willing to consult on an as-needed basis, and additionally will be looking to examples at other schools with threat assessment teams.

In threat assessment training sessions, the TAM team is presented with hypothetical scenarios — such as the outbreak of a highly contagious disease or the presence of a shooter on campus — and then seeks to explore potential solutions and formulate responses.

“The exercises alert us to any gaps or inconsistencies in our understanding, planning, communication, and response and allow us to think through and plan for these kinds of problems,” said Executive Director of Health and Counseling Services Gus Jordan, a member of the TAM team.

A challenge facing the TAM and the new policy will be providing a framework for student participation and increasing student awareness of the team’s goals while also educating the student body about the necessity of the team and how they can help.

“I don’t really feel threatened on Middlebury’s campus but I’m glad the administration is thinking proactively about ways to deal with potential dangers to students,” said Sarah O’Brien ’13. “I’ve never seen something that I would consider threatening so it might be helpful if this TAM committee created some suggestions of what to be aware of or what they would consider worth reporting.”