Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT)

BIT is a multi-disciplinary team that promotes student success and wellbeing by engaging directly with individuals of concern and serving as a consultative body to students, faculty, and staff who are working with individuals in distress. BIT members monitor behavioral patterns, inquire about students’ unique lived experiences, and work directly with students’ support systems. They create a coordinated and caring response when students’ mental health concerns have the potential to substantially interfere with their or other students’ academic success.

BIT uses a risk rubric that measures generalized risk, mental and behavioral health, and aggression to determine the need for intervention. Generalized risk includes harm to facilities, reputation, finances, etc.

Steps BIT may take include:

  • Gathering and managing information from concerned students, faculty, and staff,
  • Connecting with external partners such as family members and treatment providers,
  • Assisting students whose mental health concern prevents them from participating in their classes (i.e.. when they are hospitalized),
  • Intervening when a student’s behavior is disrupting the community,
  • Assessing the level of threat an individual’s behavior poses to themselves or the campus community, and
  • Making referrals to students and following up with them to ensure they are connecting with those referrals.

BIT is composed of key UMBC personnel who have the capacity to quickly gather crucial information and training to make professional assessments leveraging clinical and nonclinical resources. The team meets once a week to discuss new referrals. Team members have training and experience in threat and risk assessment, utilizing the latest National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NABITA) standards and evidence-based assessment tools.

BIT is made up of representatives from the following offices:

In addition, BIT may call upon representatives from the following offices to share information: