Home
About Us
About Our Magazine
Editorial Board
Our Partners
Past Issues
News
Current Issue
The War on DEI
Jobs
Find a Job
Post a Job
Subscribe
Campus Climate Surveys
Awards
Alumni Association Inclusive Excellence Award
Diversity Champions
Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award
The HEED Award
HEED Testimonials
Inspiring Programs in Business Award
Inspiring Programs in STEM Award
Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award
Advertise
Advertising with Insight
Sponsored Articles
Print Ad Rates
Digital Banner Ads
Online Job Postings
Publication Calendar
Media Kit
Resources
DEI Best Practices – A Compilation of Data, Programs, and Policies Led by Insight Into Diversity HEED Award-Winning Institutions
Search
THE LEADER IN ADVANCING BEST PRACTICES
IN INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE AND BELONGING
Subscribe
Past Issues
Insight Into Diversity
Home
About Us
About Our Magazine
Editorial Board
Our Partners
Past Issues
News
Current Issue
The War on DEI
Jobs
Find a Job
Post a Job
Subscribe
Campus Climate Surveys
Awards
Alumni Association Inclusive Excellence Award
Diversity Champions
Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award
The HEED Award
HEED Testimonials
Inspiring Programs in Business Award
Inspiring Programs in STEM Award
Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award
Advertise
Advertising with Insight
Sponsored Articles
Print Ad Rates
Digital Banner Ads
Online Job Postings
Publication Calendar
Media Kit
Resources
DEI Best Practices – A Compilation of Data, Programs, and Policies Led by Insight Into Diversity HEED Award-Winning Institutions
Nikki Brahm
87 POSTS
0 COMMENTS
Uncategorized
Universities Expand Veteran and Military Studies Offerings
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
Colleges Offer Critical Support for Student-Veterans
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
How the GI Bill Has Evolved and Enabled Access to Higher...
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
Law Project Advocates for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
Resource Offers Data on Law School Deans
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
Pack Your Passport!
Nikki Brahm
-
July 2, 2024
Uncategorized
Harmonies Heard: Cali Pathways Project Promotes Access to Music Education
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
Artist-in-Residence Program Fosters Theatrical Talent
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
Home, Sweet Home: LGBTQIA+ Living Communities Improve Campus Life
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
Beyond Acceptance Transforming LGBTQIA+ Student Mental Health
Courtney Mullins
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
New Medical School Will Improve Rural Health
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
UCLA Launches Bachelor of Disability Studies
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
UW-Madison Program to Cover Tribal Students’ Tuition and Other Expenses
Nikki Brahm
-
May 28, 2024
Uncategorized
LGBTQ+ Education Strengthens Dental Curriculum
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2024
Uncategorized
Guidelines for Enhancing Diversity in Veterinary Medicine
Nikki Brahm
-
April 17, 2024
Uncategorized
Rooted in Care RIDE Program Boosts Rural Dental Health
Nikki Brahm
-
April 17, 2024
Uncategorized
The Fight for Accurate Representation Continues
Nikki Brahm
-
April 17, 2024
Uncategorized
AAD’s Pathways Initiative Diversifies Dermatology Field
Nikki Brahm
-
April 17, 2024
Uncategorized
IDDEAS@Wharton Attracts Diverse Students to Business PhDs
Nikki Brahm
-
March 20, 2024
Uncategorized
The Debate Over Test- Optional Policies at Elite Colleges Continues
Nikki Brahm
-
March 20, 2024
Uncategorized
Leaders Create Informal Support Network Amid DEI Opposition
Nikki Brahm
-
March 20, 2024
Uncategorized
Best Practices for Marketing Campus DEI
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Uncategorized
Social Work Project Improves North Dakota’s Native Child Welfare Outcomes
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Uncategorized
HBCU Digital Library Trust Preserving African American History
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Uncategorized
Best Practices for Marketing Campus DEI
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Uncategorized
Program Equips Community College Students to Obtain Four-Year Degrees
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Uncategorized
Student-Led Stanford Program Propels Community College Students into STEM
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2024
Magazine Articles
Protecting Students From Antisemitism and Islamophobia
Nikki Brahm
-
January 2, 2024
Magazine Articles
University of Houston Holistic Admissions Preventing Bias in Nursing
Nikki Brahm
-
January 2, 2024
Magazine Articles
Finding Innovative Ways to Support Student Mental Health
Nikki Brahm
-
January 2, 2024
Magazine Articles
University of Pittsburgh Pharmacy Students Honor Industry Groundbreaker
Nikki Brahm
-
January 1, 2024
Magazine Articles
University of Rochester Nursing Scholars Program Offers Free Tuition
Nikki Brahm
-
January 1, 2024
Magazine Articles
Institute Partnership Creates Pathway to Diverse Academic Leadership
Nikki Brahm
-
November 6, 2023
Magazine Articles
Collaborative Counseling: Professor Brings Academic, Mental Health Support to Rural Youth
Nikki Brahm
-
November 6, 2023
Magazine Articles
USC Dissolves DEI Office, Campus Pride Removes Colleges From ‘Best’ List
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Magazine Articles
Howard’s Marriott-Sorenson Center Brings Diverse Leaders into Hospitality
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
50th
(Still) Chasing Change: 50 Years of Striving for Workforce Diversity
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Magazine Articles
Architectural Education Students and Faculty Demand Industry Reform
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Magazine Articles
Legacy Admissions Debate Ignites After Affirmative Action Ruling
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Magazine Articles
Penn State Reports Find Progress in Hotel Industry Diversity
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic College Enrollment is Growing, but More Needs to be Done
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
Magazine Articles
NAACP Diversity Pledge Pushes Back on Affirmative Action Ban
Nikki Brahm
-
September 17, 2023
War on DEI Updates
UNT Dissolves DEI Office; South Carolina Bans Diversity Statements, Training
Nikki Brahm
-
August 21, 2023
Magazine Articles
Academic Libraries Champion DEI Efforts
Nikki Brahm
-
August 21, 2023
Magazine Articles
Endangered Indigenous Languages: Universities Advance Revitalization Efforts
Nikki Brahm
-
August 21, 2023
Magazine Articles
Institute Uses AI to Promote Equity in STEM Education
Nikki Brahm
-
August 21, 2023
Magazine Articles
Mentorship Program Supports Women Pursuing Criminal Justice Careers
Nikki Brahm
-
July 5, 2023
Magazine Articles
Law Students Push Schools Toward Climate Accountability
Nikki Brahm
-
July 5, 2023
Magazine Articles
Defending DEI: University Leaders Share Lessons Learned and Strategies for Moving...
Nikki Brahm
-
July 5, 2023
Magazine Articles
Colleges Are Beginning to Feel the Impact of Anti-DEI Measures
Nikki Brahm
-
July 5, 2023
Magazine Articles
The Warrior-Scholar Project: Empowering Military Service Members to Earn College Degrees
Nikki Brahm
-
July 5, 2023
Magazine Articles
Latino-LGBTQ+ Experiences Take Center Stage in Music Workshop
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
University Museums Awarded Funds for Latino Art Curation, Advancement
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Rallying Campus Allies
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
War on DEI Updates
Anti-DEI Legislation Becomes Reality in Florida, North Dakota
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Point Foundation Increases Support as LGBTQ+ Scholarship Applications Continue to Rise
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Resource Hub Sees Spike in Demand as Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Grows
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Reproductive Access: Study Explores Health Care Barriers for Deaf Women
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Expanding Boyer’s Model to Better Recognize Diverse Faculty Roles
Nikki Brahm
-
May 14, 2023
Uncategorized
New UMN Medical Campus to Focus on Rural Health
Nikki Brahm
-
April 26, 2023
Magazine Articles
Advocates Continue to Fight Proposed Anti-DEI Legislation
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Magazine Articles
Veteran Healers
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Uncategorized
Researchers Call for Enhanced Obesity Training in Medical Schools
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Magazine Articles
Institute Spearheads Racial, Climate Justice Projects in Pacific Northwest
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Magazine Articles
Invisible Labor
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Magazine Articles
Engaging in Productive Dialogue
Nikki Brahm
-
April 18, 2023
Magazine Articles
Universities Strive to Close Diversity Gaps in the Real Estate Industry
Nikki Brahm
-
March 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Business School Strategies to Advance Women in MBA Programs and Leadership
Nikki Brahm
-
March 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Counselor-Police Response Partnerships Benefit Students in Crisis
Nikki Brahm
-
March 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Wildlife Biology Professor Weaves Indigenous Heritage into Lessons
Nikki Brahm
-
March 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
UPenn’s ‘Eidos’ Project Tackles LGBTQ+ Health Inequity, Discrimination
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Equity in the Classroom Leads to Greater Student Success
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Religious Diversity on Campus: INSPIRES Index Helps Schools Assess Their Support
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2023
Disability Pride Month
A Catalyst for Innovation: (dis)Ability Design Studio Debuts
Nikki Brahm
-
February 14, 2023
Magazine Articles
Nursing Schools Teach Advocacy Skills to Help Advance Health Equity
Nikki Brahm
-
December 23, 2022
Magazine Articles
Navigating Names
Nikki Brahm
-
December 22, 2022
Magazine Articles
Innovative Funding Helps Health Professions Research College Raise $1 Million, Advance...
Nikki Brahm
-
November 16, 2022
Magazine Articles
Programs on the Rise to Help Younger Generations Achieve Financial Literacy
Nikki Brahm
-
November 16, 2022
Magazine Articles
Suicide Risk Greater Among LGBTQ+ Students with No Access to Mental...
Nikki Brahm
-
November 16, 2022
Magazine Articles
Kinesiology and Health Promotion Program Embeds DEI Throughout Curriculum
Nikki Brahm
-
November 16, 2022
Magazine Articles
Introductory STEM Courses Drive Out Underrepresented Female Students at Higher Rates
Nikki Brahm
-
November 16, 2022
Magazine Articles
As Cybersecurity Field Heats Up, HBCU Partnership Addresses Workforce Diversity
Nikki Brahm
-
October 18, 2022
AAPI
Newest National Resource Center at University of Arizona to Focus on...
Nikki Brahm
-
October 18, 2022
Magazine Articles
Fast-Track Education Programs Help Address National Teacher Shortage
Nikki Brahm
-
October 18, 2022
AAPI
Experts Call for Increased Asian American Studies to Counter Ignorance and...
Nikki Brahm
-
October 18, 2022
Magazine Articles
Study Finds Access Disparities in Dual Enrollment Programs
Nikki Brahm
-
September 19, 2022
Magazine Articles
Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Calls Attention to Other Debt Relief Programs
Nikki Brahm
-
September 19, 2022
CURRENT ISSUE:
APRIL 2025
Download the PDF
View Digital Edition
Past Issues
Subscribe
![One day after the mass shooting incident at Michigan State University in February, a University of Florida (UF) student called the UF Police Department (UFPD) concerned about a classmate who was researching guns and ammunition. Instead of just police responding to the call, a trained behavioral health specialist was also dispatched. “Our clinicians and officers spent three hours with that person to really flesh out why he was searching what he was searching,” says Meggen Sixbey, PhD, assistant director of the Behavioral Services Division of UFPD and a co-responder. “Do we have evidence to be concerned? In those three hours with him, they learned that he was in fear of his own safety [due to] things that were going on in his own life.” Without UF’s co-responder approach, Sixbey says, the situation could have escalated quickly or ended differently, and the student may not have received appropriate help. Due to widespread concern around mental health and fears of escalation caused by law enforcement response, partnerships between police and behavioral health specialists are growing across higher education campuses. Experts see this collaboration as a way to aid the most vulnerable by connecting them with needed resources and support. Collaborations differ campus to campus based on institutional needs. While some new programs, like the one at UF, dispatch counselors directly to the scene with police officers, others do not involve immediate on-site clinician response to dispatch situations. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, for example, works with both municipal and campus police to provide mental health support services to students, all of whom live off campus. University case managers help officers on the scene when there is no perceived imminent danger. Additional support is provided by the Campus Assessment, Response & Evaluation (CARE) Team, which is a common type of program at colleges and universities. The goal is to reach students before their situation becomes critical. The CARE Team reviews referrals for urgent mental health support among students and connects them to campus resources such as case management and additional counseling services. When assessing a threat, each situation is evaluated based on the NABITA Risk Rubric, a tool used in triaging mental health concerns with an interdisciplinary team approach, says Jan Gascoigne, PhD, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, and associate clinical professor. “Often the situation is determined not to be a threat but really just someone who is struggling and needs help,” she says. “We’d rather try to work with that person, figure out what’s going on, and get them the help they need without having to escalate to a police intervention. Our campus police have the same philosophy.” New programs expand mental health services in dispatch situations, with projects being introduced at Johns Hopkins University, The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Oregon, Colorado State University, and California State University, Long Beach. During a six-month trial in the city of Denver, in which mental health specialists were paired with police to respond to calls involving trespassing and other nonviolent events, a 34 percent drop in crimes was reported, or approximately 1,400 fewer criminal offenses, according to the Stanford University report “A Community Response Approach to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Crises Reduced Crime,” published last year. UF’s program launched in July and is the first in the nation led by a campus police department, Sixbey says. Calls are answered by UFPD, which contacts clinicians when there is a mental health component. Situations might include, for example, a student who threatens suicide, someone who was just fired from their job, or an individual whose property was stolen. It’s essential to decriminalize mental health, or mitigate criminal offenses in such calls, Sixbey says. It’s also important to de-escalate situations with clinically trained professionals to help reduce hospitalizations, which are often traumatic, she says. The UF team is looking for more effective ways to enhance efforts to assist underrepresented individuals because the relationship between these communities and law enforcement has historically been strained, a circumstance highlighted by recent social justice activism and political attention paid to policing. In addition to a campus climate survey, UF is conducting focus groups to see how underrepresented communities on campus view the program. Preliminary feedback points to possible changes in police uniforms, where officers would wear a pin or patch to identify themselves as Crisis Intervention Team trained, which means they have received mental health instruction to guide interactions. Individuals surveyed also showed interest in making the clinician the lead responder instead of an officer. This model was used successfully a couple of months ago, Sixbey says. A faculty member of color called regarding a Black student who made a concerning statement about suicide and left the classroom abruptly. The caller didn’t want police to go to the student’s home because they were aware he had experienced past interactions with law enforcement, but the caller still felt a wellness check was warranted. Based on the information provided, the clinician was able to strategize and lead the interaction. They found that the fears the instructor had regarding the student’s mental health were not present and that he was thankful for the tailored response. “Why a program like this is so beneficial, especially to underrepresented populations, is simply because it provides an additional resource which is an alternative to law enforcement response,” Sixbey says. “Even the best law enforcement officer with an abundance of mental health and crisis intervention team training is still an officer. When you can bring a mental health worker to the scene, it can shift the dynamic and allow for a noncriminal approach to a noncriminal matter.”](https://www.insightintodiversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Crisis-Response-1-324x160.png "Counselor-Police Response Partnerships Benefit Students in Crisis")
