School violence has been on the rise. More schools are shocked by the violence and to counteract this team has been created. This is the Behavioral Intervention Threat Assessment or BITA.

BITA is a team dedicated to one thing: the monitoring of the trends of the students education and the acquisition of information of students when they show signs of distress. This information would allow them to help the students if needed.

For example if a student was doing well in class and they suddenly disappear and stop attending, the matter may be brought to a BITA team to look into it. They may find nothing, that the student didn’t want to attend or that the student is suddenly homeless and has been looking for a home or job to find a new place to live.

That may make one  think what might go into a BITA team. The teams are chosen from individuals who will work together and have . Faculty will be on the team, this is assured by Tami Jacobs the Dean of Student Success, who has been asked to help with the BITA teams.

Jacobs transferred here from another college. She was the part of the BITA team there. She saw how effective these teams were. “In my previous institution it was very effective. We were able to get support to the students who needed it most,” said Jacobs

She also made it known that faculty would also be on these teams due to the apparent effectiveness of the methodology. “At my previous school faculty members were included as BITA team members and their insight and participation was very valuable,” said Jacobs.

With a BITA team at the school level there is also a BITA team at the national level. This is the NaBITA team. This team is non-profit organization that works at all colleges and helps give proper training to better aid the students and faculty of the colleges they work at.

With shootings on the rise, BITA will better protect the students from a rogue gunman. This will allow students to get the aid they need when they think nothing else is there.