Team Coordinators

The role of the team coordinator is to:

  1. Implement the College Emergency Notification System (University Relations, Police and Safety, Provost Office, Residence Life, and Personal Counseling).
  2. Inform the College community of the incident and services to be provided when appropriate via the Student ListServ, Press Releases, and Faculty/Staff ListServ.
  3. Complete the Critical Incident Screening Form, determine if CIRT needs to be activated, and appoint a team leader.

The following persons are given the responsibility to "activate" the CIRT Team at Penn State Behrend:

  • Dr. Ken Miller, Senior Director of Administration and Student Affairs, 814-898-6111, [email protected]
  • Kris Motta Torok, Director of Student Leadership and Involvement, 814-898-6171, [email protected]
  • Kelly Shrout, Associate Director of Student Affairs, 814-898-6111, [email protected]

Team Leaders

The role of the team leader is to:

  1. Consult with the Team Coordinator regarding the incident.
  2. Complete the Critical Incident Request Form.
  3. Determine a plan of action (types of services to be rendered). These are: defusing, debriefing, pastoral/peer support, psychological services, community referral, crisis management briefing (parents), and others.
  4. Assemble, designate, and dispatch team members.
  5. Remain accessible to team throughout the process.
  6. Designate location of command center.
  7. Collect results of intervention for post-incident critique.

The following persons will take responsibility on a rotation basis for forming teams in the event of a critical incident or crisis on the campus of Penn State Behrend:

The CIRT Team Leaders at Penn State Behrend all have mental health counseling degrees and have been trained in the CISM model.

Team Members

The following individuals are representative of the various areas of the college and have been trained in the CISM model. Among the departments represented are the Academic Schools, Athletics, Career Services, Chancellor's Office, Development and Alumni Relations, Exploratory and Pre-Major Advising, Financial Aid, Library, Housing and Food Services, Personal Counseling, Residence Life, Student Leadership and Involvement, and Student Affairs. Others have completed the training but have chosen not to be active members of the team. Those who are active members attend group and committee meetings, and are participating in ongoing education in the CISM model. This group is the pool from which teams will be formed to respond to crises that occur on campus.

An asterisk (*) denotes a mental health professional.

Protocol for Activation of the Penn State Behrend Critical Incident Response Team

The College's Emergency Notification System will be activated in most serious campus incidents. In this instance, the Director of Student Affairs or another Team Coordinator designated by them will initiate the request for an intervention. The following is a sequence of steps that are followed in responding to such a request.

  1. Student Affairs is contacted with the request for intervention (814-898-6111).
  2. Staff member gathers information needed for the Critical Incident Screening Form.
  3. Screening Form is presented to Team Coordinator for decision to activate the CIRT.
  4. Team Coordinator makes contact with Team Leader on call to activate the CIRT.
  5. Team Leader decides on form of intervention and calls members of the team to serve on the CIRT.
  6. Team Leader assigns a team member the responsibility of arranging the details of intervention (i.e., time, place, informational materials, refreshments).
  7. CIRT meets in advance of the intervention to clarify roles, review procedures, and receive a briefing from appropriate parties.
  8. Intervention occurs.
  9. CIRT meets after the intervention for review and to arrange follow-up as appropriate.
  10. CIRT Team Leader is responsible for completing and submitting CIRT Report to Clinical Director.