Bias incidents, including microaggressions, have become commonplace in colleges and universities. For many, bias reports outnumber all other forms of misconduct combined.
Colleges have responded to this challenge with Bias Incident Response Teams (BIRTs), Bias Assessment and Intervention Teams (BAITs), and teams of various other names and acronyms. Yet, the courts have been hostile to the bias team model, striking down numerous public university team approaches as violative of the First Amendment. Bias teams’ function at the intersection of academic freedom, non-discrimination laws, and campus efforts to enhance inclusion and belonging. Ensuring the team balances free speech, religion, and the right to be free from bias is paramount.
TNG Consultants will train you on how to develop or evolve your team, publicize it to your campus community, implement anonymous reporting, and determine protocols for response that empower team goals without overreach or undue risk of liability.
This training is an excellent opportunity for coalition building among Title IX administrators, non-discrimination administrators, behavioral intervention practitioners, and other stakeholders involved in violence prevention and risk management initiatives.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the value of having a bias incident team.
- Understand the pitfalls and risks of a team that overreaches.
- Clarify the mission of a bias team and how to define bias as distinct from discrimination.
- Learn about litigation impacting the constitutionality of bias teams.
- Explore various techniques for effective bias incident response and intervention.