Back to Campus Climate Incident Response Team

Statement of Purpose

Statement of Purpose
Trinity College
Campus Climate Incident Response Team

Purpose

Comprising of students, faculty members, administrators, and exempt and non-exempt staff members, the campus climate incident response team seeks to promote inclusion and equity through its focus on the Trinity community’s responses to incidents of intolerance. This team neither investigates nor adjudicates alleged violations of college policy. The team will meet regularly to:

  1. anticipate community needs and concerns;
  2. devise strategies of response to incidents of intolerance;
  3. develop networks of relationships across campus;
  4. collaborate with campus partners while responding to incidents;
  5. serve as a campus educational resource to aspire to prevent campus incidents;
  6. advise college personnel and offices regarding their responses to incidents;
  7. collect, record, and report campus incidents and provide an annual report to the campus community each fall semester; and
  8. evaluate responses to improve college practices and shared life in community with a focus on a restorative purpose.

Response to an Incident

Due to the nature, complexity, and sensitivity of the incidents likely to be responded to by the team, it is reasonable to assume that the College will take steps to investigate reported or discovered incidents of intolerance before the team is initially notified and assembled. Barring exigent or extenuating circumstances, the team shall be guided by the following response protocol. An initial response will focus on persons most immediately affected by an incident. Recovery will focus on any needs in the broader campus community.

  1. Response:
    1. Evaluation: The team will meet to understand what has happened, to evaluate the situation, and to consider next steps to support, educate, and provide appropriate resources for the community.
    2. Allocate resources: The team will identify the immediate resources to meet the needs of the community and/or individuals affected by the behavior.
    3. Focused outreach: The team will identify strategies and implement a plan to address the needs of those directly affected by the incident.
  2. Recovery:
    1. Campus outreach: The team will identify strategies and implement a plan to address the needs of the campus community.
    2. Examination of incident: If possible and appropriate, the team will consider programs, training, etc., that will mitigate or prevent further incidents.
    3. Evaluation of response: The team will review the College’s response to the incident, develop strategies for continued campus engagement, and identify areas of improvement.

Due to the need for efficient and effective response from the College, the following areas of responsibility will be established until the team can assemble and assign specific duties/tasks:

  1. The vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the vice president for academic affairs, the vice president for student affairs, the college chaplain, and the director of campus safety will typically be part of the College’s initial response and will develop information for the team’s evaluation and assessment of the incident.
  2. The vice president of Student Success and Enrollment Management or their designee shall be responsible for convening the team and directing any informational or planning meeting.
  3. The team will be provided with the appropriate information to assess the situation, identify the resources and community outreach needed, and develop a plan to respond to the incident. Potential community follow-up includes: small group discussions, town halls, forums, emails to the college, community gatherings, education sessions, and small group discussions.

Responsibilities

Chair

  1. Must be a member of the team who has been voted by the team to effectively occupy the position of chair;
  2. The chair is responsible for leading regularly scheduled meetings;
  3. The chair is responsible for leading votes;
  4. Delegates tasks and authorizes communications efforts;
  5. The Chair calls for each subsequent meeting and may refer logistics to the secretary.

Vice Chair

  1. Must be a member of the team who has been voted by the team to effectively occupy the position of vice chair;
  2. The vice chair shall be responsible for taking on the role of acting chair, which is to effectively become the chair in the absence of the chair.

Secretary

  1. Must be a member of the team who has been voted by the team to effectively occupy the position of secretary;
  2. The secretary shall be responsible for taking the official meeting minutes of regularly scheduled meetings.
  3. The secretary is responsible for booking the space needed for upcoming meetings.
  4. The secretary shall be responsible for ensuring an active and updated website.

Analytics chair

  1. Must be a member of the team who has been voted by the team to effectively occupy the position of analytics chair;
  2. Aggregate all incidents reported to the team through its official reporting vehicle;
  3. Present to the team, at each regular meeting, any reports filed since the previous meeting;
  4. Escalate incident report to chair & vice chair when warranted;
  5. Present trends and an annual report.

Members

General members include all members of the team and are tasked with certain responsibilities by virtue of being a part of the team. The duties and powers of all general members shall be as follows:

  1. Attend regular meetings;
  2. As possible, be readily available when incidents occur and response is needed;
  3. At each meeting, share insight on the current state of campus climate and any incidents brought to the team’s attention;
  4. For the purposes of advice and resource sharing, maintain regular contact with groups similar or relevant to the team at other educational institutions;
  5. Vote.

Representation

  1. vice president of Student Success and Enrollment Management
  2. vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion
  3. Dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs
  4. college chaplain
  5. a minimum of four (4) students – minimum of two (2) students from two (2) different class years and up to as many as sixteen (16) students or half the team
  6. four members of the faculty
  7. three (3) non-exempt staff members
  8. three (3) exempt staff members
  9. director or assistant director of campus safety
  10. representative of dean of students office

Additions to the Campus Climate Team

Applicants will complete an application form for consideration by the team. Members will be sought through the following ways:

  1. coordination with formal college governance structures to nominate individuals to apply;
  2. general campus announcement requesting individuals to apply.

The applicants for team membership are approved by simple majority of the team.

Confidentiality

It is expected that members of the team recognize that the information shared in meetings is often confidential in nature. Therefore, Team members need to practice a high level of confidentiality in order to preserve the integrity of the Team’s work.

Removals of Team Members

Team members can be dismissed for not being active participants and failing to appropriately engage with the rest of the Team. Prior to any dismissal, the chair and vice chair will engage the individual in a conversation to ascertain what might be affecting the person’s participation and to attempt to re-engage the individual with the Team. Dismissal of a member can also take place at the discretion of the chair & vice chair with discussion of the group as appropriate.

Meetings

The Team shall meet bi-weekly, and/or at the discretion of the chair. At each regular meeting, team members will share updates on campus climate for the full team to consider.

Voting and Quorum

Each member of the team shall have one vote. A vote shall not be called unless a quorum is present. A quorum shall consist of fifty-one percent (51%) majority of membership. A minimum of one representative from each constituency group that has more than one representative on the team is required for a vote (Representation E-H). In the event of a tie, the motion is withdrawn pending further discussion. Any team member has the right to put forth a motion for vote.

Amendments

Any member of the response team may propose revisions to this statement of purpose. Amendments shall be made with a simple majority. All members must be notified of any changes to this statement of purpose.