LSUHSC Cares

LSUHSC-NO BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION TEAM (BIT)

The LSUHSC-NO Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) provides caring, supportive, and early intervention to current students, faculty, and staff.
BIT endeavors to identify and support individuals in distress to reduce an individual’s risk, increase safety, and prevent violence.

Your voice can help to keep our LSUHSC community safer and support one another.

The BIT Team is a multidisciplinary team of professionals engaged in responding to individuals who may need assistance and connecting them to resources. 
The team includes members from Campus Police, CAP, Community & Behavioral Health, Compliance, Disability Services, Human Resources, Psychiatry, and Title IX. 

 

Frank Wasser (Chair)
Compliance & Privacy Officer

Rahn K. Bailey, MD
Chairman, Department of Psychiatry

Margaret Bishop-Baier, MD
Medical Director, Campus Assistance Program

Richard Blackman, III
Chief, Campus Police

Scott Embley
Director, Campus Assistance Program & Drug Testing Program

Jill Fragoso
Chief Human Resources Officer

Stephen Phillippi, Jr., PhD
Chair, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences 
Director of the Institute for Public Health & Justice

Caesar Ruffin
Director of Campus Security

Leigh Smith-Vaniz
Director of Student Services & Title IX Coordinator

Janet Southerland, DDS, PhD, MPH
Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

The Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) is a multidisciplinary team of professionals engaged in responding to individuals who may need assistance and connecting them to resources.

The purpose of the BIT is to provide caring, supportive, and early intervention to individuals whose behavior is disruptive or concerning. The BIT endeavors to identify and support individuals in distress to reduce the individual’s risk, increase safety, and prevent violence.  The team addresses behavior with a nexus to campus (regardless of where it occurs) for current students, faculty, and staff. This holistic approach helps LSUHSC-NO campuses enhance safety, retain students, and promote an individual’s aptitude for success.

The team receives referrals and addresses concerns including, but not limited to, disruptive or concerning behaviors; difficulty accessing resources; academic distress; personal, emotional, and/or psychological difficulties; or potential harm to self or others. 

Behaviors/experiences that should be reported:

Bizarre/Disjointed Thoughts Concerns of a Missing Individual Cutting Behaviors
Depressed Appearance/Persistent Sadness/Unexplained Crying Disheveled/Unkempt Appearance Disturbed Eating Behaviors
Disturbing Written Materials/Discussion Emotional Outbursts/Rage Excessive Anxiety/Worry
Extreme Mood Swings Excessive Tardiness/Lateness Family Stress
Financial Stress Food Insecurity Housing Insecurity
Inappropriate Sleeping Behavior Lethargy Loneliness/Isolation
Obsessively Suspicious/Paranoid Personal Loss Property Damage
Suicidal Ideation Suicide Attempt Threatening/Violent Behavior
Visible Injuries    

 

Referrals shoud include specific and observable facts regarding an individual. 

Are you worried about a friend, student, colleague, or even yourself?

BIT can help!

Submit an Individual of Concern Report Form to get connected.