This communication guide is intended to support SIAS faculty and staff with identifying a best course of action in response to experiencing a disruptive situation. A disruptive situation is any in which an individual's behavior interferes with students, faculty or staff to an appropriate educational or work environment.

The guide identifies three courses of action to be taken when experiencing disruptive situations and identifies the roles of the individual faculty/staff member and other SIAS administrative staff in responding to these situations. The three courses of action include:

  1. Immediate: Actions to be taken in the moment to minimize negative impact of disruptive event
  2. Urgent: Actions to be taken within 24 hours of experiencing the disruptive event
  3. Ongoing: Actions take over the days/weeks after experiencing the disruptive event

This communication guide is one piece of holistic approach to supporting SIAS faculty and staff with addressing disruptive situations and their impacts. Additional support/resources related to preventing disruptive situations, identifying and responding to situations in the moment, and recognizing and resolving impacts of experiencing disruptive situations will be added to this online resources as they are developed.  

Immediate Steps (i.e., within minutes)

1. ASSESS

Evaluation the situation to determine what the appropriate course of action.

 

2. ACT

EMERGENCY

CALL 911

Call 911 if perceived violent action is imminent (when in doubt, call 911)

NON-EMERGENCY

DE-ESCALATE

Engage in de-escalation/classroom management techniques

SEPARATE

Request individual to leave space (continue de-escalation)

OR

Remove yourself (and others present) to a safe space

 

3. REPORT 

Immediately report incident to Campus Safety  

253.692.4416 | uwtsafe@uw.edu

NOTE: If individual does not comply with requests to leave space, contact Campus Safety for assistance removing them. You can also request Campus Safety presence outside the space. 

 

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"URGENT" STEPS (I.E., WITHIN 0-24 HOURS)

1. Contact chair/supervisor as soon as possible to inform of incident

a. Attempt to make direct contact via in-person conversation, phone call, or virtual communication (e.g., Teams, Zoom).

b. If unable to make direct contact with chair/supervisor, email chair/supervisor (cc'ing iashelp@uw.edu)

 

2. Chair/supervisor will connect faculty/staff with immediate resources (e.g., AHR/HR, WA EAP)

a. Resources may include consultation with AHR/HR, Campus Safety, and/or SAFECampus

 

3. Chair/supervisor will contact Campus Safety and SAFECampus to follow-up

a. Contact Campus Safety; 253-692-4416 or uwtsafe@uw.edu

    i. Email general Campus Safety as well as Director of Campus Safety. The email should provide a brief summary of the incident and immediate concerns (if any). In addition, you should notify that you will also call the Director to discuss.

    ii. Call the Director (253-692-4425) to discuss situation and identify any necessary courses of action.

b. Contact SAFECampus; 206-685-7233 or safecampus@uw.edu

    i. Email SAFECampus to inform of situation and request conversation to identify support options

ii. Call SAFECampus to speak directly with support staff (NOTE: this is an optional step and may be determined by severity of situation and/or in consultation with Campus Safety

 

4. Chair/supervisor will notify their supervisor to inform of incident

ONGOING STEPS (I.E., SUBSEQUENT DAYS)

1. Chair/supervisor will follow-up with faculty/staff member. 

a. Discuss current needs and identified courses of action to support faculty/staff. Depending on circumstances, may need to offer work modification options and/or engage in ongoing consultation with their supervisor, Campus Safety, and SafeCampus or other university partners.