At the University of Rhode Island, student well-being, safety, and success are shared responsibilities. Our campus is committed to identifying concerns early, responding thoughtfully, and connecting students with the right support at the right time. Through collaboration across academic, student affairs, and support units, URI takes a proactive and coordinated approach to care—one that recognizes the complexity of students’ lives and the diverse challenges they may face.
The Assess, Needs, Care, Help, Outreach, Resources (A.N.C.H.O.R.) Team and the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) together provide a multi-tiered system of support designed to address both emerging concerns and higher-risk situations. These teams bring together trained, like-minded professionals who share information appropriately, assess risk, and coordinate interventions to promote student well-being, accountability, and campus safety. With student success as a guiding principle, this integrated approach helps ensure that URI students are supported in ways that allow them to thrive both inside and outside the classroom.
A.N.C.H.O.R.
What we do
A.N.C.H.O.R. is tasked with reviewing, collaborating, and addressing reports of students with lower-level concerns, which can include, but are not limited to homesickness; isolation; minor behavioral concerns; escalating substance abuse; changing mental health concerns; roommate issues; overlapping academic concerns.
Team members may reach out to students, faculty, and staff members to ensure a comprehensive response to reports. A.N.C.H.O.R. team interventions may be brief or, if appropriate, involve long-term monitoring and/or outreach to student(s) of concern. The A.N.C.H.O.R. team is not a disciplinary body, however cases that escalate into violations of URI Community Standards may be referred to the Dean of Students for appropriate disciplinary action.
learn moreWho we are
Team members include:
- Talent Development
- Disability, Access, and Inclusion
- Student Support and Advocacy Services
- Alcohol and Other Drug Education
- Early Alert Services
- Academic Affairs/ Faculty Representative
- Housing and Residential Life
Behavioral Intervention Team
What we do
BIT engages in behavioral threat assessment and management on behalf of the university for individuals who pose, or may reasonably pose, a threat to the safety and well-being of themselves and/or other members of the university community or pose a substantial disruption to university activities.
Referrals to BIT may come from the Dean of Students Office, Student Support and Advocacy Services, Community Standards, Housing and Residential Life, Academic Affairs, Early Alert, A.N.C.H.O.R., or others.
URI authorizes BIT to engage in behavioral threat assessment and management efforts on behalf of the university. These efforts include:
- Identifying persons and situations of concern, to include developing and implementing strategies and materials to help encourage the university community to report threats and other troubling or disturbing behavior exhibited by current or former students, current or former employees, and/or visitors.
- Gathering information from multiple sources (on campus and outside the institution) regarding the person or situation of concern.
- Evaluating the information gathered to determine whether the person or situation of concern poses a threat of violence, self-harm, or both; and
- Developing, implementing, and monitoring case management plans to reduce any threat posed, using available resources, and requesting the university’s assistance to secure resources where needed.
BIT has established a set of standard operating procedures to be used in each case it handles to ensure due process as well as consistent use of a systematic process. These operating procedures are consistent with best practices in campus threat assessment and management.
Who we are
BIT membership includes representatives from the following areas:
- Dean of Students (Chair)
- Counseling Center
- Community Standards
- Disability, Access, and Inclusion
- Graduate School
- Health Services
- Housing and Residential Life
- Student Support & Advocacy Services
- University Police (Public Safety)
BIT may also include representative(s) from specific areas or offices, both for information gathering and case management.
See, Hear Care, Share
The phrase, “See, Hear, Care, Share,” is a workplace violence prevention model developed as an evolution of the traditional, “See Something, Say Something,” approach. It provides a more comprehensive framework for proactively addressing concerning behavior in the workplace or on a campus.
- See: Go beyond simply noticing strange or concerning behavior. This step encourages paying attention to observations of non-normative behavior in an employee’s typical workday.
- Hear: Be attentive to the concerns of others. This involves actively listening to colleagues or students who might raise issues about a specific individual’s disturbing conduct.
- Care: Use compassion and empathy when intervening with an individual. When initiating a conversation or action, a supervisor or leader should show that they care about the person’s well-being while still holding them accountable to community and performance standards.
- Share: After seeing, hearing, and showing care, the final step is to share these concerns with the appropriate authority figures. This may include human resources, a threat assessment team, or other relevant campus or workplace security departments.