Thomas Nelson Community College Launches Online Incident Reporting Tool to Enhance Campus Safety

Online, May 23, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) has launched a new online incident reporting platform called Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services (TIPS) that allows students, faculty, staff and others on campus to confidentially report potentially harmful incidents.

An award-winning suite of web-based tools developed by the privately held organization Awareity, the platform empowers individuals to anonymously report suspicious activities involving assault, weapons, illegal drug/alcohol use, harassment or intimidation, vandalism, threats of violence, suicide risk, abuse and other incidents.

"TIPS is helping TNCC become more aware of threats and incidents on campus; campus police are ever vigilant, but if we don't know about at-risk individuals or suspicious activities, we can't prevent them. TIPS empowers anyone on campus and within the community to come forward and anonymously share information with us," said TNCC Police Chief Kelvin Maxwell.

If someone has information about incidents that adversely affect campus climate or warrant concern for the safety of students, faculty or staff, they can access TIPS from TNCC's website, select their campus location and anonymously report the information, Maxwell explained.

Campus Safety and Emergency Manager Garth MacDonald said once an incident is reported in TIPS, the College's Threat Assessment Team is notified so members can determine the appropriate actions. In addition to Maxwell and MacDonald, TNCC's Threat Assessment Team includes the Vice President for Finance and Administration, Human Resources manager and student counseling staff. General Counsel for Virginia's Community Colleges is included when needed.

In addition to providing anonymity for incident reporters, TIPS makes it easy for Threat Assessment Team members to coordinate actions during investigation, intervention, prevention and other actions to ensure legal compliance with state and federal requirements. Plus, all actions and responses taken by Threat Assessment Team members are documented and team members can review incidents, set up reminders for themselves or other team members, and search/review related incidents as needed, he explained.

Maxwell and MacDonald pointed out that TIPS also provides an Awareness & Accountability Vault that allows all appropriate personnel to access guidance, policies, situational awareness and best practices to ensure responses are meeting safety, legal, regulatory and moral obligations.

The TIPS web link is located at www.tncc.edu. For more information about Awareity, visit www.awareity.com or www.tipsprevent.com.