In an effort to keep The University of Arizona safe, a series of training sessions will be held this month to teach UA community members how to identify and handle potential dangers or threats on campus in their earliest stages.

A collaborative effort between Student Affairs and Human Resources, a workshop titled "Preventing Violence: Creating a Safe Campus Culture" will be offered multiple times Nov. 12-14.

The training sessions will be led by Joel Dvoskin, a consultant from the internationally recognized Threat Assessment Group. Dvoskin is helping the President's Cabinet and Academic Council establish a unified leadership approach that promotes the safety and well-being of all members of the UA community.

In the training sessions, he will discuss how to identify the warning signs of a troubled person or troubling situation, what actions to take when something happens and who in the University community offers support in such situations, among other topics.

It is organizers' hope that the training can help keep the campus safe from violence ranging from small-scale altercations to campuswide crises.

"Campus violence is a workplace issue and it's a classroom and academic issue," said Linda Heffernan, director of consulting services for HR and one of the workshop's organizers. "It's about the people who work here and go to school here and the public who visit here."

In 2002, the threat of on-campus violence became all too real when three College of Nursing faculty members were killed by a disgruntled student. That is an extreme example of the type of tragedy organizers of the violence prevention workshop hope to prevent, in part by training the campus community in early threat detection.

The training sessions are individually tailored to four specific audiences: department heads, directors, managers and supervisors; front-line administrative and student services staff; faculty; and students and the campus community.

"This is to give people information about the best way to recognize or react to troubling situations, the kind of troubling situations where someone's behavior is making people uncomfortable or can be seen as intimidating," Heffernan said. "We want everyone to have the same approach."

In a memo to University employees Monday, President Robert N. Shelton encouraged participation in one of the sessions.

"I have been through this training myself, as have other senior campus leaders. Together, as a community, we must accept personal responsibility and accountability to act respectfully to one another and help assure campus safety," he wrote.

To register for one of the 90-minute sessions, visit http://www.studentaffairs.arizona.edu/safety.

The schedule:

Nov. 12 – Gallagher Theater

8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. – Department Heads, Directors, Managers/Supervisors

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. – Department Heads, Directors, Managers/Supervisors

1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. – Faculty

3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. – Faculty

Nov. 13 – Gallagher Theater

8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. – Department Heads, Directors, Managers/Supervisors

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. – Faculty

1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. – Department Heads, Directors, Managers/Supervisors

Nov. 14 – The first two sessions are in Education Room 211; the final two are at Gallagher Theater.

8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. – Department Heads, Directors, Managers/Supervisors

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. – Front-Line Administrative and Student Services Staff

1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. – Faculty

3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. – Students and Campus Community