Graduates should have the ability to deal effectively with interpersonal conflict and campus crises.  Specifically, students should be able to:  

• provide leadership and positive solutions to resolving interpersonal conflicts;
• respond calmly and thoughtfully to campus crises;
• provide support to individuals, both students and employees,  who have been adversely affected by interpersonal conflict or a campus crisis. 

Student Injury

Doing no harm is one of several principles in the student affairs practice that covers the physical and developmental safety of students (Komives, Woodard & Associates, 2003).  During an event, one of the student staff members fell on a wet floor.  The student had a small abrasion on the right arm and was experiencing a little bit of pain.  Even though the injury was small, I asked the student if they wanted to go to the hospital and the student refused.  I relieved her from her duties and made sure to document the injury and follow up with the student throughout the evening and the following day.  Ever since the incident occurred, I have learned a lot more about the process for filing an incident report because more paperwork was involved.  Luckily, the student was not seriously injured and the abrasion healed quickly.  I made sure to review safety precautions with the student in order to avoid another accident.  

Crisis Management Plan

One of the assignments in the Counseling: Issues and Practices class involved examining an emergency and crisis plan at an institution that displayed some of the best practices for student affairs.  According to Crisis Management:  Responding from the Heart, a good crisis plan involves preparation and plans for not only catastrophic events, but for a wide variety of events in all shapes and sizes (Harper, Paterson & Zdziarski, 2006).  Through this assignment, I gained important knowledge regarding the emergency plan at UCR and within the Residence Life department where I work.  Specifically, I learned how to respond to incidents such as sexual assault, suicidal ideation, and a student death.  I also learned about campus protocol for disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and potential bomb threats.  I feel that this knowledge will assist me if I encounter these situations in the future. Click here to view UCR Housing protocol for specific critical incidences.