Please sit with your staff

Telling the Story*: Writing Incident Reports

Presented by April Aldeen

Shameless Plug

• J-Board Info Sessions– Tuesday, August 28th @ 7pm, Baird– Wednesday, August 29th @7pm, Baird

• Applications– Available through contacting April– Due Monday, September 3rd

Example

As I was in the main lobby, where the visitation sign in/out table is, Josh came

downstairs and signed himself out, alone. Then he left the building.

Additional Information: None

ExampleElizabeth gave her ID to one of her male friends to come to

James Hall. A staff member and I had already talked to her about giving her ID to her male friends when one of them

told us that, Elizabeth has given her ID to him to use to come into the building when he goes out. We told him he could not do that and we told him to also tell Elizabeth that. So this is a

second time we have caught her doing that.

Additional Information: Please do something because she is stubborn and always leaving her guests around despite staff members talking to her about that. And also, she puts stuff in the microwave and leave it until another resident comes to turn it off to prevent it from setting off the fire alarm.

Report Prep: Gathering Basic Info• Names & B#s• Times/Dates*• Room #s/Location• Event details– Who was involved?– Who did what?– What kind/how much?– What you asked, What

responses you received, & What you said

– Series of events, as explained to you

Telling the Story: Writing the IR

• Begin by explaining– Who you are– How the situation came to your attention• What you were doing when you encountered the

situation• When did you encounter the situation• Where you encountered the situation

– Who was immediately involved

Mad-libbing it• “I, name, was what you were doing where

around time on date when I the way you discovered the situation...”

• Elements– Name: yours, of course– What: conducting a round, sitting in my room,

coming from the bathroom, entering the building, etc.

– Time/Date: obviously the obvious– Way: smelt, heard, saw, encountered, etc.

Examples…

• I, April Aldeen, was walking through the 2nd floor of James around 9pm on 9/6/2012 when I smelt a burning odor.

• I, Kem French, was walking to the 3rd floor Dana bathroom around 2am on 10/21/2012 when I saw a female and male resident, Joe Smith, standing in the 3rd floor hallway.

Continuing the Story

• What happened next?• Who was involved?• What else did you

observe/hear/smell/discover?• What did you find?– How much?– What kind?– Whose was it?– Who was it?

General Tips for Writing• Use 1st person• Write chronologically from your perspective• Be Objective:

– The Description should be as factual as possible. Tell the reader what happened– what you saw, heard, smelt, encountered, etc.

– Use exact quotes when possible– Use only information relevant to the incident at hand– Be careful with words like “drunk,” “intoxicated,” or “high”

• Write Well– Be precise and thorough– Use good grammar– Remember:

• Your report may go into a student’s permanent file• Your report may be read by a wide variety of people

• Review and Revise– Read what you wrote out loud– Look for any gaps or holes in the story– Remember, you can ask your HC/Collegium to read your report if you need

feedback/support

Concluding the Report

Follow-Up• Note in your report how

you followed-up with the student*– Face to face– E-mail

• If there is no note in your report…

• What not to say– “You’ll hear from the J-Board”– “You won’t get in trouble”– “You’ll be suspended”

“Additional Information about the Incident”

• Any references to previous violations will be disregarded

• Remain professional• Use this section to describe

the students’ attitudes throughout the incident

• Describe how this particular situation affected the community and/or individuals

Questions?

Practice, practice, practice

Example

Abigail was intoxicated to the point where she needed my help getting to her room. She told me that she knew I had to write

her up.