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Awareity’s TIPS Prevention Platform has been recognized for the third year in a row by K12 leaders who named it to District Administration magazine’s “Readers’ Choice Top Products for 2015.” The winners were compiled from 2,100-plus nominations from the magazine’s readers over the past year. The Readers’ Choice Top Products has been announced online and in the December 2015 issue of District Administration. District Administration’s Readers’ Choice Top Products awards program informs superintendents and other senior school district leaders about products their colleagues around the country are using to help their districts excel in a variety of areas, such as technology, sustainability and curriculum instruction.Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

There are three things every school and every college (and other organizations open to general public) needs to pro-actively PREVENT numerous types of incidents, fears and concerns including: • Lying awake at night fearing the worst • Being overwhelmed by negative media scrutiny and social media escalations • Increasing violence, diversity, inclusion, sexual assaults, bullying and other incidents • Uncomfortable meetings with disgruntled students and parents…and attorneys • Compliance and soaring liabilities due to the lack of legal/audit-ready documentation • Constantly feeling like you are in reaction mode…over and over again • Student athlete related headlines, hazing, sexting and other related incidents • Students ruiningRead More →

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In: Success

As colleges across the nation continue to face growing challenges, dialogues about diversity, bias, safety and security are happening and pointing toward the need for change. As Secretary Duncan recently said, it is critical for college presidents to “lead from the top”, and “when an incident occurs, institutional leadership have a key role in assuring students of their commitment to a safe and welcoming environment for all students and faculty.” Rick recently sat down with William Nunez, Chief of Staff and Associate to the Chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, to discuss how UNL is taking advantage of TIPS to monitor their campus climate andRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

Since the tragedy at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR most every news anchor, parent, student, education leader and government leader has been asking the same question…is there a SOLUTION to prevent future tragedies like what happened at Umpqua Community College? The answer is YES, tragedies can be prevented and are being prevented. A real proven SOLUTION does exist and it is proven in the real world by real organizations. The SOLUTION for PREVENTION involves a real-time community-wide effort of continuously collecting, assessing and connecting the dots. The SOLUTION for prevention requires proven tools like those found in the “Community-based Threat Assessment, Incident Management andRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

Data is powerful and a valuable asset for organizations. Data can make organizations leaders in their industry. Data is the best way, and arguably the only way, to prevent unwanted, embarrassing and expensive incidents, tragedies and liabilities. Simply put…you cannot prevent things you don’t know about it. Based on overwhelming data from lessons learned, evidence and extensive research; threat assessment teams (TAT) need a lot more data, more specifically community-based threat assessment teams need more community-based data, to proactively and effectively PREVENT incidents, lawsuits, tragedies and liabilities. DATA on PREVENTING Everyone agrees preventing an incident or tragedy is far better than reacting to an incidentRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Success

Switching gears back to education, Rick met with Bradley County Public Schools Safety and Security Director, Scotty Hernandez. Scotty is really leading the way in providing his school and SRO team with the TIPS secure platform to both report concerning behaviors and document all investigation efforts and daily activities to create an ongoing database of information that can be used to ensure all students are being responded to appropriately. As Scotty mentions in the interview, ensuring all incidents are tracked from beginning to end to show what steps were taken to prevent incidents from escalating provides the accountability necessary for a school community. An excerptRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Success

Moving over to the financial sector and connecting with the Chief Operating Officer for Cornhusker Bank, Steve Lindgren! Financial institutions and their customers continue to be defrauded by increased incidents of account takeover, ACH and wire fraud incidents that have led to the theft of millions of dollars. So, how can institutions meet new requirements and improve their abilities to prevent fraud and detect and respond to suspicious activities? Cornhusker Bank has been utilizing Awareity’s TIPS platform for over 9 years and continues to evolve and take advantage of all the system has to offer. They are leading the way and allowing all bank employeesRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Success

These counselors are making a huge difference! Another interview, this time with High School Counselor, Christina Miller from Twin Rivers Schools in Missouri. After the Twin Rivers Schools participated in a student survey following the Stand for the Silent anti-bullying presentation, it was clear the students were asking for solutions. TIPS was a perfect fit for their school community, and the customization capabilities allowed Twin Rivers to make it their own and reach their students in a whole new way. Christina is very forward thinking, and TIPS is allowing her team to immediately handle small situations when they start, whether that be comments made onRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Success

Another great interview with Middle School Counselor, Craig Spinner, from Westfield Washington Schools. In 2014, Westfield Washington Schools had the honor of participating in a presentation by David and Tina Long, of Everything Starts with One and featured in the “Bully” movie, in which they spoke about their son’s tragic suicide. Tina shared that she believed the TIPS platform may have helped prevent Tyler’s death. Westfield had also recently experienced a suicide of their own and Craig recognized that the school needed to be more proactive. Awareity’s TIPS platform now allows Westfield Washington Schools to not only receive incident reports (anonymously or non-anonymously) from allRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Success

I know I am biased, but I am excited to share this recent interview with one of my favorite MOAT Administrators! Amy Roper is the Policy and Content Administrator and Legal Liaison for Virginia Lottery and has really taken advantage of the system in a big way to ensure policy compliance and accountability for all agency employees. As a state agency, Virginia Lottery has to maintain compliance with a continuous list of requirements and regulations. The agency is able to utilize the existing Virginia State Contract for MOAT and automate a lot of daily efforts spent tracking and documenting employee acknowledgements and providing on-demand progressRead More →