Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: News

Director of Strategy and Organizational Development Amy McGinnis discusses preventing violence in the workplace Thursday afternoon in Rowe 229. McGinnis talked about crisis management and the importance of communication in preventing violence. [Click to enlarge]

Amy McGinnis said there are three things to keep in mind when determining if someone is a violence risk.

"No. 1: Is there a history of violence?, No. 2: Is there a threat of violence? And No. 3 is going with your gut reaction to a person - what you know about the person" she said.

McGinnis, CMU's director of strategy and organizational development, said because there is no accurate test to determine risk, people should ask themselves these questions and then judge for themselves.

McGinnis presented a workshop, "The Crisis Curve," on Thursday where she discussed how to handle upset people who enter the workplace, either co-workers past or present, or an unknown person.

The curve is shaped like a bell curve with the line representing the possible combustibility of the upset person, coming in four stages.

Constantine senior Kelly Morse said McGinnis' presentation was informative and made sense.

"I think it's important to be cautious and react to anything that may look suspicious," she said.

Cherie Kunkel, a student service adviser in Receivable Accounting, said the new campus alert system with cell phone messaging will be successful. However, she said she still has questions.

"I learned how you sign up for alerts to your cell phone, so I am going to probably go back and do that," she said. "I have to find out if it's available for parents so students can put their parent's number (in as well). We've been getting a lot of parents calling our office worried about how they are going to be notified."

McGinnis said for the program to be successful, those in attendance must take what they learned back to their respective campus communities.

People often prepare for home emergencies, like a fire, by making sure everyone knows to meet at a safe place.

"The same applies for offices on campus," she said.


news@cm-life.com

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