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You can access mental health support through the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP), Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (if you are a student), and through other resources listed below.

• Preserve emails by downloading them as PDFs, and preserve social media and other online comments by taking screenshots that show the message, sender/poster, online location and date and time.
• Ask someone else to help you preserve evidence if it is too difficult to do this yourself.
• Keep the PDFs and screenshots in a safe location such as a secure cloud storage service or external hard drive and consider organizing them in a log.

• If harassment or unwelcome behavior is coming via a particular channel, you might consider whether you would benefit from “muting” that channel. For example, you might ask someone else to vet your voicemail messages, set up an automatic rule to send all emails from a particular sender or containing a particular term to a special folder, unfollow someone on social media or disengage from social media altogether.
• Take steps to protect your cyberidentity. .
• If you are responsible for a unit’s social media account and are receiving harassment via that account, do not disable the account, delete comments or turn the account to private. Reach out to Strategic Relations and Communications and the Threat Assessment team about your options.
• Do not disable or turn private any other accounts without first addressing how to collect and preserve evidence (see above).

• If you believe you are being targeted on the basis of race, color, national origin, pregnancy, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran (military service) status, marital status, political affiliation or political philosophy, consider speaking with CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance to learn about your options.
• You might consider paying an outside service to remove all personal information from the internet, including, but not limited to, name, physical addresses, date of birth, phone numbers and/or email addresses. This can help reduce the likelihood of escalation resulting from doxxing (see provided definition) or attempts by outside groups to make your communication channels unusable.
  • You can work with  to remove personal information from University of Colorado websites.

• Whether to respond (including how and when) is unique to each situation, but it is generally recommended that you do not engage.
  • Any language in a communication that contains actual or implied threats of harm should be reported immediately to the Department of Threat Assessment (Behavioral Intervention Team). If you believe that you are in imminent danger, please call 911.
  • A threat is defined as an expression of intent to do harm or act out violently against someone (including self), something or someplace. A threat can be spoken, written, or symbolic. Not all threats, nor those who threaten, are equal in their potential for harm, but all threats that are brought to the attention of the Behavioral Intervention Team will be taken seriously and evaluated.
• You should generally not respond to any communication that resembles a threat, as this could escalate a situation.
• If you have been a victim of harassment or intimidation that isn't covered by this page, please visit the Office of Victim Assistance to learn more about support and resources available to you.

• Take careful action to consider whether, and if so how, to inform the department, consulting with the dean, department/unit communicators, and police on appropriate language and approach to create awareness but not panic.
• Others in the department, unit or lab (e.g., administrative staff who answer the phone) could also receive harassing messages. Inform those who need to know what to expect and how to respond by providing a script for phone calls or a template for emails and instructions about keeping phone logs and preserving documents.
• Consider whether others in the department, unit or lab could benefit from talking about what is happening. The Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) or Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (for students) can help you decide and facilitate these resources.
• Others who share aspects of the targeted individual’s demographic identity may need or want support depending on the nature of the harassment. CAPS counselors and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance can facilitate this support.

• Report a threat as soon as possible to Threat Assessment unless the immediate safety of the targeted individual is in question. If it is, call 911, CUPD or local law enforcement.
• Consider whether others in the unit (e.g., administrative staff who answer the phone) may also receive harassing messages. To coordinate that response, work with your college/school/unit communicator, the dean or other unit leadership, Strategic Relations and Communications, the Behavioral Intervention Team & Threat Assessment or Student Support & Case Management (if the person of concern is a student). It is then suggested that you inform those who need to know what to expect and how to respond by providing a script for phone calls or a template for emails and instructions about keeping phone logs and preserving documents.
  • This will also be helpful for planning and implementing a coordinated response, overall.
• Communicate, generally and in the midst of crises, the centrality of and rationale for academic freedom consistent with university policies and the importance of safety and civil dialogue. This could include faculty meetings, newsletters/websites and discussions with faculty, students and staff.

If you also become a targeted individual or suffer effects, consider taking advantage of the same resources you offer the targeted individual, including mental health support through Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the FSAP and other resources listed here.

• Report the harassment as soon as possible to , sharing as much information as possible.
• Communicate with the Office of Strategic Relations and Communications so that you plan and implement a coordinated response.
• Communicate, generally and in the midst of crises, the centrality of and rationale for academic freedom and the importance of safety and civil dialogue. This could include faculty meetings, newsletters/websites and discussions with faculty, students and staff.

• Consider whether others in the dean’s office (e.g., administrative staff who answer the phone) may also receive harassing messages. To coordinate that response, work with your college/school/unit communicator, Strategic Relations and Communications, and the Behavioral Intervention Team & Threat Assessment. It is then suggested that you inform those who need to know what to expect and how to respond by providing a script for phone calls or a template for emails and instructions about keeping phone logs and preserving documents.
• Consider whether others in the school (e.g., faculty, staff or students) could benefit from talking about what is happening. FSAP and CAPS counselors can help you decide and can facilitate these resources.
• Others who share aspects of the targeted individual’s demographic identity may need or want particular support depending on the nature of the harassment. FSAP and CAPS counselors and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance can facilitate this support.

Help to ensure the targeted individual and the targeted individual’s chair and/or unit lead and dean are kept current as the situation unfolds and consult with them about what response you are advising.

Coordinate messaging with the targeted individual, chair and/or unit lead, dean and senior leadership.

Offer advice on social media best practices.

Offer media training and advice to anyone who may be contacted by the media about the harassment.

Provide a sense of the threat and provide support to the targeted individual and the targeted individual’s community (e.g., department/unit, lab/institute or college/school).

• Provide leadership in messaging the centrality of academic freedom to the university’s mission and CU �鶹ӰԺ’s commitment to supporting the targeted individuals.
• Inform the president, if appropriate, who would then inform the regents.

Provide legal advice to university administration, such as the provost’s office, the chancellor’s office, supervisors and deans, related to matters that may arise because of harassment.

Offer support, guidance and resources to individuals targeted on the basis of  (e.g., race, color, national origin, pregnancy, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military service status, marital status, political affiliation or political philosophy) and sexual misconduct.