The tragic shootings at Virgina Tech on April 16, 2007, shocked the nation. In the fall of 2007, NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education president Jan Walbert convened a working group of student affairs colleagues with senior leadership experience to identify the critical issues student affairs colleagues should consider related to violent incidents on college campuses. Given the continued focus on higher education on campus violence, that original report has been revised to speak to a wider audience.

This report presents a framework of planning for and responding to emergencies such as incidents of violence using a crisis management model. This model provides four phases in which to discuss violence: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

This report is a special supplemental issue of the Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series New Directions for Student Services.