LibChat User Guide: Chatting Tips & Safety Info.

For immediate student safety concerns, contact Chaffey College Campus Police at 909-652-6911 or by calling 911.

If you are chatting with a student and they are behaving strangely or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, please take the following steps.

• Start by setting boundaries with the student.
  • “[Student Name], I sense your frustration and I am here to help; however, this conversation has become unproductive because:
    • There doesn’t seem to be a solution that works for you
    • OR
    • The language you are using is not appropriate for this session
• If you would like, I can transfer this chat to a supervisor. If not, I will have to end the chat.” 
• If setting boundaries with the student has not stopped the behavior, transfer or end the chat and report the issue by filling out a BIT form. 

Link to information about student behavior concerns and the Behavioral Intervention Team.

• Always begin your chat with a nice welcome message. ex. "Hello! How can I help you?"
   
• If the question is beyond a basic information need or involved a technical issue (remote access problem, electronic article issues) or anything that you are unsure of, create a Ticket and a faculty member will follow up with the student.
   
• Keep the conversation flowing and let the patron in the know by informing them of what you will do next -- ex. "I will need to check the Chaffey website -- one sec"  etc.
   
• Use short, frequent messages. Break up long responses into shorter chunks; it's completely okay to use abbreviated messages and/or commonly used acronyms (like, 'brb')
   
• Be informal & friendly, yet maintain professionalism.
   
• If you go through a long chat and end up pasting links and things in, suggest that they use the icon to email the chat to themselves before they close the chat window.
   
• Always wrap-up your chat by asking if they have the answer they need and if i is anything else you can do for them.  Also, wait for the patron to log out of the chat session before closing the chat window!
   
• Before closing the chat window: Wait for the patron to log out of the chat session.