Alfred University joins JED suicide prevention initiative 11/06/14
Alfred University is one of 56 colleges and universities nationwide that have joined the Jed and Clinton Health Matters Campus Program to Support Student Mental Health. The program is designed to help schools prevent the two leading causes of death in young adults—accidents, including those caused by prescription drug overdoses or alcohol poisoning, and suicide.
According to Stanley Tam, director of the Counseling and Wellness Center at Alfred University, the program is based in mostly smaller east coast schools like AU. “It sounded like a great program,” said Tam in explaining his decision to participate. The campus program, launched in June 2014, is also designed to help colleges and universities promote emotional wellbeing and mental health programming, reduce substance abuse, and prevent suicide among their students.
Tam explained that the program provided “a lot of good advocacy for emerging schools because everyone is having the same issues and a lot of schools feel isolated in dealing with these issues.” In addition, it seems that this program unites the smaller schools together with the bigger schools who are also participating to offer an allegiance of sorts against these mental health issues in higher education institutions.
Participating schools make a four-year commitment to work with the Campus Program to evaluate and identify opportunities to augment these activities on campus. Additionally, the program provides schools with a framework for supporting student mental health, as well as assessment tools, feedback reports, and ongoing technical assistance from the Program team as well. In order to become a member of the Campus Program, a school has to take a confidential, self-assessment survey on its mental health promotion, substance abuse and suicide prevention programming.
Afterwards, survey responses are reviewed by the Campus Program team in comparison to the program&s framework consisting of a comprehensive set of recommended practices. Then, schools receive customized feedback and
suggestions for enhancements.
“[The administrators] gave you very in depth surveys that took hours to complete. The surveys were very comprehensive though, which made it more appealing because I believed their analysis would correctly identify Alfred&s pros and cons,” Tam explained. One of the pros identified in AU&s surveys included the fact that although Alfred&s counseling and Wellness Center is small, they have a relatively large staff and nurses that have been in the profession for 30-plus years. This boded well for AU because “a lot of the questions asked about connections within an integrated system of health, counseling, and substance abuse. It was clear we stand as a united front as far as the wellness center, public safety, residence life, [and] career services. They are all connected and we are working together.” According to the evaluation, the student affairs committee is very strong as well.
However, there were some areas AU needed to continue to work on. “We didn&t have as many support groups on campus as we&d hoped. The biggest thing is getting messages out to everyone on campus that these options are available.” Tam and other AU faculty are trying to reach out to a range of people on campus in order to spread the word. The wellness center staff has met in small groups with athletes and students from all different disciplines including art, engineering, graduate students, and first years. “There&s such a separation within our diverse
community, more intimate conversations about prevention, one of the main concerns, is necessary. In the end, our main concern will always be the safety of the students.”