St. Thomas University (STU) has joined JED Campus in support of student well-being and mental health. The program is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention programs and systems to ensure that schools have the strongest possible mental health safety nets.
By joining JED Campus, STU demonstrates a commitment to the emotional well-being of its students. JED Campuses embark on a multi-year strategic collaboration that not only assesses and enhances the work that is already being done but also helps create positive, lasting, systemic change in the campus community. The program provides schools with a framework for supporting student mental health, as well as assessment tools, feedback reports, a strategic plan, and ongoing support from the JED Campus team.
“We are very excited to partner with the JED Foundation to continually improve our services for students surrounding emotional health, suicide prevention and substance misuse prevention. Student health and safety are of the utmost importance to us, and we are fortunate to have a nationally recognized leader in student mental health partnering with us to develop an institution wide, robust, supportive program for our students,” said Matthew Roche, J.D., STU’s Chief Compliance Officer and Title IX Coordinator, and Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach.
“The college years are the age when many mental health issues first manifest, and it can be a time of significant stress and pressure,” said John MacPhee, Executive Director of JED. “JED Campus helps schools by working with them to survey everything their university is doing to support their students’ emotional health and find practical ways to augment these efforts in a comprehensive way. We believe that the implementation of a campus-wide approach to mental health will lead to safer, healthier communities, and likely greater student retention.”
St. Thomas University’s membership in JED Campus begins with establishing an interdisciplinary, campus-wide team to assess, support and implement program, policy, and system improvements and completing a confidential, self-assessment survey on its mental health promotion, substance abuse, and suicide prevention efforts. Upon completion of the assessment, JED Campus clinicians provide schools with a comprehensive feedback report identifying successes and opportunities for enhancements. Over the course of four years, STU will collaborate with JED to help implement enhancements. All self-assessment responses and feedback reports are confidential.
For more information about JED Campus, visit www.jedcampus.org.
