SUNY Morrisville took another step toward supporting student well-being and mental health, joining the JED Campus Fundamentals program in partnership with The Jed Foundation (JED).
The program is a nationwide initiative of 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 Fundamentals, SUNY Morrisville demonstrates its commitment of caring for the social and emotional well-being of our students,” said Monica Grau, SUNY Morrisville vice president for student affairs & chief diversity officer. “We want to continue to foster a caring community for our students, faculty and staff through outreach, passive education and active programming, as well as through de-stigmatizing caring for one’s mental health.”
JED Campuses embark on a collaborative strategic planning process 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 support from the JED Higher Education team.
“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, chief executive officer of JED. “JED Campus helps schools by working with them to survey everything their college or 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 campuswide approach to mental health will lead to safer, healthier communities and likely greater student retention.”
SUNY Morrisville’s membership in JED Campus Fundamentals begins with establishing an interdisciplinary, campuswide team to assess, support and implement program, policy and system improvements and completing a confidential, self-assessment survey on its mental health promotion, substance use and suicide prevention efforts.
Upon completion of the assessment, JED subject matter experts provide schools with a comprehensive feedback report identifying successes and opportunities for enhancements. During the course of 18 months, SUNY Morrisville will collaborate with JED to help implement enhancements. All self-assessment responses and feedback reports are confidential.
For more information about the JED Campus Fundamentals program, please visit the JED Foundation website.
About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. Partnering with high schools and colleges to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems, JED equips teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. JED encourages community awareness, understanding and action for young adult mental health.