Mental Health Is Increasing Priority at State Colleges and Universities

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) is furthering its support of student well-being and mental health by joining JED Campus, a nationwide program of The Jed Foundation (JED), designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems.

The new initiative builds on efforts already in place on many of the 12 community colleges and 4 state universities, and comes amidst increased attention – and concern – on campuses disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the mental health of students, faculty and staff.

JED Campus is a four-year program that assesses and enhances work already being done on college campuses, and helps create positive, lasting, systemic change in the campus community. All 17 CSCU institutions (including the on-line Charter Oak College) will embark on the multi-year collaboration with JED Campus that will provide 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, according to CSCU officials.

 “CSCU is excited about this partnership that will allow us to build upon CSCU’s existing student mental health support systems and implement enhancements,” said CSCU President Terrence Cheng, in his first year leading the system. “Our CSCU institutions are committed to student well-being and providing students with the mental health and counseling services they need to succeed in the classroom and for a healthy and safe campus community.”

The collaboration is made possible through a $350,000 grant awarded to JED by the KKR Relief Effort and more than $100,000 in additional private funds through JED's Morgan Stanley Scholarship Fund. The KKR Grant is administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

This funding comes at an opportune time as House Bill 6402, passed by the Connecticut General Assembly in January 2021, places a number of new requirements on CSCU institutions, including the creation of mental health coalitions at each campus comprised of key stakeholders to assess existing services in order to develop a strategic plan to address any identified weaknesses or gaps by January 2022.The JED Campus program fulfills all major components of this law and will provide the campuses with subject matter expertise and technical assistance for four years.

Housatonic Community College has been engaged in the JED Campus program since 2019, and CSCU will build upon these efforts as the program is implemented at all 12 CSCU community colleges and four regional universities.

“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, CEO 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 campus-wide approach to mental health will lead to safer, healthier communities, and likely greater student retention.”

Most of the CSCU campus have also been participating, for a number of years, in Fresh Check Day, the signature national program of the Connecticut-based Jordan Porco Foundation, developed to enhance mental health and suicide prevention on college campuses.

Fresh Check Day aims to create an approachable and hopeful atmosphere where students are encouraged to engage in dialogue about mental health and helps to build a bridge between students and the mental health resources available on campus, in the community, and nationally.

Using a peer-to-peer messaging model, Fresh Check Day utilizes student groups in addition to college/university staff to develop and execute interactive booths that deliver mental health and resource information in a fun and engaging way. Booth messaging reflects a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention with topics areas including specific mental health issues, high risk populations, stigma reduction, and positive coping and life skills.

Participating CSCU community colleges include Asnuntuck Community College, Capital Community College, Gateway Community College, Housatonic Community College, Manchester Community College, Middlesex Community College, Naugatuck Community College, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Quinnebaug Community College, and Three Rivers Community College.

In addition, Central Connecticut State University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, and Western Connecticut State University, all part of the CSCU system, take part in the Fresh Check Day program.  Central Connecticut had the program on campus last week, Eastern is scheduled for October 28. Norwalk Community College will host a Fresh Check Day later this week, on October 14.

What started as one Fresh Check Day in 2012 has grown to 800 Fresh Check Days at 269 colleges and universities in 42 states, impacting over 160,000 college students. The Jordan Porco Foundation was founded a decade ago by Ernie and Marisa Porco after they lost their son, Jordan, to suicide when he was a freshman in college. A 501 (c)3 non profit located in Hartford, the Jordan Porco Foundation is committed to preventing suicide in the high school, college, and college entry student population.

Regarding the new initiative with JED, each CSCU campus will be assigned a JED Campus Advisor to provide support, technical assistance and access to JED’s online Learning Community and resources. JED programs and resources were developed to ensure that student equity and the needs of marginalized and/or underrepresented students are addressed. Officials said that Lesley Mara, CSCU Director of Strategic Initiatives, Sponsored Research and Outreach, will coordinate and oversee system-wide work to ensure that each institution is supported and efforts are coordinated with sharing resources, promising practices, and professional development.

Using JED’s evidence-based Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention framework, each institution will assess available mental health resources, then administer and implement the Healthy Minds Survey to hear directly from students. The survey measures students’ attitudes, behaviors and awareness on emotional well-being and substance use issues. The schools will then prioritize, plan and implement a customized approach to strengthen policies, programs and systems to increase protective factors and decrease risk factors for mental health issues and suicide.