College Joins JED Campus to Support Student Mental Health
October 17, 2023
Hudson Valley Community College has joined JED Campus, a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) designed to help colleges and universities evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention programs. More than 400 campuses are currently in the JED Campus program.
JED Campus provides schools with a framework for supporting student mental health, as well as assessment tools, feedback reports and a plan for ongoing improvement. It provides colleges and universities expert support, evidence-based best practices, and data-driven guidance to protect student mental health.
The collaboration with Hudson Valley is a four-year endeavor that will begin with establishing a core team of faculty, administrators and students to assess current tactics and identifying successes and opportunities for enhancements. JED Campus staff will assist with reviewing and implementing tactics for ongoing improvement with college leaders, administrators in student affairs and Counseling and Wellness Services, faculty and students.
“We are excited to partner with The Jed Foundation and work towards strengthening our already robust resources for dealing with the critical problem of student mental health,” said President Roger Ramsammy. “College students are dealing with many stressors in their lives, and we need to ensure that we can help them academically and also support them mentally and emotionally as best we can.”
The Jed Foundation is a non-profit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. Their goal is to equip teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other by encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult wellness.
“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 campus-wide approach to mental health will lead to safer, healthier communities, and likely greater student retention.”