Given the national trend in suicide among college students, to which Stevens is not immune, administrators outlined goals that Stevens should meet to properly address our mental health crisis, according to an email sent out by Marybeth Murphy, the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, on November 19.
Over a year ago, the Stevens administration presented a plan to the Board of Trustees and listed seven points of focus that would serve as a blueprint for addressing the mental health crisis, with the hope to ultimately reduce the stigma around seeking psychological help.
The first action item on this list was social connectedness, which centered around improving residential education and providing more opportunities for engaging in campus life. Moreover, this initiative tied into the “No Duck Left Behind” policy that Stevens was implementing. Creating and fostering a safety net for at-risk students made up the section item on the agenda, which focused on recognizing warning signs and providing suicide prevention training.
Third on the list was “make seeking help our strength,” which encompassed the creation of the President’s Mental Health Task Force as well as the gathering of various health services provided by the school into the centralized Student Wellness Center. Next on the list was “extend more helping hands,” which referred to both the hiring of a wellness educator in October 2018 and a drug and alcohol specialist in February 2019.
For the fifth item, crisis management was the target. Here, the goal was to continue implementing sound crisis management skills by regularly updating the Emergency Operations Plan. After this item, reducing risk or harmful exposure to potentially lethal means became the area of focus. To accomplish this goal, the Stevens Risk and Compliance Steering Committee commissioned an extensive safety scan of the campus in February 2019. The company hired to conduct this scan will be doing so in the Spring 2020 semester.
Last on the list was “Teach our ducks how to swim,” where Counseling and Psychological Services, the Career Center, the Office of Residential Education, and the Academic Support Center all hosted workshops to help students cope with the challenges of college life, and prepare them for life after graduation.
To implement all these agenda items and properly address the sensitive topic of mental health, the administration has taken steps aimed at reducing the stigma associated with seeking psychological help and enacting suicide prevention measures. Back in 2013, Stevens became one of the first 30 inaugural schools to be given the JED Seal. This JED Seal is given to schools that have exhibited strong programs aimed at suicide prevention and mental health improvement. The organization behind this award, the JED Foundation, seeks to improve the emotional wellbeing of high school and college students as well as prevent suicide by partnering with schools to administer substance abuse and suicide prevention systems. Since receiving this seal, Stevens has partnered with the organization to expand our emotional health support system.
Regarding the effort to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, Stevens set up the President’s Mental Health Task Force, which is Co-Chaired by Dean Kelland Thomas and Vice President Marybeth Murphy. The formation of this task force was announced in July 2019 and they had their first meeting this past September. Another meeting is planned for this task force sometime this month. Specifically, this task force was charged with ways to reduce the stigma around mental illness and better encourage students to seek help when in trouble.
Apart from administration-led initiatives, students have also supported and hosted events aimed at improving the emotional wellbeing of the Stevens community. The Out of Darkness Walk, which was held a little over a month ago on October 27, was held to raise awareness about mental health resources. This walk had 508 attendees from both Stevens and Hoboken. Adding to this, Lauren Cook gave a talk on the same topic called “Name Your Story: How to talk openly about mental health.” This event occurred on October 22 and was co-sponsored by Alpha Phi Sorority and Counseling and Psychological Services.
In addition, certain structural changes have been enacted. Over the summer, Residential Education purchased RoomPact software to improve the connections between residents and the residential staff. Moreover, four staff members at Stevens have been trained in Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), which is a program aimed at preventing suicidal behaviors, and it is similar to CPR in that it trains participants in emergency mental health intervention.
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