Grantee Types: Community College

ARISE: Advancing Resources & Information for Suicide (Prevention) & Education project will develop a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide among college students by fostering an empowered culture, enabling the campus community to maximize opportunities for collaboration and coordination of suicide prevention activities. The core goals of ARISE are to strengthen the college infrastructure and address gaps in order to create a safe environment that better supports students, fosters a sense of belonging, and promotes mental health and wellness as a crucial component of the pathway to college success.

West Valley College (WVC) serves approximately 11,000 students and employs 87 staff, 386 faculty, and 13 administrators. The Hispanic student population comprises over 19% of the student population. Asian students comprise the second largest ethnic population, with over 14%. Over 44% of the students are 20 -24 years of age. 12% of students are 19 years or younger. The college also has a large population of disabled students  totaling over 1800. 

Strategies to achieve project goals include: 

1. Integrating suicide prevention training and activities to positively influence WVC culture and leadership;
2. Utilizing a variety of media platforms to increase communication efforts to reduce stigma and support safe crisis intervention strategies;
3. Increasing knowledge and awareness of the warning signs for suicide, and empowering individuals to respond to persons in crisis through the promotion of the national, veterans-focused, and local crisis hotlines; and
4. Disseminating information to faculty regarding how to integrate consistent and safe messaging on suicide and mental health into curricula. Approximately 4000 faculty, staff and students will be served through trainings and events, and a viewership audience of 15,000 individuals will have listened to, read, or integrated suicide prevention and mental health messages over the course of three years.

Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC), established in 1925, is a comprehensive, Hispanic-serving two-year rural community college in Colorado. TSJC is proposing the Suicide Prevention Outreach and Education (SPOE) Project to address the need for suicide prevention, education, and unified referral among a rural eight-county region of Southern Colorado. The college student population is 38 percent Hispanic and 42 percent minority. The target population includes students aged 16–25, education staff and faculty, and community gatekeepers including health and mental health providers. These populations encompass a broad spectrum of students and professionals in the education, health, and mental health arena. It is the intent of the SPOE to develop and coordinate a multipronged effort intended to positively impact the region. The SPOE Project goals include: 1.to develop a coordinated and knowledgeable suicide prevention network coalition infrastructure among mental health, high school, college, and community gatekeepers in the region; 2.to develop social marketing campaigns to destigmatize mental disorders and increase help-seeking behavior among students by offering activities and materials to at least 800 students; and 3.to provide training for at least 50 faculty, staff, and administrators to increase the number of trained gatekeepers in the community. To meet these objectives, the TSJC SPOE Project has attended regional network coalition meetings, hosted gatekeeper trainings, and developed and implemented an education and destigmatization campaign to provide training for identification of suicide at-risk behaviors and intervention strategies. TSJC and Spanish Peaks Mental Health Services in partnership with regional high schools in Huerfano, Las Animas, and six San Luis Valley counties identified the need for a suicide prevention, education, and outreach program to build unified, effective, and sustainable suicide prevention and mental health awareness infrastructure through campus-based education and outreach.

A desire to be in charge of our own lives, a need for control, is born in each of us. It is essential to our mental health, and our success, that we take control. Robert F. Bennett

With the funding from the SAMHSA grant, Three Rivers Community College will take control of the potential for suicide by replacing that potential with dynamic mental health and wellness programs for the College community. Over four thousand students, 140 full time faculty and staff, and 23 communities will have the opportunity to investigate, become aware of, and mitigate the reasons for and consequences of, behaviors characteristic of those in distress.

The programs intent is to support and grow the College fledgling programs; to train people on campus and in the community to recognize symptoms of substance abuse and mental illness; to get help for those in need; to provide activities that promote wellness; and to address the stigma that is often associated with mental and behavioral problems. The fact that the College serves a county that has the highest suicide rate in the state and the fact that the College serves high percentages of all of the high risk categories- LGBT youth, American Indian, military, and veterans-makes this funding especially crucial.

The three pronged program begins with direct training for faculty and staff, and provision for community learning sessions open to the public. The second prong, preventative measures, publishes handbooks and brochures for faculty and the student body, and provides meditation, yoga, and stress reducing exercise components for the new campus Wellness Center. The third prong, the development of a Crisis Response Plan, will include taking measures that will allow the campus to respond effectively to students in immediate danger. With an evaluation plan to track the numbers of participants and the quality of its outcomes, the College expects to strengthen its initiatives as it strengthens student, faculty, staff, and community participation in erasing the potential for tragedy.

Through its TCC-Trinity River Campus Suicide Prevention Pilot, Tarrant County College District (TCCD) proposes a replicable model to (1) increase awareness among students and employees of suicide risk facters and signs of distress, (2) increase knowledge of an availability of professional services for students at risk of suicide, and (3) increase frequency and effectiveness of employees/students referrals of students needing suicide prevention services.

TCCD pilot will target services to the 5,000+ students enrolled at TCCD Trinity River Campus as part of a comprehensive campus suicide prevention project. Trinity River students represent diverse demographics of race and ethnicity, including 16.4% of African American students and 32.9% of Hispanic/Latino students, for an overall “majority minority” population, with the emotional and mental health issues common to college students nationwide. Through this proposed project, TCCD will implement and evaluate six key strategies to increase the Colleges capacity to identify and help students at risk of suicide or suicide attempts.

Training and informational tools for TCCD employees will increase the knowledge of faculty and staff to identify and assist students in distress through referral. The proposed project will also increase the capacity of TCCD Student Development Services to conduct training for faculty and staff, provide educational seminars for students, and increase students awareness of professional services available to help them. Proposed project activities include the following: (1) Implement ASK training (Ask about suicide, Seek more information, Know where to refer) for faculty and staff; (2) Expand and formalize local mental health service provider referral network; (3) Develop and deliver educational seminars and classroom presentations to increase student awareness of suicide prevention strategies and available services; (4) Implement a 24/7 Call Center with assessment and referral services, follow-up services, and other resources for students in distress; (5) Distribute suicide prevention informational brochures for students, faculty and staff including information promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; and (6) Distribute similar suicide prevention informational brochures for parents of students. The project team expects to train at least 200 faculty, staff and students leaders in the ASK approach within the first year of the pilot. Educational seminars and classroom presentations will reach at least 2,000 more students (duplicated count) through at least 100 classroom presentations and 20 non-classroom educational seminars annually. Emphasis will be placed on providing culturally appropriate information and referral services to such high-risk groups as ethnic/racial minorities, people with disabilities, military veterans and families, and LGBT individuals. This project activities will reach thousands more students at Trinity River Campus and the Colleges other four campuses (with total annual unduplicated credit student enrollment of 70,000+) through the purchase and distribution of high quality SAMHSA-funded brochures and educational materials on suicide awareness and prevention.

The Snow College Counseling and Wellness Center will oversee the implementation of the Snow College Suicide Prevention Program (SCSPP), a campus- and community-wide effort to reduce substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide. Program staff will work with students, staff, faculty, campus leaders, on- and off-campus housing directors, and religious and community leaders to achieve program goals.

The target population of the SCSPP is the student body of Snow College, a small two-year college in Central Utah. Most students are white, come from the rural Six County area surrounding the college, and belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). However, other groups, such as minority and international students and those identified as high-risk by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, will also receive resources and programming specific to their needs. The program will serve approximately 425 students through mandatory residence hall trainings and student mentor trainings and seminars. The entire student body, approximately 4,386 students, will be exposed to the program through public service announcements, informational materials, and various seminars.

The program has the following goals and objectives:

1. Provide suicide prevention training to at least 85 percent of Snow College faculty and staff.
2. Provide educational seminars to almost all students in on-campus housing.
3. Offer educational seminars to all students on campus, including minority and international students and students in off-campus housing.
4. Reduce the stigma associated with seeking counseling by providing outreach, education, and materials to Snow College students on both the Ephraim and Richfield campuses.
5. Increase student awareness of the services offered at the Snow College Counseling and Wellness Center as well as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
6. Through increased communication with key stakeholders, facilitate early identification of students suffering from substance abuse, mental illness, and suicidal ideation.
7. Increase the numbers of students referred to the Snow College Counseling and Wellness Center, and ensure that all referrals are fully assessed.
8. Address the needs of youth at high-risk identified by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

SCSPP staff plan to coordinate efforts with appropriate State agencies by communicating regularly, evaluating program progress, and determining what collaborative efforts would best serve Snow College students and others throughout the state.

St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is committed to providing best practices health and wellness services to our students. We believe that college student suicide will be prevented through the creation of a caring campus community. By increasing help-seeking behavior, reducing stigma about mental health concerns, and providing tools to instill compassionate responsiveness to students across our University, we will create a community that is healthier and stronger for all. Suicide prevention is everyone’s concern. SCSU is committed to the safety and growth of the whole student. Our goals will be achieved through best practice online and in-person suicide prevention training, engaging educational seminars, and campus specific marketing for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. SCSU will develop customized educational brochures, posters, handouts, videos, and websites to educate students and family members as well as faculty and staff, about suicide prevention, risk factors, and protective factors. The University will utilize social networking, multiple social norms campaigns, a new student-led organization, student-initiated creativity, and a wide range of diverse campus leaders to help implement our goals. SCSU will also utilize existing nationally recognized programs including the Jed Foundation, SAMHSA, and mtvU. These programs will be infused into our existing efforts and the campus culture using multiple approaches and mediums. A Suicide Prevention Leadership Council (SPLC) will be formed to advise and guide the grant during its implementation and beyond completion of the grant period. Ongoing data collection, assessment, and performance analysis will be conducted to make ongoing enhancements and ensure effectiveness of all grant related programming. A Cultural Competency Advisor will be utilized to help advise on ways to sensitively infuse cultural competency throughout the various aspects of the grant. Each year of the grant we hope to train approximately six campus leaders on Gatekeeper training. These individuals will then train approximately one thousand students, faculty, and staff each year. To accommodate those students that are enrolled online, may have difficult schedules, or learn better in an online setting, we will also offer Kognito online suicide prevention training to 1,000 students each year. In total, SCSU plans to have approximately 2,500 students receive suicide prevention training each year for a total of 7,500 students trained by the end of the grant period. In addition, the number of QPR trained professional staff will increase from zero before the grant to approximately eighteen by the end of funding. The social norms marketing, large campus events, student organization, and other grant activities will impact thousands of students, faculty, and staff during the duration of the funding. The grant will provide the necessary groundwork to help SCSU sustain this very important work years beyond the grant period.

Pensacola State College Campus Suicide Prevention project will serve Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in NW Florida. The college’s diverse population of students, faculty and staff, will benefit from a collaboration with Lakeview Center, Inc., resulting in the development and delivery of education and awareness materials, and also providing a referral mechanism for at-risk individuals to receive quality treatment services.

The overarching goal of the proposed project is to prevent suicide of students attending Pensacola State College, and their family members. Target populations include, but are not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals, American Indian/Alaska Natives, military family members and veterans. The objectives of this project are to:

1. Increase the amount of training to Pensacola State College students, faculty and staff on suicide prevention and mental health promotion;
2. Increase collaboration among Pensacola State College, awarding winning Baptist Health Care’s behavioral institute, Lakeview Center, Inc. and other appropriate community partners to deliver the message that suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility;
3. Increase the number of educational seminars and informational materials for Pensacola State College students, faculty, staff, and family members on suicide prevention, identification, and reduction of risk factors such as depression and substances use/abuse;
4. Increase help-seeking among Pensacola State College students and reduce stigma for seeking care for mental and behavioral health issues among students; and
5. Increase the promotion of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

This project will allow the college to develop and implement an infrastructure that will promote education and awareness, incorporating the philosophy that it is everyone’s responsibility to be knowledgeable on suicide awareness, know the signs-and-symptoms, strategies to dealing with and know the resources to use, if an occurrence occurs.

It is estimated that a minimum of 1000 students, faculty and staff and family members will receive formal education/training annually on suicide prevention and mental health issues, through modules for classroom-based instruction, a series of seminars/workshops, and guest speakers. Many more individuals will be exposed to and gain awareness through print materials, National Prevention Day activities, and social media.

Project Up! at SUNY Orange is a comprehensive suicide prevention program designed to increase awareness and promote the use of mental health services. The program targets all 7,223 college students   and 1,100 faculty/staff members and will targeted selected at-risk populations. The goal is to create an informed and alert campus population to help lessen the risk of student suicide and other self-destructive behaviors. The approach will be comprehensive and will coordinate with existing campus- and county-based programs for the following high-risk groups: students with disabilities, substance abusers, and those who are either low-income, first-generation, underprepared, and/or experiencing cultural dislocation. Special attention will be directed toward returning veterans or their relatives, and students of LGBT orientation.The project will 1) Increase Awareness and Reduce Stigma, 2) Broaden Expertise and Cultural Competence, and 3) Increase the Social Support Networks for Targeted At-Risk Populations. The goals will be achieved through the integration of suicide prevention information into existing orientation programs, special trainings, the distribution of literature (print and online); the establishment of peer support networks; and through partnerships with the Orange County Department of Mental Health and the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center. The AVP for Enrollment Management will serve as the Director of Project Up! Oversight will be provided by an Advisory Council comprised of representatives from all college departments involved in mental health, including the VP for Student Services, Director of Advising and Counseling, Director of Student Health Services, Director of Student Support Initiatives, the Disability Specialist, and the OC Mental Health Support Specialist. The external project partners will also sit on the Advisory Council. The college will hire a part-time program coordinator and a part-time technician to assist with grant execution, data collection and reporting requirements.Grant activities will run from September 2011 through September 2014. Year 1 will build general awareness. Year 2 will target at-risk populations and year 3 will ensure future program sustainability. By September 2014, the program will have: 1) created a campus environment that is 100% informed about suicide prevention, 2) established peer support groups that meet regularly, 3) institutionalized an ongoing literature program, 4) promoted the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and 5) developed a centralized system of tracking and analyzing mental health data for the purpose of better aligning college services with student needs. The project expects to serve 5,000 individuals each year for a combined project total of 15,000.

Niagara County Community College (NCCC), a rural community college located in western New York State, proposes to implement the NCCC Campus Suicide Prevention Program.  The goal of the program is to create a campus environment that reduces suicidality in all its forms of expression among the entire population of students. NCCC will raise awareness through education of administrators, faculty, staff, and students of the college of the signs of depression and suicidal ideation, and will promote students’ sense of belonging through the creation of targeted peer groups.  Specifically, the NCCC Suicide Prevention Program will target the at-risk populations of Veterans and their families, Native American students, and students from the LGBT community.

Niagara County is an area of 820 square miles with a population of 219,846 (2000 Census), split evenly between an urban population (111,134) and a rural population (108,712).  NCCC uniquely accommodates both rural and urban students. Countrywide, the population is 90.7% Caucasian, 6.1% Black, .9% American Indian, and 1.3% Hispanic.

Rather than focusing on the suicidal student as the problem, NCCC wishes to focus on its campus environment in an effort to reduce suicidality in all its forms of expression among the entire population of students.  Rather than simply training NCCC faculty and staff in suicide prevention techniques, NCCC will use funding through this application to hire a Project Director who will oversee the establishment of a caring social network throughout the NCCC campus.  As a result, students themselves will be exposed to suicide prevention educational seminars, college success classes, and gatekeeper training.  Additionally, funding will be used by NCCC, under the direction of the Project Director, to establish student peer groups, especially targeting the at-risk populations of Veterans and their families, Native Americans, and LGBT students.  Prior research suggest that aspects of campus life that increase students’ sense of belonging, such as established campus social/peer groups, are associated with decreased suicidal behavior.

The NCCC Campus Suicide Prevention Program will produce the following measurable objectives:  NCCC will train 448 faculty and students in mental health-related practices and activities, including mental health promotion, each year as a result of the grant; NCCC will enter into formal written inter/activities with 3 organizations, including institutions representing military veterans and their families, the LGBT community, and the Native American community; the NCCC suicide prevention project will affect the entire 6,000+ student population, and 648 students will be directly exposed to mental health awareness message; and a minimum of 100 faculty, security personnel, and students will receive Gatekeeper training in suicide prevention.

The ultimate goal of the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Suicide Prevention Grant is to prevent suicide attempts and completions through the enhancement of services for students with mental and behavioral health problems at the largest single-campus community college district in California. Located in Los Angeles County, Mt. SAC enrolls more than 30,000 for-credit students each semester. The college is both a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. Vast numbers of students speak a primary home language other than English.

While the college enrolls students from a variety of age groups, from high school students (through dual and/or concurrent enrollment) to senior citizens, the majority of students are traditional college-age students (24 years of age or younger). As an open-access community college, Mt. SAC is committed to serving diverse students who have unique and challenging situations, are from low-income families, and are the first in their families to pursue a college education. Among Mt. SAC’s credit student enrollment, 70.6% are low-income and/or first-generation college students. In addition, the college serves populations that may be at higher risk for substance abuse, depression, and suicide – approximately 2,000 student veterans (more than any other community college in California), more than 2,500 students with learning and/or physical disabilities, and a significant population of LGBT students.

The project will implement a variety of activities aimed at four major objectives: (1) increase the number of people in mental health and related workforce trained in mental health-related practices/activities by at least 20% each grant year; (2) increase the number of organizations that entered into formal MOUs to improve mental health-related practices/activities consistent with the goals of the grant by at least 1 each grant year; (3) increase the number of individuals exposed to mental health awareness messages by at least 20% each grant year; and (4) increase the number of individuals who have received training in prevention or mental health promotion by at least 20% each grant year.

Activities will include the following: development of training programs for college faculty/staff, student leaders, parents/families of current students (with targeted outreach to higher-risk populations), and regional high school counselors/teachers; strengthen partnerships with regional mental and behavioral health providers through the establishment of formal MOUs; develop and implement multi-linguistic educational seminars, including workshops targeted at higher risk populations; purchase and/or develop multi-linguistic informational materials, including those targeted at higher risk populations; and conduct outreach to parents/families of students.