Century College

Century College, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, through its Century College Campus Suicide Prevention Project, proposes to modify the campus organizational structure to ensure that Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention become acknowledged priorities among student and College personnel. With enrollment at 13,000, Century is the largest two-year college in Minnesota and has a minority population of 39 percent. We expect that a continuous learning model will emerge from this effort; one that increases the College’s capacity to deliver and sustain effective Mental Health Promotion and Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention programs. The College will employ strategies to heighten awareness and prompt responsiveness to at-risk students and develop effective, evidence-based intervention protocols for students at heightened risk or in crisis. Productive and collaborative relationships with campus and community partners will enhance the initiative. Training and seminars will be developed and delivered, including some designed to be culture-specific and some designed to engage and respond to at-risk youth, e.g., LGBT, veterans, racial minorities. The College will deliver some trainings/seminars via multimedia, ITV or on-line to accommodate digital learners and reach broader audiences with the message of suicide prevention and awareness. College personnel will be offered training to assist them in identifying at-risk students and respond appropriately, and students will be reached through seminars designed for varying learning styles, to address issues of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, including identification of at-risk students, reduction of risk factors (e.g., depression, substance abuse), promotion of help-seeking behavior and reduction of stigma associated with help-seeking. The initiative will enable the establishment of Campus Mental Health Resource Centers to centralize current resources, acquire new print and media-based materials and disseminate these to faculty, students, staff and community constituents.