What is the JED Campus Program?
The Jed Foundation supports the ways that our students need to be well and recognize mental health as being an essential component of overall health and well-being and student success. JED helps teens develop strong coping and life skills, encouraging connection, and seeking and offering help. They do this through programs, online platforms, media outreach, and partnerships. JED works closely with high schools and colleges across the country to create supportive environments that prioritize mental health, build essential life skills, and ensure students are identified and connected to care. JED engages the broader community including family, friends, and media by offering education, training, and resources. You can learn more about JED Foundation on their website.
How does it work?
JED takes a broad public health approach to support emotional well-being, prevent suicide and serious substance misuse. Their programs are based on a proven framework called the Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for Colleges and Universities. This model helps schools evaluate their current mental health efforts, recognize what’s working well, and pinpoint where improvements are needed.
Through our partnership, Arcadia University will assess current mental health programs, identify areas for improvement, and implement evidence-based strategies from the JED Campus framework. Arcadia will engage campus teams to strengthen policies, outreach, and mental health promotion efforts university-wide.
Learn more about being a JED campus here.
Implementation Timeline
Year 1:
2022-23
An assessment was completed to evaluate the current system’s, policies, and programs.
Year 2:
2023-24
Subcommittee’s were formed to initiate and guide the implementation of the JED strategic plan. These groups will focus on specific areas of the plan to create a supportive mental health framework. The subcommittee includes: Life skills, Social connectedness, Identifying student’s at risk, Help seeking behavior, Clinical/substance services, Crisis management, and Means safety.
Year 3:
2024-25
Continue to make updates as we make progress on the JED strategic plan.
Year 4:
2025-26
A post-assessment will be conducted to measure the impact and progress made throughout the implmentation of the JED programs. The results will be compared to the initial assessment to highlight the improvement in systems, policies, programs, and identifying the remainder areas for growth.
Steering Committee
Task force
Diane Taylor-Alleyne, Associate Dean of Students
Kim Dean, Associate Professor
Amy Henning, Director of Counseling Services
Theresa Smith, Director of Student Health Services
