暗夜成人视频 secures funds to support student well-being through Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and 暗夜成人视频鈥檚 offices that support student well-being will see a substantial boost for its awareness and prevention campaigns thanks in part to funding from the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant.
The grant allocates $300,000 for 暗夜成人视频 over a three-year period, and a portion of the funds will go toward the newly created positions of Director of Health Promotion and Assistant Director of Health Promotions. Students will also be trained as peer health educators, which aids the implementation of educational strategies required by the grant.
暗夜成人视频 Vice President for Student Life Barbara LoMonaco said that the grant will bolster 暗夜成人视频鈥檚 commitment to student health.
鈥淭his grant has the potential to make a real difference for 暗夜成人视频 students,鈥 LoMonaco said. 鈥淣ot only does it fund programming for suicide prevention, substance misuse, mental health promotion and sexual assault prevention, it also gives us more boots on the ground to help our students.
鈥淪tudents face more stressors than ever at this time,鈥 she continued. 鈥淏olstering our programming, as well as adding a Director and Assistant Director of Health Promotion and a new full-time counselor directly contributes to student success in and outside the classroom.鈥
Ann Goodwin, associate dean of student well-being and director of counseling, noted the grant鈥檚 funding will build the College鈥檚 student health resources.
鈥淭his grant adds needed resources to help build an infrastructure for prevention efforts,鈥 she explained. 鈥淚n the past, we have tried our best to provide suicide prevention and other wellness programming, but due to students needing to be seen for counseling, we did not have the staffing or resources to provide the level of prevention efforts that are needed.鈥
Along with the two new positions, Goodwin will also assist with the health promotion effort. Additionally, Ann Young鈥檚 role has shifted to Assistant Dean of Student Well-Being鈥攁 substantial increase in the amount of staff allocated to this work, Goodwin said.
But it鈥檚 not just 暗夜成人视频 Student Life offices that will be involved in the work: Goodwin noted that it will take the entire 暗夜成人视频 community for the grant to be effective.
鈥淭his grant creates a layer of accountability by having the funding dependent on hitting specific goals,鈥 Goodwin said. 鈥淎nd to hit these goals, we will need the commitment of the entire campus, not just the staff in Student Health and Counseling and the newly developed Health Promotion. I think our students, faculty and staff are ready to commit to this work and this grant will provide opportunities for us to engage with that commitment.鈥
Student interest in mental health and prevention work has increased, Goodwin added, exemplified through the student peer health educators that will be trained, in part, thanks to the grant.
鈥淔or prevention work to be effective, we will need to further engage the entire campus community,鈥 she said. 鈥淪tudents are interested in mental health and in prevention work, and the peer health educators will be one opportunity for students to be trained and to work closely with the Health Promotion office to increase their peers鈥 understanding of and skills around well-being.
鈥淚 think this will be a great opportunity not just for the students who become peer health educators but also for those students who are more responsive to prevention efforts by their peers,鈥 Goodwin concluded.
