Rider becomes JED Campus to support student well-being

Rider University is proud to announce that it has partnered with The JED Foundation to become a JED Campus in support of student mental health and well-being.

The program is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention programs and systems to ensure that schools have the strongest possible mental health safety nets.

"We are proud to become a JED Campus because we want to ensure we are providing students with as many resources as possible when it comes to mental health and well-being support," says Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Cindy Threatt.

JED Campuses embark on a multi-year strategic collaboration that not only assesses and enhances the work that is already being done but also helps create positive, lasting, systemic change in the campus community. The program provides schools with a framework for supporting student mental health, as well as assessment tools, feedback reports, a strategic plan and ongoing support from the JED Campus team.

Rider’s membership in JED Campus begins with establishing an interdisciplinary, campus-wide team to assess, support and implement program, policy and system improvements.

"Rider is fully entrenched in a four-year relationship with JED Campus, having already formed the Rider campus team, which consists of 19 staff members, faculty and students with representation from every campus division," says Threatt, co-chair of the campus team along with Dr. Nadine Heitz, director of counseling services.

“The college years are the age when many mental health issues first manifest, and it can be a time of significant stress and pressure,” says John MacPhee, executive director of JED. “JED Campus helps schools by working with them to survey everything their university is doing to support their students’ emotional health and find practical ways to augment these efforts in a comprehensive way. We believe that the implementation of a campus-wide approach to mental health will lead to safer, healthier communities and likely greater student retention.”

Last spring, a survey was sent to all Rider students to evaluate its mental health promotion, substance abuse and suicide prevention efforts. 

"The team worked diligently throughout the spring semester to complete the baseline assessment of current campus policies, practices and procedures that exist to support student mental health and well-being," Threatt says.

Upon completion of the assessment, JED Campus clinicians provide schools with a comprehensive feedback report identifying successes and opportunities for enhancements. Over the course of four years, Rider will collaborate with JED to help implement enhancements. All self-assessment responses and feedback reports are confidential.

For more information about JED Campus, visit www.jedcampus.org.