STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has partnered with JED Campus to strengthen support and increase resources for student mental health and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JED Campus is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) that helps schools assess and build their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention systems, ensuring robust support networks for students. Currently, nearly 500 campuses across 44 states and the District of Columbia are engaged in the JED Campus program, collectively reaching over 6 million students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStudent well-being is a top priority for The Texas A&M University System, Tarleton State University, and our students and their families,\u201d said Dr. Diana Ortega, Vice President for Student Engagement and Success. \u201cPresident Hurley emphasizes that mental health is critical to student success, and through initiatives like the JED Campus we aim to strengthen our efforts in creating a safe, healthy and thriving campus community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Participation in the JED Campus initiative is a significant, four-year commitment involving evaluating existing initiatives while driving long-term, systemic improvements within the campus community. Tarleton State is in its second year of the process, said JED co-chair Dr. Jolena Waddell, Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Student Academic Success & Achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe first year focused on gathering data and conducting a comprehensive assessment. With support from JED, the university administered the Healthy Minds Survey to our students and engaged with numerous campus stakeholders to gather valuable feedback and insights,\u201d said Dr. Waddell. \u201cThis collective input shaped a strategic plan that now serves as a guiding document for our ongoing efforts to support mental health, provide substance use services and to prevent suicide across our campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several steps have already been taken to enhance student support systems. A \u201cWellness\u201d button has been added to the Canvas global navigation bar that provides quick access to mental health crisis support. It also links to a resource hub listing a wide range of resources and tools covering emotional, physical, social, occupational, financial, academic and environmental well-being. That page can also be accessed at www.tarleton.edu\/ses\/student-resources\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe creation of a resource button came from a desire to support student well-being for all students, including our online and \u2018mostly online\u2019 students who aren\u2019t always directly connected to a physical campus,\u201d said Caris Thetford, JED co-chair and Assistant Vice President of Student Well-being and Dean of Students. \u201cBy embedding this resource directly into our learning management system, we can get this information in front of the vast majority of our students at all campuses. This idea started with Dr. Tiffany Carey, Assistant Dean of Online Learning and Innovation, but became reality with cross-functional partnerships with Student Engagement and Success, Innovative Technology Solutions and the JED Campus initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Tarleton State campus police officers are currently pursuing Texas mental health peace officer certification. This training equips officers with knowledge of a variety of mental illnesses and the symptoms associated with them, strategies for intervening in both low-risk and high-risk situations, and tools for working effectively with individuals experiencing mental illness, their families and their caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTarleton\u2019s Police Department has a goal of 100% of officers having their mental health peace officer certification through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement,\u201d said University Police Chief Matt Welch. \u201cThey are in the final stages of completing the requirements for individual certifications. As our campuses and department grow, we will train all new officers in this same certification to ensure a consistent and elevated awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The percentage of mental health certified police officers is small in most departments and a rarity in a department as small as Tarleton State\u2019s, Chief Welch added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are still the only certified department in the county for best practices \u2014 since 2020 \u2014 and this is yet another way to set us apart. It helps us better know how to support students, aid them in finding help and to interact appropriately when a member of our campus community is experiencing a mental health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe college experience is a pivotal time in students\u2019 lives \u2014 a period of rapid change, self-discovery and important decision-making that can shape their futures. It\u2019s also a time when mental health challenges often emerge, making it essential to provide appropriate and meaningful support,\u201d Thetford said. \u201cTo truly foster student well-being, we must go beyond merely responding to students in crisis. We need to strengthen protective factors and create environments that promote overall health and resilience. The JED Campus process empowers us to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn more about JED Campus, visit www.jedcampus.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has partnered with JED Campus to strengthen support and increase resources for student mental health and well-being. JED Campus is a nationwide initiative of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":52961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":425,"footnotes":""},"categories":[422,425,427],"tags":[446,457,458,459],"class_list":["post-52957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morestories","category-campus-community","category-science-health","tag-division-of-student-engagement-success","tag-tarleton-state-fort-worth","tag-tarleton-state-online","tag-tarleton-state-waco"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2025\/03\/JED-Campus-image-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_morestories<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_morestories<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/a>","Tarleton State Fort Worth<\/a>","Tarleton State Online<\/a>","Tarleton State Waco<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/span>","Tarleton State Fort Worth<\/span>","Tarleton State Online<\/span>","Tarleton State Waco<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 year ago","modified":"Updated 12 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on March 24, 2025","modified":"Updated on April 18, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on March 24, 2025 1:00 pm","modified":"Updated on April 18, 2025 7:59 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52957"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53125,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52957\/revisions\/53125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}