Reducing Barriers To Care

The fall 2025 semester marks the start of NC State’s third year as a JED Campus — a strategic four-year partnership providing the university with expert support, evidence-based best practices and data-driven guidance to enhance student mental health and prevent suicide. The university officially joined the program in the fall of 2023 after the Student Mental Health Task Force (SMHTF) recommended we join several other UNC System schools as part of the JED Campus network.

After conducting extensive research and hearing from the community, the SMHTF reported a crucial link between academic success and mental well-being. This spurred university leaders to explore a partnership with The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults nationwide.

Strategic Planning 

In 2023-2024, the first academic year as a JED Campus, NC State’s advisory group — made up of students, faculty and staff — set out to complete the work started by the SMHTF and subsequent implementation teams. Many of the SMHTF’s recommendations, like adding wellness days to the academic calendar, had already been completed. The remaining recommendations were transitioned to the overall strategic plan developed in partnership with JED.

JED’s independent review of NC State’s policies, protocols and resources found that NC State was already following recommended practice in its evidence-based postvention process and in its refreshed, easy-to-navigate Counseling Center website.

“When JED came and evaluated us, they were impressed. We were doing a lot of things really well. But, where are our gaps?” says Monica Osburn, executive director of NC State’s Counseling Center and Prevention Services. “What are the pieces that we need to look at a little bit closer?”

JED and the NC State advisory group identified 15 objectives for the university to evaluate, enhance or implement over the course of the four-year strategic plan. Today, members of the advisory group, along with other campus stakeholders, sit on six working groups overseeing the various focus areas and objectives.

Working Groups

Now at the midway point of the process, Osburn hopes to continue examining systemic pieces within the university environment.

Updating Institutional Policy and Procedures

Both the SMHTF and the JED advisory group have placed an emphasis on revising institutional policies, rules and regulations (PRRs) to better support student well-being. The policies and procedures working group, with significant student input, has had several key policies updated over the last year.

In March of 2024, the university launched the Office of Student Life and Advocacy to serve as the initial point of contact for students, families, employees and community members to triage acute student needs and make referrals to campus partners.

Recent PRR Revisions

“As NC State enters its third year of the JED Campus program, the school’s continued commitment to student mental health and suicide prevention is clear and commendable, as evidenced by actions such as launching campuswide help-seeking campaigns and approving a new medical leave of absence policy that reduces barriers to care,” says Dr. Tony Walker, JED’s senior vice president of school programs and consulting.

“JED is happy to collaborate with NC State and looks forward to further building a holistic, strategic and comprehensive approach to student well-being that will result in long-term, systemic change for future generations,” he adds.

The advisory team plans to develop a written return-from-leave protocol to help reintegrate students as they transition back to campus life and academic coursework after a leave of absence. 

The working groups are also exploring a tuition insurance policy that would allow students to step away from their studies for a semester without losing money spent on tuition. Students would also be eligible to use the insurance if the university experiences a disruption to the academic year, such as a natural disaster.

Campus Culture of Care

Students, employees and the broader NC State community agree: The university’s culture and community is paramount to ensuring student mental health is supported across campus. Since the SMHTF was first charged, administrators, students and faculty members have collaborated to find ways to strengthen the university’s holistic approach to care. One of the clearest and most constant connections to supporting students is through the faculty.

“Over the last five years, there is far more evidence-based research that connects academic success impact to mental health care. That’s what JED is — it’s evidence-based practice,” says Osburn.

Oftentimes, a student and their instructor interact multiple times a week. Cultivating a synergy between students and instructors helps make courses successful for everyone. One of the ways JED helps NC State support that synergy is by centralizing resources and providing training to faculty members to ensure they know where students can go for comprehensive support.

New faculty members learn about the university’s work and resources to support student mental health at their orientation, and a student support module is available for those looking to learn more. 

“If students don’t have a good experience, the faculty experience is very isolating,” says Maria Gallardo-Williams, associate director of faculty development with NC State’s Office for Faculty Excellence. “Faculty benefit directly from the JED program to have students that are better adjusted and more involved.”

Embedding mental health counselors in various colleges and units across campus has also been instrumental to bringing providers and support closer to a student’s day-to-day experience. These counselors are familiar with students’ academic experience and the demands of their programs and can more easily accommodate student schedules. All students can also access help through the Counseling Center.

“One of the most powerful parts of NC State’s work through the JED Campus program has been the shared commitment across the university to create a culture of care. Supporting student mental health is seen as a collective responsibility. Their campus environment is more protective and supportive as a result of improvements to their physical campus, expanded efforts to strengthen life skills and peer connection, and enhancements to their systems for early identification, referral, and postvention,” says Jeni Beckman, a campus advisor at JED.

“NC State should be commended for their thoughtful implementation, deep engagement from leadership, strong momentum from departments across campus, and a team that brings creativity and dedication to every step of the process,” she says.

The Path Ahead

Looking forward, the university has clear milestones for the next two years as outlined by the strategic plan developed with JED. During year three, teams will continue implementing many of the 15 objectives; year four will focus on evaluating the university’s progress and sustaining many of the implemented initiatives.

One of the goals set by JED is to have more than 50% of faculty and staff complete Question, Persuade, Refer training (QPR) during the 2025-2026 academic year. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the number of training attendees was up 47%, with more than 4,500 employees participating.

QPR teaches individuals who have contact with students, like faculty and staff members, how to recognize the warning signs of suicide, including verbal, behavioral and situational clues.

“There are also many casual ways to also support NC State’s culture of care,” says Osburn. “Check in on our students and colleagues. Don’t let stigma be a barrier. Be curious, ask questions, get trained.”

Throughout the process, the JED advisory group and the six working groups hope to engage the wider Wolfpack community through events and additional training opportunities. Anyone interested is encouraged to connect with Osburn and Gallardo-Williams, the advisory group leads.

“I feel it is very likely that if you come to NC State, you’ll find support for whatever it is that you are going through,” says Gallardo-Williams.