STEPHENVILLE, Texas — 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 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.
“Student well-being is a top priority for The Texas A&M University System, Tarleton State University, and our students and their families,” said Dr. Diana Ortega, Vice President for Student Engagement and Success. “President 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.”
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.
“The 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,” said Dr. Waddell. “This 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.”
Several steps have already been taken to enhance student support systems. A “Wellness” 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/.
“The creation of a resource button came from a desire to support student well-being for all students, including our online and ‘mostly online’ students who aren’t always directly connected to a physical campus,” said Caris Thetford, JED co-chair and Assistant Vice President of Student Well-being and Dean of Students. “By 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.”
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.
“Tarleton’s Police Department has a goal of 100% of officers having their mental health peace officer certification through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement,” said University Police Chief Matt Welch. “They 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.”
The percentage of mental health certified police officers is small in most departments and a rarity in a department as small as Tarleton State’s, Chief Welch added.
“We are still the only certified department in the county for best practices — since 2020 — 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.”
“The college experience is a pivotal time in students’ lives — a period of rapid change, self-discovery and important decision-making that can shape their futures. It’s also a time when mental health challenges often emerge, making it essential to provide appropriate and meaningful support,” Thetford said. “To 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.”
To learn more about JED Campus, visit www.jedcampus.org/.
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.