College students worldwide report increasingly higher levels of stress on college campuses.<\/p>\n
Carol O\u2019Saben<\/strong>,\u00a0NAU\u2019s director of Counseling Services, read\u00a0results of a 2013\u00a0American College Health Association survey, which reflected significant stress levels among NAU students, some who reported higher than average levels of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n O’Saben immediately began searching for a program with the potential to train greater numbers of campus individuals who could identify students experiencing emotional stress.<\/p>\n After reviewing several programs, O\u2019Saben chose\u00a0Campus Connects, which was developed at Syracuse University in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted a program for the average person on campus to be able to recognize if somebody was experiencing significant stress,\u201d said O\u2019Saben, who said most college students who commit suicide have never had contact with the school\u2019s counseling center.<\/p>\n NAU rolled out the program, dubbed SafeJacks, two years ago with 25 individuals trained to facilitate it. The handpicked group included counseling staff, representatives from Athletics, the police department, Residence Life and others. The following year, an additional 17 people were trained to facilitate\u00a0the program across campus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been focused on training\u00a0people with\u00a0front line contact with individuals who\u00a0be in distress: Residence Life, student leaders, fraternity and sorority leadership teams and peer mentor groups,\u201d O\u2019Saben said.<\/p>\n Since 2014, more than\u00a01,000 students, faculty and staff have been trained in the Campus Connects program, preparing them to identify students experiencing emotional distress\u00a0and possible suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n A Campus Connects refresher course was also created so individuals could brush up on their skills.<\/p>\n Katie Sheridan<\/strong>, a senior\u00a0academic advisor, participated in\u00a0the training along with students she works with in the Honors Program.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was interactive and put us on the spot addressing certain deep situations,\u201d Sheridan said. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with students for a long time, including some with different kinds of emotional distress, so it confirmed some of the things I already did and helped guide me in other ways.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Saben said a\u00a0Campus Connects\u00a0effort is underway to train\u00a0more faculty members during the upcoming school year. She is also evaluating the program and the refresher course so Campus Connects can best serve NAU students in the future.<\/p>\n NAU was recently recognized by peers at the University of Kentucky; out of 42 universities, SafeJacks was singled out for training the highest number of individuals in in suicide prevention using both in-person and online training programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"