Rowan University

Rowan University strives to create a campus that is both trauma-informed and responsive to suicide, suicide attempts, and depression. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2012), while for non-college students of the same age, suicide is the third leading cause of death (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Colleges must be prepared to prevent, address, and respond to suicidality among their students. Rowan University’s Office of Healthy Campus Initiatives, in collaboration with the Counseling and Psychological Services Center and Student Health Center, propose to create a comprehensive suicide prevention program that addresses suicide risk factors and increases referral to treatment, thereby mitigating risk for suicidality. Target student populations include undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. In the 2012-2013 academic year, there were 10,750 undergraduates, 1,383 graduate students, and 50 professionals enrolled at Rowan, from 28 states and 19 foreign countries. Rowan used universal prevention programs to target the above demographics. Goals and measures for this project include: expansion and development of existing universal prevention and selected prevention programs, allow for expansion and training of our staff and faculty operated Stress Management and Response Team (SMART), and creation of new programs, staffing and materials designed to educate, inform, and train the campus community on the recognition of suicide risk factors, signs of suicidality, and effective interventions and referrals aimed at reducing risk. The number of individuals to be directly served annually will be 1,075 students, or 10% of the enrolled undergraduate population.