Daytona State College

Daytona State College, Seminole State College, and University of Central Florida have formed the Project Suicide Prevention, Education, and Knowledge (SPEAK) consortium to conduct suicide awareness and prevention activities at these three commuter institutions. Located in East Central Florida, the partner institutions serve more than 60,000 students across 10 campuses in three counties. The three institutions will provide education and training to students, faculty, administrators, and staff. The project goal is to raise awareness through education of administration, faculty, staff, students, and their families of the colleges and universities located in Volusia, Flagler, and Seminole Counties in Florida of the signs of depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation in order to prevent suicides among college students. Project SPEAK will utilize educational seminars, develop and deploy an online training, provide gatekeeper training, create a stronger network of local resources through outreaches and an annual conference, and develop a video series on suicide prevention.Through the activities, the project team will meet six measureable objectives that include training 500 campus personnel, educating 800 students, and providing intensive suicide prevention training to at least 100 campus personnel and students. In addition, the project will establish an annual conference for higher education administrators and leaders, host an annual student festival, and produce a video series on suicide awareness and prevention for distribution on area public broadcasting stations. All of the objectives are designed to strengthen each institution’s infrastructure in decreasing suicide rates and increasing help seeking among students. At the conclusion of the grant activities, each institution will have a set of resources to continue suicide prevention and awareness education and training on their campuses.We are also very excited about involving the community creatively to address the very serious concerns of mental health and suicide. As a commuter college we desire to develop supportive networks within the community to assist and support our students when they are off of our campus.