North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University Suicide Prevention Program will focus on the needs of the following special populations: students in sororities and fraternities, military family members and veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) youth and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth at NC State. NC State undergraduates also comprise an age group that is at high-risk of suicide.

Provision of a comprehensive array of suicide education and prevention programs will address suicidal behavior, risk and protective factors of students from at-risk groups. Educational material emphasizes how to reach out to students in distress and where to refer them either on campus or in the local community. Programs shall include: Question, Persuade, Refer Gatekeeper Training; the Suicide Prevention Multicultural Competence Kit; and At-Risk for University Students. The first two programs target gatekeepers, including student leaders, student members of at-risk groups, and faculty and staff that work directly with students. QPR training will be offered to approximately 300 students per semester each academic year. The SPMC Kit presentation targets the over 2,000 full-time faculty members of the 65 departments in the university over the first 2 years of funding, and then all incoming faculty and staff working with students. The third program targets those almost 5,000 students incoming to NC State annually for the last 2 years of funding (and thereafter), although the avatar-based online program will be available to all students.

NC State will partner with a variety of community and campus collaborators in support of this program, including the DHHS-Division of Public Health Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (DHHS-IVPB), which was the 2008 State/Tribal Garrett Lee Smith grant recipient. The well-established University Counseling Center, Risk Management Case Manager, and Department of Social Work play central roles in support of this endeavor. The overall goal of the proposed project is a university culture and climate that encourages outreach and help-seeking behaviors and discourages prejudice and stigma, in order to achieve a long-term reduction in complete suicides and suicide attempts.