Nova Southeastern University

The Nova Southeastern University (NSU) EPIC (Expansion of Prevention Initiatives Off-Campus) project seeks to implement a web-based training format that will include PowerPoint slides, narration, and dramatic video vignettes. The project will benefit faculty and students at NSU’s Student Education Centers (SECs) throughout Florida, as well as students involved exclusively in online education efforts. The goal is to create a human safety net that extends to the entire NSU community, providing training that explains the prevalence of student suicide, details the warning signs, and demonstrates how to help suicidal students access crisis and longer-term mental-health resources. The program will reach approximately 10,000 on-campus students, 6,000 graduate and undergraduate students who attend one of the six SECs, and the 10,000 students who study online within Florida and from other states. The newly developed web-based suicide prevention programs will be made available through an online virtual learning environment utilized for mandatory faculty training and student coursework. The EPIC Project goals are to: (1) improve the identification and referral of at-risk students at the SECs across Florida; (2) increase awareness of suicide risk and protective factors and reduce the stigma associated with help-seeking behaviors among students attending classes at the these SECs; and (3) increase awareness of suicide risk and protective factors and reduce the stigma associated with help-seeking behaviors among students completing online degree programs.