University of Oregon

Project Summary:
The “University of Oregon Suicide Prevention Campus Community Initiative” (SPCCI) will create and sustain
a comprehensive, campus-wide mental health promotion and suicide prevention infrastructure for all students,
complemented by services directed at increasing service engagement and improving outcomes of underrepresented
and higher-risk student communities (including LGBTQ and veteran students). The SPCCI will be a well-coordinated,
collaborative, Implementation Science-guided effort to strengthen the mental health, resilience, and well-being of
each UO student through addressing and closing key gaps in services, knowledge and training, and suicide and
substance use outcomes. With an enrollment of 22,980 students, the University of Oregon had documented at least
nine suicide completions from 2012-2017. According to the UO’s 2016 American College Health Association National
Assessment, 9.2% of students having seriously considered suicide in the prior 12 months and 1.7% of students
reported having made a suicide attempt. Thus, the SPCCI will aim to significantly reduce suicidal ideation, attempts,
and completions in our campus community. This aim will be accomplished through: 1) increasing the capacity of
students, faculty, and staff to effectively recognize, respond to, and refer students in distress and at-risk for suicide
(e.g., implementing Kognito for Higher Education evidence-based suicide prevention program, and expanding the
existing ASIST program); 2) increasing treatment service and resource availability and awareness among students
at-risk for the development of suicidal behavior (e.g., expanding access to and availability of the existing Interactive
Screen Program, and implementing a multisite drop-in consultative service); 3) increasing campus community member
and student family awareness of response protocols for providing support for students experiencing acute distress or
suicidal ideation (e.g., through revising and broadly implementing a comprehensive crisis management protocol, and
developing and disseminating evidence-informed suicide prevention and substance use communication materials for
student families and parents); and 4) utilizing on-campus suicide prevention research and evaluation expertise to plan
and comprehensively assess the effectiveness of project activities, and to develop and disseminate new knowledge
based on program success, particularly among LGBTQ and veteran campus communities. With these combined efforts,
by the end of the project period, the SPCCI is anticipated to reduce by at least 50% the number of students reporting
suicidal ideation, the number of students attempting suicide, and the number of completed suicides in our campus
community.