Enhancing Mental Health Support: How Georgia Southern’s JED Campus Initiative is Transforming University-Wide Services

Georgia Southern University is now a full member of the JED Campus program, showing its strong focus on student mental health. This achievement comes after four years of dedicated work with JED, a national program that helps colleges create better mental health resources and support systems.

During this partnership, Georgia Southern enhanced awareness of mental health issues and improved access to resources. A recent survey found that 83% of students feel the university administration is attentive to their mental health concerns. That’s a significant rise of 15% compared to 2020.

In 2020, the University System of Georgia introduced several initiatives to boost mental health resources across its institutions. One key step was enrolling all universities into the JED Campus program, which involved forming a JED team, conducting an initial mental health study, and creating a four-year strategic plan for improvement.

Dr. Jodi K. Caldwell, the executive director of the Counseling Center and JED Campus team leader, expressed that participating in this program has strengthened Georgia Southern’s commitment to enhancing mental health support for students, faculty, and staff. She emphasized the importance of awareness, education, and resources for the well-being of the university community.

To further boost mental health outreach, Georgia Southern launched initiatives like the H.E.R.O. Folder. The university has seen a marked increase in student awareness of mental health resources, with those knowing how to seek help rising from 78% to 84%. Overall awareness of mental health outreach increased from 40% to 60% since implementing these programs.

With this recognition, Georgia Southern will maintain its efforts and continue many of the initiatives started during the JED partnership. This marks a promising step for promoting mental health on campus.

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