Supporting Your Students
- You can refer to the Purple Folder for information on recognizing signs of distress in students, responding appropriately and refering students to the right areas.
- Assistance in connecting with mental health support is available for students through the Counseling Center. Walk-in first visit appointments are available Monday through Friday, 10am-3pm, during the academic year.
- If you are concerned about a JMU student in distress, you can access Counseling Center consultation services by calling 540-568-6552.
- For mental health emergency support (e.g., thoughts or plans to kill yourself, thoughts of seriously harming others, recent sexual assault) students can visit the JMU Counseling Center when they are open Monday through Friday from 8:00am-4:30pm. For after-hours student mental health emergency support, call 540-568-6552, and press "1."
- Remember there are always 24/7 crisis service options available for mental health emergencies.
- Additionally, this year JMU has partnered with TimelyCare for students to have access to virtual mental health and well-being services for free. Students do not need to visit the Counseling Center to access TimelyCare services. To learn more about the Scheduled Counseling, 24/7 on demand support, and other services available for students through TimelyCare visit www.timelycare.com/jmu or the TimelyCare Resource Page to learn more and get started.
Taking Care of Yourself
- Access your benefits through the Employee Assistance Program. These services are available to employees and their household members enrolled in state health plans.
- Find local providers and connect directly with them from the Counseling Center’s list of Community Clinicians.
- Faculty and staff are also encouraged to join Balanced Dukes - a work-life balance and wellness program. Balanced Dukes strives to help our employees reach a blend of personal satisfaction in four core areas, Work, Family, Community, and Self, in pursuit of a meaningful quality of life.
Additional Resources
From the JMU Counseling Center
- Visit the Counseling Center’s Faculty and Staff Resources page for a mental health resource statement to add to your syllabi, as well as information responding to distressed, disruptive, and/or dangerous students.
- Visit the Counseling Center Suicide Prevention Resource Page for information on reducing the risk of suicide on the JMU campus.
From Student Affairs
Additional Suicide Prevention and Postvention Resources
- Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses — by the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance (2014).
- The University of Iowa’s “Responding After Tragedy” website has some great suggestions.
- For ways that students might respond in the wake of a suicide, visit TimelyCare's website.
- Visit NPR for a suicide prevention discussion from a student leader at UNC.
- For suicide prevention information from NAMI, the leading organization for mental illness, visit NAMI's website.
From CFI
CFI will continue offering programming designed to meet the needs of faculty, such as the teaching toolboxes.
Office of the Provost
