The University of Michigan has joined JED Campus in support of student well-being and mental health.
The program is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems to ensure that schools have the strongest possible mental health safety nets. There are currently over 400 campuses engaged in the JED Campus program.
This is a multi-year initiative that not only assesses and enhances work already underway but also helps create positive, lasting, systemic change in the campus community.
JED provides assessment tools, expert guidance, and customized technical assistance to support the implementation of recommended practices.
Learn more about the JED Foundation and JED Campus
Progress on Plan
During the 2025-26 academic year, we have made the following progress in line with recommendations from the JED strategic plan.
Fall 2025
- Coordinated our inaugural Fresh Check Day — a peer-driven suicide prevention and mental health promotion across campus.
- Supported Push & Pull event on loneliness — Social Well-Being and Relational Aggression Among University of Michigan Undergraduate Men. A collaboration between Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC), University Health & Counseling (UHC), and Wolverine Wellness.
- Presented at the Student Life Research Symposium — Connecting the Dots: Student Mental Health Data at U-M with the JED Campus Team.
- Trained multiple student organization leaders on QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer), an evidence-based suicide prevention training. A collaboration between the Center for Campus Involvement (CCI) and UHC-CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services).
- Expanded the wellness check-in intervention in large foundational courses, in partnership with the Foundational Course Initiative. Wolverine Wellness administered the intervention in 11 courses, reaching approximately 3500 students.
- NASPA Strategies Conference presentation — No Longer Just a Number (January, 2026)
- Began piloting ArtsRx — part of a larger social prescribing initiative at U-M. A collaboration with the Arts Initiative, UHC, and Wolverine Wellness.
- Rackham Symposium presentation — Arts Participation & Loneliness in U-M Graduate Students: Survey Findings & Next Steps
Winter 2026
- Launched program evaluation phase of the ArtsRx pilot.
- Conducted student focus groups with the UHC Student Advisory Board and the Student Well-being Network (part of the Well-being Collective). Using feedback from the Health Minds Study (HMS) data and JED priority areas, the focus groups identified themes and suggestions to inform future initiatives.
- Developed content for Student Organization signer required training — Org Essentials Mental Health & Well-being. This training infuses mental health and well-being resources into peer-led student organizations.
- Announced that JED Campus work will now be a featured initiative within U-M’s Well-being Collective and supported by its Integration Action team to ensure future longevity.
YEAR TWO | 2024-25
Spring/Summer 2024
- Received JED strategic plan from JED Advisor
- Formed the U-M JED Leadership Team
- Received feedback from the U-M JED Leadership Team on the strategic plan feedback and identified high-priority domains
- U-M JED co-leads conducted a detailed review of JED strategic plan high-priority domain recommendations and identified initial action steps
Since the fall of 2024, we have made the following progress based on recommendations from the JED strategic plan.
- U-M JED co-leads presented our strategic plan and administered a stakeholder survey to gather feedback on high-priority domain recommendations. Received approximately 100 responses.
- Sent a direct message to incoming undergraduate students who self-identified with mental health and/or substance use history about services and resources on campus prior to their arrival through our Community Matters online courses.
- Planning to add similar messaging to new incoming graduate students in fall 2025.
- Educated families of incoming students on mental health and substance use resources and services on campus through Key Conversations presentation during summer/fall 2024 orientation.
- Will be introducing a stand-alone Health & Wellness session for all families during summer/fall 2025 orientation.
- We publicly provided and publicized screening tools for depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders on the counseling and Well-being Collective websites.
- We developed, expanded, or strengthened mental health training programs for relevant campus faculty and staff in identifying, reaching out to, and referring students who may be struggling with the release of a new CRLT course in February 2025 – An Instructor’s Guide to Promoting Student Mental Health and Well-Being, designed by the CRLT Theatre Program in collaboration with the Center for Academic Innovation and the Well-being Collective.
- Refined a protocol for reporting students of concern with the Dean of Students Office’s creation of the Red Folder in January 2025.
- We established a system for coordination of care for shared patients between relevant campus service providers by integrating electronic health records between UHS and CAPS (collectively rebranded into UHC).
- We offered clinical services outside of typical business hours through our partnership with UWill.
- We cross-reference/link the counseling center, health service, and health education websites – this is done on each individual site, but also holistically on the Well-being Collective website, specifically the Mental Health Continuum of Care page.
- Postvention efforts are highlighted in this Daily article, ‘There’s no one-size-fits-all approach’: Inside U-M’s Crisis Response Team
YEAR ONE | 2023-24
Summer 2023
- U-M launches a 4-year partnership with the JED Foundation
Fall 2023
- Administered Healthy Minds Study
- Achieved 14% response rate (1,691 of 11,996)
- Completed baseline assessment
- Campuswide, 298-questions
Winter 2024
- Received feedback report from JED Advisor highlighting campus strengths and areas for growth
- Conducted a 2-day campus visit with JED Advisor and U-M stakeholders
- Day 1: campus tour, student focus group, mental health clinical support meeting
- Day 2: JED Campus team meeting
- Updated U-M JED webpage
JED Campus 4-year Plan
We are currently in the Implementation phase.
| Phases | Meaning | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Needs Assessment | Identify current state and gaps in student mental health and well-being at U-M. | 2023-24 |
| Planning | Develop and finalize recommendations to enhance student mental health and well-being at U-M based on the 7 JED domains. | 2024 |
| Implementation | Decide and put into effect recommendations. | 2024-26 |
| Evaluation | Examine and analyze the impact of the partnership. | 2026 |
| Sustainability | Ensure measures are put into place to support and maintain growth. | 2027 |
U-M JED Leadership Team
• Joy Pehlke, Co-lead
• Markie Silverman, Co-lead
• Rob Ernst
• Riahanah Gause
• Kamara Gardner
• Lindsey Mortenson
• Rachelle Wilcox
• Joe Zichi
Want to get involved?
Reach out to us at [email protected]