With student mental wellness a growing concern nationwide, Ferris State University educators and administrators are preparing an outreach effort to promote student well-being on campus.

The Bulldog Mental Health Taskforce plans to use a Merit Grant award from The Ferris Foundation to build learning modules for faculty and staff to better address student mental health concerns.

Sara Higley, the senior woman administrator in Ferris State Athletics, is a task force member. She pointed to the Green Bandana project, established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison several years ago. Displaying a green bandana signifies a person is available for someone seeking mental health support to approach.

The Green Bandana project has now spread to multiple college campuses.

“Our athletes who feel strongly about this have participated in tabling to increase awareness of the project and make the bandana visible on their backpacks,” Higley said.

Mental wellness is recognized nationally as a growing concern among college students. A 2022 American College Health Association study found that nearly 75 percent of college students reported psychological distress.

Higley said Ferris Media Production is working on a video with President Bill Pink and Provost Bobby Fleischman to introduce the task force’s goals and training.

College of Arts, Sciences and Education assistant professor Carrie Thompson chairs the Bulldog Mental Health Taskforce.

Thompson, director of the Bachelor of Social Work program, said the group formed after Ferris State Athletics requested a presentation on building awareness and continued its work to develop scaffolded training on mental health and suicide prevention.

Task force membership includes departmental leaders and faculty from the College of Health Professions and the College of Arts, Sciences and Education. Their mental and emotional health curriculum is separate from the Green Bandana initiative for college athletes.

“One of our goals is to have several basic awareness training that will help faculty and staff identify if further intervention is needed and also highlight available resources so that those trained can be a conduit for students who may need direction to those services here at Ferris or in the community,” Thompson said. “We will also have a more involved training that will help identify on-campus champions willing to step forward and receive additional information and skills in dealing with the mental health crisis.”

Thompson said the $4,500 in Merit Grant funding allows the task force to assemble the materials it will distribute to employees who participate in the training.

“We are glad to have The Ferris Foundation’s support to provide literature and other materials, to provide this training free of charge,” Thompson said. “The task force includes passionate people from across our campus acting on a commitment to fight stigma related to mental health, to build a culture of acceptance.”

The Gifts and Grants Committee of The Ferris Foundation funded seven Merit Grants for 2022-23.