Campus Connection Suicide Prevention Training

Campus Connect was developed by the Syracuse University Counseling Center and has been used across higher education. Campus Connect is a gatekeeper training program for college faculty, staff, and students. This experientially-based training is designed to enhance participant's knowledge, awareness, and skills concerning college student suicide.

Specifically, Campus Connect aims to increase participant's knowledge about suicide statistics, risk and protective factors, warning signs, and referral resources; to increase empathetic listening skills, communication skills, and the ability to ask individuals if they are thinking about suicide; and to increase self-awareness concerning the potential emotional reactions gatekeepers may experience when interacting with students in crisis.

Campus Connect is highly interactive, with gatekeepers participating in multiple exercises throughout the training to increase both their skills and awareness concerning the emotional intensity of responding to suicidal college students. The two-hour training culminates with a role play when gatekeepers are given the opportunity to practice the skills they are taught during the course of the training.

After training, participants will have:

  • Increased knowledge of suicide warning signs and referral points for students at risk for suicide
  • Increased skills to respond to college students at-risk for suicide.
  • Increased self-efficacy regarding their ability to respond to a student at-risk for suicide.

For more information about or to schedule a Campus Connect training for your student club, organization, or department please contact Heidi Riello, Director of Counseling Services via email at Heidi.Riello@mcla.edu or phone at 413-662-5331.