“To me, supporting student wellbeing means giving students the resources and tools they need to manage the ups and downs of life and make informed choices about all aspects of their health,” says Associate Dean and Chief Wellness Officer Beth Grampetro. In addition to overseeing the Health Center, Counseling Center and REEF Support Center, Grampetro supervises Wellness Ambassadors, a group of five undergraduate students who offer wellness programming on campus. She’s also launched an assessment of Simmons current wellness offerings.
“I knew of other [institutions] that went through the JED Campus program, and I was happy to start the process,” says Grampetro. JED Campus is a multi-year strategic collaboration funded by the Jed Foundation (JED), which undertakes assessment and enhancement of wellness work on campuses. “What I needed was to see what is happening on campus in terms of wellness, what are we doing well, and what areas need work.”
Assessing Wellness Resources at Simmons
The first part of the JED Campus project is the Healthy Minds Study, which serves to answer precisely those questions. Grampetro worked with Leah Tennen, Professor of Practice for the School of Social Work and Director of Student Support Services, to complete the first phase of the initiative in Spring 2023. “We worked together on this process, along with a taskforce from across the campus that included faculty, students, and staff,” says Grampetro. “That group did the initial assessment of materials, with the help of a campus liaison from the JED Foundation.”
The taskforce then divided into smaller groups. One group reviewed the physical environment to determine a student’s access to means of self-harm, as well as places on campus where students can connect with one another. Another group reviewed programs, policies, and course syllabi for any reference to mental health. “Do students know that they can take time off during a mental health crisis?” Grampetro wondered. “In what ways are we supporting students, and in what ways is it less clear that the support is there?”
Grampetro noted that Simmons has already taken steps toward greater campus well-being by creating the REEF Support Center and the Student Services One Stop on the second floor of the Main College Building, which houses Student Financial Services, Registrar, Bursar, Veterans Services, and the Campus Card Office within the same space. “Centralized resources make it easier for students to get their needs met, and that supports mental health,” notes Grampetro. “Especially for those of us who struggle with executive functioning, these tasks can be difficult. The One Stop makes it easier for students to connect with us.”
To that end, another focal point for improvement is Simmons’ web presence, specifically regarding wellness resources. “We have the information, but a lot of people don’t know where to find it, she notes. “We need to create a presence on the website that will be the home for what’s going on with JED campus and mental health resources — something that brings you to all resources and counseling in one place.”
In Fall 2023, a JED Foundation liaison and a subject matter expert with experience in college counseling visited the Simmons campus to meet with stakeholders and the taskforce. As a result of this review, Simmons received a draft of a strategic plan in Spring 2024, illuminating the next steps.
Brave Talk Training
Simmons is using the JED Campus Brave Talk training, intended to help students recognize when a friend is in distress, how to talk to them and refer them to help. “Our Wellness Ambassadors have taken the training, along with Orientation Leaders,” says Grampetro, who plans to offer the training to members of Betsy’s Friends and Simmons Athletics. “We’re looking for opportunities for people to take the training, to beef up community awareness for people who need help and to give students the skills for what to do in response to a friend in need.”
The key to the approach is to maintain a calm demeanor. “When you’re talking to a person in distress, the calmer you can be, the better,” says Grampetro. “It’s not about minimizing [their feelings]. Think of yourself as an airline pilot — if, at the first sign of turbulence, the pilot starts screaming, that wouldn’t help anyone.” With a peer, if you can recognize the presence of difficult feelings and accept them calmly, even if the feelings are scary, that may put your friend at ease. “It gives the message that you can handle it. That it isn’t weird that they are telling you this, or weird that they are feeling this way. That feels a lot better than ‘OMG, what did you say?’”
Residence Advisors (RAs) have also received the Brave Talk Training, which covers behaviors that people commonly exhibit when they are going through a difficult time. “All behavior is a communication of something,” says Grampetro. “It’s easy to be judgmental, to say, ‘[the student] just wants attention.’ And yes, that may be true! We have to ask, what are they asking for, and why?” Grampetro notes that it can be frustrating for those offering support as well, but the Brave Training may help everyone reflect on how they communicate with others and themselves. “It’s easy to be unkind to yourself, to hold yourself to a high standard,” she says. “We need to speak to ourselves in a kind way, too.”
A Campus-Wide Wellness Culture
For Grampetro, bringing people together from across campus to address student well-being has been transformative. “I can offer training and tell students about free counseling, but if we keep individualizing mental health, that won’t solve the problem. Student well-being is everyone’s concern, across campus. How can we do things with student well-being in mind?”
Grampetro encourages everyone to take a broader approach to wellness. “Wellness support isn’t always formal. It doesn’t always mean sitting down with a counselor,” she notes. “Connection is important. How can we offer opportunities for people to connect?”
The Wellness Ambassadors respond to this need by offering drop-in hours for camaraderie and support, often with a craft project involved. This fall, Simmons will implement Project Connect, a program in which students and employees can participate in small group meetings, one hour per week for five weeks. “These are facilitated conversations, aimed to reduce loneliness and build connections,” says Grampetro.
The Jennifer Eckert Center for Leadership & Engagement supports a variety of student organizations on campus that highlight myriad interests, enabling students to meet each other based on shared interests and values, as opposed to limiting their circle to whoever happens to live in their dorm. “This can foster more genuine connections, with conversations that are more substantive and based on more than a shared circumstance.”
Grampetro also models healthy behaviors for her students. She never sets deadlines by midnight, or 9 a.m. for the students in her Simmons: Explore course, as she feels this encourages students to stay up all night to finish an assignment. “I tell them, I don’t check my Simmons email at night or on weekends, as an intentional practice. I can’t work all weekend, or I’ll come back unrested and I won’t do a good job. Take your academics seriously and work hard, but not at the expense of having a break.. This is why a campus wide wellness effort is so important.”
For undergraduate or graduate students in need of support, contact:
- Who Can Help at Simmons University (a good general resource)
- Counseling Center
- Health Center
- Project Connect (to be implemented in October)
- REEF Support Center : Student Affairs : Simmons Internal
- SOS Emergency Fund : Health Promotion and Wellness Support
- Student Assistance Programs (SAP) : Health Promotion and Wellness Support
- Violence Prevention & Education
- Wellness Ambassadors