Wellness at Simmons

No. The plan is for all students at Simmons. So whether you are an undergraduate, graduate, or professional student, on-campus or online, the plan is designed for you. 

In 2023, Simmons took the unique step of engaging with the JED Foundation to assess its entire system for mental health and wellbeing for all students regardless of academic level or platform. This study and review provided a foundation for the plan.

Among many initiatives, this plan will provide for:

1. Expanding mental health education for faculty and staff. In addition to continuing our commitment to training faculty and staff already employed at Simmons, we are developing a policy for equipping all newly hired employees with the skills to recognize when students may be experiencing mental health problems and to connect them with the resources they need.
2. Systematically reviewing organizational structures to assess the capacity of mental health and wellbeing-focused staffing across all schools, as well as making sure online and graduate students have access to the same resources that on ground undergraduate students have.
3. Developing and launching a comprehensive, user-friendly, and easy-to-find website for all student mental health and wellbeing resources and information.

• Simmons engaged the JED Foundation to help us better understand the mental health landscape at Simmons and expand our use of best practices.
• Simmons’s partnership with the JED Foundation began with administration of the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) student survey in spring 2023, assigned JED Campus advisors’ review of Simmons policies, resources and website(s). At the same time, Simmons formed a University-wide task force that included faculty, staff and students from all programs and departments charged with creating a comprehensive, collaborative, and consistent all-Simmons strategic plan for student mental health and wellbeing.
• Task force members were divided into subgroups based on interest and expertise and met to review and analyze the JED Foundation’s ten (10) major goals:
  • Strategic Planning
  • Developing & Supporting Life Skills
  • Social Connectedness
  • Peer Supports
  • Identifying Students at Risk
  • Increasing Help Seeking Behaviors
  • Clinical Services & Mental Health
  • Substance Use & Misuse
  • Crisis Management
  • Means Restriction & Environmental Safety
  • Incidents on Campus & Service Utilization

The Healthy Minds Study (HMS) is a web-based survey examining mental health, service utilization, and related issues among undergraduate and graduate students. 

Since its national launch in 2007, HMS has been fielded at over 530 colleges and universities, with over a half million survey respondents. 

The HMS was administered at Simmons in February 2023. It was sent to all students, and there was a response rate of 21%. The data collected by HMS will be utilized as part of the JED Campus strategic planning process and will be re-administered in 2026. The survey asks students questions relating to the following areas:

• Mental health and substance use status, knowledge, attitudes, and service utilization;
• Overall health status and related health protective and risk factors (e.g., sleep, financial stress, sexual assault, public safety, resilience);
• Campus environment, climate, and student experience (e.g., diversity and inclusion, academic competition, peer support, upstander/bystander behaviors); and
• Demographics.

The survey results found a number of areas for growth as well as strengths to build upon, including:

• 53% of respondents indicated mild or moderate depression.
• 52% of respondents indicated mild or moderate anxiety.
• 62% of respondents said they would seek help from a professional clinician if they were experiencing emotional distress.
• The HMS survey will be readministered to all Simmons students in February 2026 to identify areas of growth and opportunities for continued improvement.

Yes. Student representatives attended the JED site visits and were members of task force groups developing recommendations that fed into this strategic plan.

The implementation of the plan has already begun and will continue over the next four years. Beginning in 2024, training about how to support students has been offered to students (BRAVE Talk) and Faculty and Staff (Supporting Student Wellness) as part of the strategic plan. In addition, this webpage is part of the plan- we hope to utilize this page to communicate important news and resources related to student wellbeing going forward.

• Before the JED Campus Strategic Plan was even created, Simmons was already ahead of schedule by already having certain plans and programs in place. Goals listed in the plan were ranked as “green” (things we’re doing already), “yellow” (things that are in process) and “red” (things to be done moving forward). Based on the JED Campus’ initial findings, Simmons had already accomplished many of the goals listed.
• Simmons will define a set of metrics to track the progress of the plan’s implementation and a system to collect and analyze those metrics. This work will enable the evaluation of pilot projects noted in this strategic plan, development of our multi-year strategic plan assessment, and regular community updates on plan progress.
• The HMS survey will be readministered to all Simmons students in February 2026 to identify areas of growth and opportunities for continued improvement.