| There is a lack of research on the literature concerning the policies and procedures higher education institutions and their employees utilize when responding to a student suicide attempt or suicide. Current research on college student suicide is limited for several reasons: (a) there are no federal, state, local, or institutional requirements for higher education institutions to report the number of attempts or suicides on campus; as a result, complete and accurate statistics on college student suicide are not available, (b) there are limited federal, state, local, or institutional directives that guide higher education protocols and procedures for students at risk, and (c) there are inadequate resources and information for evidenced-based practices and programs to prevent or intervene in the case of a suicide attempt or suicide. Consequently, higher education prevention and intervention strategies that specifically address the management and response to a student suicide attempt or suicide differ extensively from campus to campus.;Given the fact that over 18 million students at higher education institutions could be impacted by student suicide prevention and intervention programs, research on prevention and interventions with students at risk for suicide is critical.;This descriptive study utilized the Student Suicide Interview Questionnaire (SSIQ), a 35-item questionnaire that asked college and university supervisors and administrators a series of questions regarding: (1) professional and institutional demographics, (2) institutional suicide prevention efforts, (3) institutional response to a suicide attempt, (4) institutional response to a student suicide, and (5) additional resources campus professionals would like to provide to prevent and intervene with students at risk for suicide. Participants were a purposefully selected sample of 23 college and university officials from 20 institutions from across the U.S.;The study identified several critical findings. Nearly all of the professionals were unable to accurately report the number of student suicide attempts or suicides on their campus while a small number of higher educational professionals identified 20-50 student suicide attempts during the past year. Consistent practices that campus professionals utilized to prevent suicide included on-line, mental health screening tools, gatekeeper training, and parent and family education and outreach. |
