NCAA awards $100,000 in grants to 5 research teams

Teams will produce work touching wide range of areas

February 15, 2018 11:00am

Five research teams will receive a total of $100,000 through the NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant Program, designed to enhance college athletes’ mental health and well-being.

The program is aimed at funding projects that will bring tangible benefits to college athletes when used by individuals or by NCAA member schools’ athletics departments. This year’s grant recipients will produce work that touches a wide range of areas, including bystander intervention, financial literacy, sleep wellness, coach mental health education and student-athlete mental health literacy.

A panel that reviewed the 84 proposals and selected the grant awardees represented all three NCAA divisions and was composed of athletics administrators, current student-athletes, a mental health clinician and a faculty athletics representative. The committee, which funded grants in amounts ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, felt confident that the pilot programs funded will lead to programs that other colleges and universities can adopt for use on their campuses or adapt to fit their local needs.

Members of the external review panel, which chose the grant recipients:

Panel chair Kelley Kish, athletics director, Lake Erie College.
Ken Chew, director of the student counseling center, Indiana State University.
Mark Davis, associate professor and faculty athletics representative, University of Evansville.
Malia Fujisawa, assistant field hockey coach, Earlham College.
Larisa Luloff, student-athlete, DePauw University.
Aaron Hosmon, director of compliance, Northwestern University.
Meghan Roman, head softball coach and senior woman administrator, Illinois College.
Iman Tucker, student-athlete, University of Indianapolis.
Haley Welch, student-athlete, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

This is the fifth year of the NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant Program. These five teams will present their findings in January at the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida:

Boston University

Topic: Examining the impact of coach-led sexual violence bystander training for student-athletes.

Researchers: Chelsey Bowman, Ed.M.; Melissa Holt, Ph.D.; and Amie Grills, Ph.D.

Chatham University

Topic: The development of a web-based program to assist coaches as they support the mental health needs of student-athletes.

Researchers: Leigh Skvarla, Ph.D., and Mary Jo Loughran, Ph.D.

Florida State University

Topic: Promoting mental health literacy and reducing stigma around help-seeking among student-athletes.

Researchers: Graig M. Chow, Ph.D.; Nicole T. Gabana, Ph.D.; and Martin A. Swanbrow Becker, Ph.D.

Kansas State University and University of Texas at Austin

Topic: Enhancing financial literacy among student-athletes.

Researchers: Lisa Rubin, Ph.D.; Sonya Britt-Lutter, Ph.D.; Daron Roberts, J.D.; and Arin Dunn.

University of Arizona

Topic: Developing a technology platform to enhance student-athlete sleep behavior.

Researchers: Michael A. Grandner, Ph.D.; Amy Athey, Psy.D.; and Pamela Alfonso-Miller, M.D.

NCAA