The NCAA Research Committee has selected seven research proposals to fund in the 2016 cycle of the NCAA Graduate Student Research Grant Program.
Now in its 11th year, the program is aimed at stimulating research on college sports by providing financial support to graduate students in social and behavioral science fields.
Their work will help inform NCAA member schools and the public on key topics by introducing new studies to the field. Awards for these grants are set at a maximum of $7,500 for one-year projects. Recipients are expected to culminate their project in an article suitable for publication in a scholarly journal or in a completed thesis or dissertation. They will be invited to present their findings to the NCAA Research Committee in fall 2017.
Funds were awarded to the following graduate students:
- Chelsey Bowman, Boston University: “Bystander Behaviors Related to Potential Sexual Assault: Individual and Contextual Predictors Among Student-Athletes.”
- Scott Graupensperger, Pennsylvania State University: “Everyone Else Is Doing It: Predicting Susceptibility to Peer Influence in Student-Athletes.”
- Jessica Jackson, New Mexico State University: “The Prevalence and Experience of Race Related Stress Among Black Male Student-Athletes: A Mixed Method Study.”
- Alvin Logan, University of Texas at Austin: “The One Dimensional Black College Football Player: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding the Importance of Being Multidimensional Student-Athletes.”
- Bernadette Maher, Temple University: “How the Psychosocial Effects of Serious Injuries Impact the Academic Lives of Student-Athletes.”
- Stefanee Van Horn, West Virginia University: “An Examination of Coach Provided Social Support to Injured Athletes.”
- Candice D. Williams, Sam Houston State University: “A Qualitative Exploration of a Select Group of Female Student-Athlete Mothers Who Experienced a Pregnancy While Competing at a Division I or Division II University.”
The 2017 call for proposals will be released in February, with proposals due in June. The NCAA Research Committee invites research proposals within the general topic areas of student-athlete well-being and college athletics participation.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the impact of participation in athletics on the academic or social experiences of student-athletes; best practices for academic advisement of student-athletes; the relationship between athletics’ time demands and academic success; student-athlete integration into the campus community; the relationship between athletics department finances and on-field success; student-athlete satisfaction with the college experience; and student-athlete mental health and well-being.