Woodward Examines Student-Athlete Mental Health

The morning after a night game at Syracuse, Jeff Woodward stood in front of a conference room with Colgate coaches in attendance, ready to discuss a subject that affects colleges and universities everywhere: Student-athlete mental health..

Woodward, the 6-foot-10 center and men’s basketball team captain, is a fifth-year senior who spent his fall semester studying the mental health policies of colleges and how they apply to new NCAA guidelines. The work was part of a project for an independent study course, which the Audubon, Pa., native had to complete to meet the requirements for a degree in psychology. 

While still slightly weary after playing a game only hours ago, Woodward was all smiles and full of enthusiasm when it was time to share his report.

“Last night didn’t turn out the way we wanted to, but I’m excited for this presentation no matter what,” he said of Colgate’s narrow defeat. “It was an opportunity to highlight something I’ve been spending the last couple of months on, something I care about, and something that can be very beneficial for the coaches and athletic trainers to think about.”

Woodward, who is planning to pursue a career in clinical psychology, explained the NCAA’s new mental health guidelines, which include creating a multi-level plan for mental health promotion and creating procedures for identifying student-athletes who need support. 

He then dove into the heart of his project, which involved contacting six universities to learn how they tackle the mental health of student-athletes — and he compared the data to Colgate’s policies. 

The senior interviewed staff from athletics and wellness at Cornell, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Le Moyne, Penn, and Princeton. 

The results were precisely what he expected. 

Woodward found that there’s no consensus on how to address mental health concerns. For instance, some colleges have sports psychologists while others provide similar services in other ways. At one school, an athletics coordinator works in the counseling center and acts as the face of sports psychology. 

Colgate differed from other schools in a few ways, he said. For instance, the University uses wellness advocates and peer-to-peer groups to discuss mental health with student-athletes.

“Every school is doing something a little bit different,” he said. “They are doing things based on the resources they have, the time allocated, and the personnel that they have. That was the most interesting part of my research — just seeing how many ways they’re addressing mental health.

“The NCAA guidelines say, create a healthy environment. There are a million ways you can create a healthy environment in terms of athletics. Seeing some of those play out was super interesting in terms of the variety of options available.”

Regardless of how colleges tackle the matter, one thing they shared was the challenge that comes with addressing student-athlete mental health. 

“A lot of schools were having difficulty getting their student-athletes to talk about mental health,” he said. 

Woodward worked closely with his advisor, Doug Johnson, the dean of academic and curricular affairs and the William R. Kenan Jr. professor of psychological and brain sciences. In addition, he teamed up with Dawn LaFrance, the assistant vice president of wellness and director of counseling and psychological services. 

Together, they guided him with starting the project, figuring out which schools to contact and what questions to ask. 

LaFrance said Woodward’s research has provided new information for Colgate counselors and athletic staff as they consider future adjustments to the University’s mental health support offerings. 

“I love the topic that Jeff tackled,” she said. “It is very relevant and future-focused so that we can use his research in our work. The collaboration that Colgate's Health and Wellness team has with athletics is important to student-athlete well-being. We are extremely fortunate to have important connections allowing us to identify issues, consider responses, and support the mental health of all of our student-athletes.

“Jeff's decision to focus on this topic for his research has allowed us all to learn more together. As a student-athlete, Jeff has a unique perspective that gives him a personal understanding of the topic. This has been an amazing collaboration between three divisions: Athletics, Academics and the Dean of the College.”