A fourth year sport and exercise psychology doctoral student, Stefanee Van Horn, has received an NCAA graduate student grant to support her research: “An Examination of Coach Provided Social Support to Injured Athletes.” Van Horn is the second CPASS student in two years to achieve the NCAA award. Megan Byrd was the first.
Van Horn explains why the award is important to her. “Receiving a grant as a graduate student feels fantastic. It has helped me continue to see the value in the research I am engaging in and helps me demonstrate my abilities as a researcher.
“My career aspiration is to become a faculty member in the field of sport psychology and this grant will undoubtedly help me get closer to achieving this and creating new opportunities along the way,” she added.
CPASS professors have acted as mentors for Van Horn. “CPASS faculty have been so supportive of our research as graduate students. This project was initiated with the help of Drs. Damien Clement and Clayton Kuklick and as it evolved I received mentorship in the development of the grant from Dr. Dana Voelker. CPASS faculty have continued to lead by example and show us what it means to be quality researchers,” Van Horn said.
According to Van Horn, students need to identify a research topic that they are passionate about. “You will be spending a lot of time with your research project and you want to put your time and energy into a topic that you find meaningful. It is also important to find a research mentor, whether that is a more experienced student or a faculty member, to help guide you and support you in your research endeavors,” Van Horn clarified.
Van Horn chose WVU for their sport and exercise psychology program because she knew it would help her become a well-rounded professional. “This program provides excellent opportunities for consulting, teaching and research in addition to earning our master’s degree in counseling. The faculty within the SEP program are phenomenal and were an important factor when I sought out doctoral programs in SEP,” Van Horn added.
Ultimately, Van Horn envisions growing her work in improving the outcomes and well-being for injured athletes. “I hope to continue to expand on this research as I move forward in my career,” she said.
The NCAA Research Committee selected seven research proposals in the 2016 cycle of the NCAA Graduate Student Research Grant Program. The research committee chose winning applicants whose work examined well-being and sports participation topics.
Other universities represented in the 2016 cycle include Boston University, Pennsylvania State University, New Mexico State University, University of Texas at Austin, and Sam Houston State University.
Now in its eleventh year, the NCAA program is aimed at stimulating research on college sports by providing financial support to graduate students in social and behavioral science fields.
The students’ work will help inform NCAA member schools and the public on key topics by introducing new studies to the field.
Grant awards are set at a maximum of $7,500 for one-year projects. Recipients culminate their project in an article suitable for publication in a scholarly journal or in a completed thesis or dissertation.
In addition to Van Horn and Byrd, CPASS graduate student Jana Fogaca received an AASP research award earlier this year.