The NCAA Board of Governors approved an updated version of the Mental Health Best Practices document that all member schools will be required to follow, effective Aug. 1. The board met Wednesday at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix.
As part of Division I's holistic student-athlete model, Division I schools will be required to attest to providing services and support consistent with the best practices, with the first attestation deadline occurring in November 2025.
Under the NCAA constitution adopted in January 2022, each member school must facilitate an environment that reinforces physical and mental health within athletics by ensuring access to appropriate resources and open engagement with respect to physical and mental health.
The second edition of the best practices document, which will be made available in the coming weeks and become legislatively effective in August, includes emerging information about the intersection of mental health and sports betting, social media, corruption in sport, suicide contagion, and name, image and likeness. The document also details specific considerations for student-athletes of color, LGBTQ student-athletes, international student-athletes and student-athletes with disabilities.
"The second edition of the Mental Health Best Practices document affirms the NCAA's constitutional commitment to our student-athletes. It provides tangible approaches for schools to consider implementing at the community, campus, athletics department and team level to support, promote and manage student-athlete mental health," said Linda A. Livingstone, president at Baylor and chair of the Board of Governors. "The new edition also emphasizes enhanced consideration of diverse student-athlete populations and timely topics. The updated document was also developed to recognize the diversity of the NCAA membership. How the guidance is implemented gives significant discretion to a school based on its unique circumstances, needs and resources."
The updated best practices reflect a consensus of the NCAA Mental Health Advisory Group, which is made up of representatives from relevant medical and scientific organizations with mental health expertise. The group, tasked with updating the NCAA's Mental Health Best Practices, also includes membership representatives from Divisions I, II and III, with a majority being student-athletes. The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which oversees the Mental Health Advisory Group, supported the updated version and recommended it to the Board of Governors for final approval. The document was in part informed by the 2020 Diverse Student-Athlete Mental Health and Well-Being Summit, as well.
To support NCAA members in the implementation of mental health best practices, the NCAA Sport Science Institute recently hosted a series of webinars featuring membership-based examples of ways to consider supporting and promoting student-athlete mental health. To help socialize the new practices with NCAA members, SSI will host additional webinars in advance of the document's Aug. 1 effective date.
Campus sexual violence policy
The board received an overview of the 2022-23 Campus Sexual Violence attestation process and final reporting of member schools' completion. Schools that fail to meet the NCAA policy are prohibited from hosting any NCAA championship competitions for the next applicable academic year (2024-25). The schools that failed to attest will be publicly listed on the NCAA's Campus Sexual Violence Attestation Form webpage by Feb. 15.
The attestation period for schools to complete the form ran from July 18 to Nov. 3, 2023. This marked the first year the attestation deadline was in the fall, a change made due to membership feedback to align with two other required attestations in Division I.
Other action
- The board approved a $25 million supplemental distribution to Division I members. The funds will be disbursed in February.
- The board elected Mary-Beth Cooper, president at Springfield, as its vice chair. Division III's voting representative on the board, Cooper will serve a one-year term in the vice chair role.Â
