SAN FRANCISCO – The University of Arizona Athletics Department has been awarded a grant by the Pac-12 Conference's Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Initiative to fund a mental health screening and pre-participation model. The program, which is an cross-campus collaboration between Arizona Athletics and the Psychology department, will act as the conference's premier mental health coordinating unit.

"As administrators and leaders, continuing to focus on improving the health and well-being of student-athletes is of our highest priority," said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. "We are proud to continue to help fund important research and work being done by our Pac-12 institutions and excited to announce the formation of our Pac-12 Mental Health Coordinating Unit to focus specifically on student-athlete mental health."

Arizona's program focuses on supporting student-athlete mental health through a variety of initiatives and research, which includes establishing mental health screening methods, facilitating polices and procedures to address positive mental health screening methods and reporting on epidemiological outcomes from studying.

The unit is spearheaded by Dr. Daniel Taylor and Dr. John Ruiz of the Psychology department alongside Arizona Athletics' Director of Clinical and Sports Psychology Dr. Alex Auerbach. The innovative collaboration will be used to develop a conference-wide approach for all 11 other institutions to follow.

Mental health and well-being is a shared focus of the Pac-12 Conference and Arizona Athletics' "Wildcat Way" strategic plan, which focuses on the holistic development of student-athletes through the department's Commitment to an Athlete's Total Success (CATS).