Colorado State University Pueblo Athletics Nurtures a Stronger Pack
Photo courtesy of CSU Pueblo.
Division II athletic departments are under growing pressure to support the whole student-athlete—not just the one who competes, but the one managing coursework, finances, a social life, and their mental health.
Only 54% of Division II athletic directors feel their campus has adequate resources to support student-athletes’ mental wellness, according to the NCAA 2025 Division II Membership Survey. When you layer on tighter budgets, shifting government funding, and the lure of transferring for NIL deals or more playing time, it’s clear why more programs are looking for ways to hear from student-athletes before problems become crises.
For Paul Plinske, Vice President for Athletics and Strategic Partnerships at Colorado State University Pueblo, the answer isn’t just a one-time fix. “We spend a lot of time talking with our coaches and administrative team about building a culture of caring. It takes daily communication and a lot of brainstorming to position ourselves in a place of support and accountability and create trusting relationships with our student-athletes.”
About CSU Pueblo Athletics
Colorado State University Pueblo is a regional institution within the Colorado State University System that serves nearly 4,000 students. Approximately 500 CSU Pueblo student-athletes compete in 20 men's and women's sports at the NCAA Division II level through the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Giving all ThunderWolves a voice
Plinske has watched the norms around speaking up change dramatically over his 25 years in athletics administration. “Ten, fifteen years ago, it was not appropriate for students to speak up against authorities,” he says. “Things have changed. When students are given a voice and an opportunity to be in a safe culture, they feel more invested. And when they feel more invested, they feel they have the capacity to make change and ultimately improve things."
The issues players face (but don’t always have an avenue to talk about) go beyond day-to-day athletics. Anxiety, depression, and turbulent relationships are just as prevalent as concerns about playing time or treatment from a coach. Plinske believes it’s the responsibility of his entire department to serve student-athletes throughout their time at CSU Pueblo, regardless of the problem at hand.
“We want to give them a voice where we can work through any issue in an anonymous, safe way. We can then use that information in our evaluation process to help support our coaches, and give them more tools so that they can be more effective in their jobs.”
360-degree athletics feedback, without the paperwork
That belief in listening is what led Plinske to implement RealResponse in October of 2022. For years, he relied on manual, paper-based surveys to evaluate coaches and programs. The RealResponse platform offered a way to not only modernize this process, but transform his department’s reporting and gameday communications as well:
Postseason feedback: “What started with a piece of paper and a pencil has gravitated into a sophisticated evaluation process that has been very meaningful to our coaches,” Plinske says. With RealResponse’s Survey tool, he collects in-depth insights faster to complete end-of-season (and sometimes mid-season) coach evaluations. The goal is to capture details about players’ experiences as both students and athletes: sport-specific elements like team culture, practice operations, and travel, along with their feelings about academic advising, campus life, and faculty relationships.
Two-way, anonymous reporting: CSU Pueblo Athletics also uses RealResponse to provide players and staff a mechanism for sharing concerns (e.g., coach misconduct, safety-related incidents) year-round. Even though most of the feedback Plinkske receives is positive, he considers all reports valuable intelligence. “I would much rather know the negatives than be surprised. I would much rather hear it on the front end from a student-athlete so that I can be the first responder. And as soon as we know, we act.”
Event communications: More recently, CSU Pueblo extended the same anonymous reporting to fans at athletic events. Reports about anything from facility issues to a medical crisis route directly to the campus director of safety. “When we have 7,000 people at a football game, it’s a lot easier for them to find the RealResponse number, and somebody’s able to address it right away,” Plinske says.
Every CSU Pueblo student-athlete learns about RealResponse during preseason onboarding meetings, where they’re encouraged to use the platform to share any and all feedback. Input shared through the platform often leads to material change in athletics operations, like the expansion of CSU Pueblo’s team transportation fleet to make game travel easier.
Despite initial wariness from coaches about what information would come through, Plinske finds that plenty of the feedback they receive is positive—and all of it is constructive. “I’m grateful that RealResponse provides us with a tool for our student-athletes to share their comments, concerns, their positives and negatives, which we as an administration can use to build a sports program and help coaches become their best.”
Supporting the whole student, not just the student-athlete
Leaders across CSU Pueblo hold firm to the belief that student-athletes are students first, athletes second. That philosophy extends to the athletics department, where all coaches and staff are encouraged to serve their players as people, not simply numbers on a field.
With the tools to safely capture student-athletes’ concerns, Plinske and his team can do more to create an environment where all ThunderWolves thrive.
“College athletics is going through major transformation, and there are a lot of things we cannot control,” says Plinske. “But there are some things we do have an impact on: how we interact with others, how we treat people, and how we give them the best higher education experience possible.”
Learn more about how RealResponse can amplify the voices and insights you need to strengthen your student-athlete and gameday experience.