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Division III National SAAC History
What is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)?
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a committee consisting of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC offers input on
rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses. There are three SAACs at the national level representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III. NCAA legislation mandates that all member institutions institute a SAAC on their respective campuses. Further, NCAA legislation requires that all member conferences institute a SAAC.
History
An Association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention. Its purpose was to offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation affecting student-athlete well-being. The initial national committee was formed before the NCAA federated in 1997; therefore it consisted of student-athletes representing institutions with differing demographics and philosophies. In August 1997, the NCAA federated into Divisions I, II and III causing the SAAC to expand into three committees. The NCAA’s federation increased student-athlete participation in the governance process of intercollegiate athletics by increasing committee representation from 28 student-athletes serving on the Association-wide committee to a total of 80 members serving on the national Divisions I, II and III committees.
Currently, each national committee is comprised of female and male student-athletes of various diversities charged with its initial goal, to offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation affecting student-athlete well-being. To fulfill this charge, national SAAC members serve not only on the national SAACs, but are also engaged in many NCAA opportunities where they may speak on NCAA issues. These opportunities include, but are not limited to, serving on Association-wide committees, serving on division specific committees, speaking on the NCAA Convention floor, service on the NCAA Management Councils, and playing significant roles in the NCAA leadership conferences.
NCAA Division III SAAC
The NCAA Division III SAAC, sometimes referred to as the national SAAC, is the largest committee in the Division III governance structure. In addition to service on the SAAC, committee
members serve on at least six Association-wide committees, on three Division III governing committees and they represent two appointments on the NCAA Division III Management Council, creating a large representation of the student-athlete voice in the Division III governance process.
The committee consists of 24 student-athlete members with a minimum of 12 men and 12 women. Additional diversity is considered through ethnicity, sport, major and academic class. No more than one student-athlete from a playing conference may serve on the committee at any time. Two Management Council members (athletics staff from Division III institutions) serve as ex-officio members of the Division III SAAC.
Due to the number of Division III conferences, each national SAAC member is charged with representing his or her own conference, as well as a partner conference, with at least one committee member representing independent institutions. This communication structure is termed the “conference partnership program.”
National SAAC members are nominated by their institution or conference and selected by the NCAA Division III SAAC. Appointments are then forwarded to the Division III Management Council and Presidents Council for ratification. The national SAAC appointment process is outlined in Appendix C.
Purpose
The purpose of a SAAC may vary across conferences and institutions; however, the following four purposes should serve as basic guidelines when developing a SAAC and its strategic plan.
• Generate a student-athlete voice within the institution;
• Generate a student-athlete voice within the conference;
• Review and respond to proposed NCAA legislation, and;
• Support the campus and conference community through community outreach efforts.
Structure
The SAAC communication structure is multi-leveled starting at the campus, or grassroots level, to the conference level, and up to the national level. The goal is to ensure that information is shared up and down the structure.
Communication
Campus SAAC: Campus SAAC representatives are responsible for discussing issues affecting student-athletes at the campus level and forwarding said information to the conference SAAC.
Conference SAAC: Conference SAAC representatives are responsible for collecting feedback from the campuses, forming a conference perspective and forwarding that perspective to the national SAAC. Conference SAACs serve as the vital link between the campus and national SAACs. Without their communication to the campus and national levels, the student-athlete voice is lost within the structure.
National SAAC: National SAAC representatives are responsible for gathering conference feedback and representing their views at the national level. They are also charged with forwarding information addressed at the national level (e.g., legislation, issues affecting student-athletes) to their conference SAAC representatives.
