The mission of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity for all student-athletes; protecting student-athlete welfare; and fostering a positive student-athlete image.

SAAC Guiding Principles

The SAAC will be guided by the following principles: ethics, integrity, fairness and a respect for diversity which shall include attention to gender, race, ethnicity and sport.

SAAC Purpose

The purpose of the SAAC includes the following:

• Identify issues and initiatives affecting SIAC institutions;

• Educate conference and campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees;

• Review and respond to issues raised by other committees;

• Review and respond to proposed NCAA legislation;

• Distribute and collect conference grids;

• Participate in the Division II legislative process through involvement in the Annual Convention;

• Participate in the annual summit with Division II Management Council;

• Participate in three in-person meetings per year;

• Serve on the Division II Association-Wide Committees, and;

• Support the campus and conference community through community outreach efforts.

History Of The 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.

An Association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention and was formed primarily to review and offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affected student-athlete welfare.

The initial national committee was comprised of student-athletes from all membership divisions for the purpose of ensuring that the student-athlete voice was one that accounted for the myriad of educational and athletics experiences of both female and male student-athletes at all NCAA member institutions. In August 1997, the NCAA federated along divisional lines. The federation caused the SAAC to expand to three SAACs representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Currently, the SAAC 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. This is accomplished by providing student-athlete input on issues related to student-athlete well-being. To fulfill this charge, Division II National SAAC members serve not only on the committee, 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, and playing significant roles in the NCAA leadership conferences.

The input from the SAAC continues to be sought by a variety of constituencies within the Association. SAAC members have the opportunity to speak with the Division II Presidents Council and Division II Management Councils, in addition to speaking to legislative issues on the NCAA Division II Convention floor.