The NCAA News - News and Features

April 7, 1997

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee prepares for federation

The NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee discussed organizational issues related to when the Association-wide body federates this summer under the new governance structure.

The committee met March 9-11 in San Francisco.

In an effort to address student-athlete issues it believes relate across all three divisions, the committee agreed that the three division-specific Student-Athlete Advisory Committees should meet together twice a year. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's last meeting as one Association-wide body is in July.

Division I

The Division I representatives will ask their conferences to renominate those current members of the Association-wide committee to the new Division I committee.

In addition, the current Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will ask the NCAA Division I Management Council to allow those additional conference representatives who currently serve on the committee to remain on the new Division I committee in a nonvoting capacity for a term of at least one year. The new Division I committee will be made up of one representative from each of the 30 Division I conferences; the current committee includes two conferences with more than one representative.

Division II

The Division II representatives discussed the agenda for their July summit with representatives of the NCAA Division II Management Council.

In a related matter, the Division II representatives also are continuing to seek voting representation on the Division II Management Council. Currently, the Division II Management Council does not include any student-athlete representation; the Division III Management Council includes two voting student-athlete positions, and the Division I Management Council includes two nonvoting positions.

The Division II representatives also will recommend a change in current legislation to permit inclusion on the committee of members who have entered a graduate program at a non-Division II institution or who may be working, provided not more than two years have passed since they completed their athletics eligibility. Current legislation requires that members of the Division II committee be full-time undergraduate or graduate students at a Division II institution.

Division III

The student-athletes representing Division III identified nominees for Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee chair and vice-chair and for student-athlete positions on the Division III Management Council. The Division III representatives agreed that the new committee chair will need at least one year of experience on the committee.

Division III representatives also discussed creating a survey for Division III campus committees to get feedback in the following areas: campus committee communication with conference committee, internal campus issues, external campus issues, and national committee communication and issues.