The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) has decided to at least temporarily sever ties with an external group that has been critical of student-athlete-welfare issues and the NCAA governance structure.

The Division I SAAC, which met January 11-13 in conjunction with the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis, decided not to meet with the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), a group composed of current and former student-athletes that has aligned with the United Steelworkers of America to push for increased student-athlete benefits, among other things.

A meeting had been planned among CAC and NCAA representatives later this month, but the NCAA since learned that a representative from the steelworkers union, which has financed the coalition's efforts, also planned to attend. In addition, the CAC's criticism of the SAACs became public during a CBS "60 Minutes" segment in which the SAACs were said to be "useless" and a "waste of time."

"They have misrepresented what the SAACs are all about," said incoming Division I SAAC Chair Michael Aguirre, a football student-athlete from Arizona State University. "We've encouraged cooperative efforts with outside groups before, but the CAC's recent actions prompted us to determine it was inappropriate to meet."

Aguirre also said the CAC's alliance with the steelworkers' union is more of a publicity-seeking move by the union that is "completely inappropriate to the world of intercollegiate athletics."

All of the coalition's issues have either been addressed or have been under discussion long before the coalition was formed. The SAACs are largely responsible for recent legislative changes in student-athlete employment restrictions, safety standards for voluntary and mandatory sports-related workouts, and health coverage for sports-related injuries.

"The SAACs have been effectively involved with the NCAA governance structure for more than a decade," Aguirre said. "We're not opposed to external groups, but they do need to address issues through the SAACs in order to get those issues in front of the people who in the end make the decisions."

Outgoing SAAC Chair Bola Bamiduro, a lacrosse student-athlete from Columbia University-Barnard College, agreed that the SAACs have a proven track record of effectiveness within the existing structure.

"If student-athlete welfare is at the heart of the CAC like they say it is," she said, "then the method they need to pursue is through the SAACs."

NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey also supported the SAAC's decision.

"There's already a sensitivity to student-athlete welfare and we have a process in place to handle that better than external forces would," he said.

Other SAAC actions

In addition to the CAC decision, the Division I SAAC conducted other business during its meeting, including its annual meeting with the Division I Management Council to discuss student-athlete-welfare concerns.

Topics of discussion this year included the concept of conducting regional leadership conferences, which would be modeled after the annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference but held regionally in order for more student-athletes to experience the event.

The SAAC proposed dividing the country into regions and designating some number of those regions to participate in a regional leadership conference on a rotating basis. For example, two regions from a total of six could participate in a three-year rotation, or two from a total of four might participate in a two-year cycle.

Megan McGuirt, a rowing student-athlete from Clemson University, told Management Council members that the regional conferences would expose more student-athletes to the leadership conference experience and allow region-specific topics such as social concerns or weather-related concerns to be explored.

"The more people who are involved, the more representative the SAACs are and the stronger the student-athlete voice will be," she said.

The Council plans to discuss the idea further at a future meeting.

In another matter, the two groups discussed ongoing communication efforts, including dialogue between the SAAC and the Council on student-athlete-welfare issues. Both groups agreed that sessions such as the annual joint meeting at the Convention had fostered a healthy working relationship.

Ben Foster, a Wofford College football player who is new to the SAAC, summed up the successful communication efforts best when he joked, "I'm so excited to see that the SAAC and the Management Council are on the same page. When I came in, I didn't know whether I'd be able to shake your hands or put up my fists. I'm so excited that I can shake your hands."