NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Lobbying for legislation that would bridge the gap between a full grant-in-aid and the cost of attendance, along with rules that would extend medical benefits for student-athletes, were among the issues of highest importance to the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during their NCAA Convention meetings.

The financial aid legislation, which would allow student-athletes to accept non-athletics aid, rewards academic and athletics achievement and supports the notion of "student first," the SAAC members said. It allows the student-athlete the same access to non-athletics aid that the general student body enjoys.

SAAC members also unanimously supported expansion of medical benefits to include student-athletes enrolled in their school's summer term who are injured while participating in voluntary summer physical activities. They further supported an expansion of medical benefits for a student-athlete who becomes ill or is injured when such expenses are necessary for that student-athlete to return to competition.

Both the financial aid proposal (No. 02-83-A) and the medical-coverage proposal (No, 03-49) subsequently were given initial approval by the Management Council and Board of Directors.

Among other proposals SAAC members supported were those that permit a student to earn a maximum of one core-course unit in the summer immediately after high-school graduation and before full-time college enrollment, and permit a two-year college transfer student-athlete who has met the two-year transfer eligibility requirements to participate in the championship segment at the certifying institution. That would be allowed provided the student-athlete has not participated in the same championship segment while enrolled at the two-year college during the same academic year.

Both of these proposals earned wide support, with the latter receiving unanimous backing from SAAC members.

The SAAC also took a strong stand against a proposal to eliminate institutional foreign tours in all sports. The SAAC doesn't support eliminating foreign tours but would support an amended version of the proposal if change is necessary. The amendment would allow tours provided they took place no later than 30 days before the first permissible practice date in the applicable sport and do not occur during the institution's playing season.

Student-athletes benefit from the cultural and educational components of these foreign tours, SAAC members said.

SAAC members also generally supported legislation that would not allow a travel day to be counted as a required day off. The majority of the student-athletes said the benefit of extra rest outweighs the cost of missing extra practice time. It would also give the student-athlete additional time to focus on academics.

The SAAC members also discussed their request to become more involved in the process of who is selected to their committee. Currently, the Management Council chooses SAAC members, but the student-athletes want a say in who joins their group. The selection process was a primary topic among discussions SAAC members had with the Management Council and Board of Directors (see sidebar, page A6).

At their meeting, SAAC members also thanked outgoing chair Dylan Malagrino, a swimming and track and field student-athlete from Syracuse University, for his service to the group. Vice-chair Katie Groke, a soccer student-athlete from the University of Wyoming, assumed the chair position and Ian Gray, a track and field and cross country student-athlete from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, was named the new vice-chair.

New members introduced at the meeting were: Cassandra Ersel, a volleyball student-athlete from Murray State University representing the Ohio Valley Conference; Teri Fry, a volleyball student-athlete from the University of Texas at San Antonio representing the Southland Conference; J.R. McNair, a football student-athlete from Wofford University representing the Southern Conference; Ryan Morgan, a golf student-athlete from Rice University representing the Western Athletic Conference; and Zara Northover, a track and field student-athlete from Northeastern University representing the America East Conference.

The following SAAC members also were named as representatives to Association-wide and division committees: Morgan was named to the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet's financial aid subcommittee; Matthew Cassel, a football and baseball student-athlete from the University of Southern California, was named to the Division I Football Issues Committee; Jessica De Palo, a basketball student-athlete from Lehigh University, was named to the Division I Women's Basketball Issues Committee; and Molly McLaughlin, a lacrosse student-athlete from Ohio State University, was named to the Olympic Sports Liaison Committee.