Early this summer while participating in the NCAA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, a conversation with a Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member sparked an idea that has resulted in a new partnership between the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association and the SAAC.

During a team-building exercise, Katie Street of Boise State University and I were sharing thoughts about a specific legislative proposal when the conversation turned to how student-athletes get their message out to the voting membership on a national level. While many campus SAACs are well organized and effectively integrated into the campus- or conference-level legislative review process, many play a more limited role in the discussions that effectively lead to an institution’s decision to cast its vote one way or the other.

It seemed to me that because FARs are charged with overseeing the academic integrity and maintenance of student-athlete well-being, we have a responsibility to do a better job of engaging student-athletes in discussions about le-gislation that ultimately affects them most directly. This new partnership was developed to give student-athletes and FARs an opportunity to discuss, debate and examine positions on issues, not unlike the exchanges that take place in our classrooms.

Beginning this month, several national SAAC representatives will begin serving as members of FARA’s legislative review committees. They will provide the committees with a student-athlete perspective and serve as an important resource for faculty throughout the legislative-review process. The student-athletes will be engaged at every level of debate with the FARs.

As members of the committee, SAAC representatives will be in part responsible for preparing a legislative-review report that serves as a guide for FARs in discussions with their presidents and chancellors. With the help of NCAA staff, the following student-athletes have been selected to serve on the 2006 FARA legislative review committees:

FARA is excited about the opportunity to work closely with the national SAAC, and we hope that this inaugural year proves to be mutually beneficial for both faculty and student-athletes as we work together to advance the student-athlete experience.