The NCAA News - News and Features

March 23, 1998

Student-athletes retraining their voice

Restructuring has brought about need for change

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

Student-athletes want their voices to be heard.

They're the ones who compete; the ones who are on the court, on the track, in the pool and on the field. They're the ones who are faced with the challenge of balancing academics and athletics, and the ones who are most affected by changes in rules -- NCAA rules, conference rules and institutional rules.

They don't necessarily disagree with the decisions made on their campus, in their conference or at the national level, but they want to be a part of the process.

In some cases, student-athletes are active participants. In some cases, their ideas and objections are considered, weighed and accepted or rejected. In some cases, though, student-athletes seem to be an afterthought, simply people to inform once the decision has been made.

Student-athletes on the national, conference and campus level are working to ensure that their role is anything but an afterthought.

No longer one voice, but many

Now that the Association is federated, there is no longer one unified national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee or SAAC. Instead, there are SAACs in each division. Each division's SAAC is slightly different, and they have varying levels of influence.

The federated system has given student-athletes more of a voice, if for no other reason than there are simply more student-athlete representatives.

Restructuring, with its accompanying changes in how Division I legislation works and how conferences are involved, also has brought changes that some Division I student-athletes say have made it more difficult for their voices to be heard.

The existence of campus SAACs is mandated at every NCAA institution, but not every institution has one yet.

At institutions that do have them, their roles vary. Some effective SAACs maintain open lines of communication, meeting regularly with their athletics administration and participating in a variety of community-service activities. Other campus SAACs exist in name only, rarely meeting with their athletics administration and even more rarely offering any feedback.

Division II has mandated conference-level SAACs in addition to the campus-level ones, and while not all of them are in place yet, they already are improving communication between student-athletes and athletics decision-makers. Student-athletes say conference-level SAACs may be the way to increase participation and effectiveness both at the national level and at the institutional level -- a way to make more student-athletes heard.

Here is an update on how student-athletes in the three divisions are meeting their governance responsibilities:

Division I

Keeping up with the year-round legislative process has proved to be a challenge for the Division I SAAC. At previous NCAA Conventions, the student-athletes were able to address all their concerns on proposed legislation in the business session forums. Now, they must keep up with new legislation and communicate with each other on ongoing issues via conference calls and e-mails.

Thirty students serve on the Division I SAAC, each representing a different conference. Two positions on the Division I Management Council have been allocated for SAAC representatives who may comment on any issue but may not vote.

The committee chair, Bridget Niland from State University of New York at Buffalo, and the vice-chair, Kerry McCoy from Pennsylvania State University, have attended the last three meetings of the Management Council.

Niland, however, believes that commenting on legislative proposals before the Management Council has not been as effective as the students thought it would be. Members of the Management Council represent conferences, which in some cases direct their Council representatives how to vote before the meetings begin.

For the student-athletes to continue to offer effective feedback at a time when they can still persuade and perhaps change a vote, they believe they need to comment on legislative proposals before they come up for vote at Management Council meetings.

To make this possible, they must track proposals through cabinets and subcommittees.

"We have to know what's out there early," McCoy said. "Then we must track every step to keep up on any changes in the issue because it may evolve as it moves through the process."

The idea is to contact subcommittees and make them aware of how SAAC stands on particular issues. Sometimes the student-athletes are able to speak to the subcommittees in an open forum, but more often the committee must express its concerns through memos and news articles.

One way of dealing with the challenge is to mandate conference-level SAACs in Division I, Niland said. Conference-level SAACs could aid in tracking legislation, and ideally, SAAC members could maintain a close relationship with the Management Council representative from their conference.

"Using conference-level SAACs is how we can link up," Niland said. "Involvement at the conference level is critical now that we've restructured."

Communication is another challenge, Niland said.

"Networking and communication is one of our biggest challenges right now," she said. "You have 30 extremely motivated people, but we're asking a lot of them. For most people who serve on NCAA committees, it's their job or it's related to their job. Our committee members are full-time student-athletes or graduate students. This isn't our job. We have to still make sure we do our calculus homework and pass our classes and play well. We don't have secretaries or fax machines."

Niland thinks technology can help student-athletes work around the communication obstacle.

"E-mail has been huge," she said. "E-mail is the best way for us to keep in touch with each other."

The next logical step is a Web page, and student-athletes are asking why this project can't move forward more quickly.

"A Web site would be so beneficial to us," Niland said. "Then the conference-level or even campus-level SAAC members could click a button and see the minutes, our reports, our e-mail addresses. We have people (on the SAAC) who can put up a Web site in a day. We're not sure what the holdup is."

Division I student-athletes also are working to develop closer relationships with each other.

"We really had a family-like structure before federation, and we're trying to build that in Division I now," Niland said.

To that end, McCoy is collecting competition schedules from student-athletes. "If you can come see somebody compete when they're in your area, you get to see them in a whole new light," Niland said.

While the national Division I SAAC works to keep abreast of pending legislation and make its voice heard, its level of influence is still light years ahead of the influence most Division I SAACs have at the institutional level, Niland said.

"At this point, their influence is probably nonexistent on campus," Niland said. "Typically, most Division I student-athlete advisory committees don't get to comment on issues on their campus."

"There are a few people out there who are listening," McCoy said. "On a lot of campuses, there's still a mentality that these are kids, not young adults working to be adults. We're saying, 'Let us be involved and we'll figure out what's best for us together.'

"Hopefully, the more we speak and the more they listen, the more they will understand that we're truly interested in the welfare of the student-athlete."

Niland emphasized that Division I student-athletes also are seeking to break down the "dumb jock" stereotype. "A good SAAC on a campus breaks down paranoia and opens the lines of communication. It also dispels some of the myth of the dumb jock," she said.

"Half the time that stereotype comes from within the athletics department," Niland said. "By having active SAACs, you learn more about the person, not just the athlete. And, sometimes a student-athlete can bring a unique perspective to a rule."

Niland also said that Division I student-athletes are simply seeking a voice in the process, both on the national level and on their campuses. And, opening lines of communication between students and athletics decision-makers benefits everyone.

"There's a huge difference between being told to do something and being asked to do something," she said. "It doesn't hurt to explain the rationale for a rule."

Niland compares the situation to that of an employer informing employees about the business and getting their "buy in" on issues.

"There's no denying that Division I athletics is a business," Niland said. "Well, you've got to employ business communication strategies to keep people informed."

Division II

Division II student-athletes have fewer issues than their Division I peers when it comes to inclusion, and more issues about how they can maximize their effectiveness. Right now, the Division II SAAC is tackling several topics on the national level, including the issue of who should be eligible to serve as members.

In Division II, 24 student-athletes serve on the national SAAC, with 21 student-athletes representing conferences, one member representing independent institutions and two student-athletes serving at large.

Under current requirements, the student-athlete representative must be enrolled in a Division II institution as a graduate or undergraduate student.

The other divisions permit the representative to be a bit further removed from the active student-athlete life. Other divisions have retained the eligibility rules that existed before restructuring (which allowed student-athletes to serve for up to two years after the completion of their athletics eligibility -- regardless of their enrollment status).

"We're finding that there's a lot of turnover," said Todd Henne, Division II SAAC member from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

"The most important thing for us is continuity. And we're trying to convince the Management Council that not only are former student-athletes still in touch with the issues, but they may have an even better perspective since they're not in the middle of it."

Unlike the other divisions, Division II has no representation on the Management Council, but it has an annual summit at which the entire SAAC meets with the Management Council.

"Ideally, we would like a voting seat, but the summit is a way for our entire committee to meet with the Management Council," Henne said.

"The summit is the centerpiece of the entire framework. We can be in contact with that conference representative throughout the year. We know that that Management Council representative is just a phone call away."

Other key differences: Division II is the only division that has mandated conference-level SAACs, and it is the only division that has a Student-Athlete Involvement Project Team, which is made up of representatives from the Division II SAAC, the Management Council and the Presidents Council.

Division II student-athletes say the conference-level SAACs have enhanced communication and the national SAAC's effectiveness. While not all conferences' SAACs have met yet, most conferences are preparing for spring and fall SAAC meetings.

"Division II has really taken the lead in this area," Henne said. "You can work the issues from the national level down to the institutions from the conferences, and you can work the issues up from the institutions to the conferences and then to the national level. The key to all of that is the conference SAAC."

The Division II Student-Athlete Involvement Project Team also has been useful in enhancing communication between the councils and the SAAC, said SAAC representative and project team member Elizabeth Pelezo from Delta State University.

"We can focus on certain issues in a small group, and we can really take the time to break the issues apart," she said. "(Management and Presidents Council representatives) can see the student-athlete perspective first-hand, and we can find out where they're coming from."

One issue the project team is examining is the role of different committees within Division II. "We're just looking into that," Pelezo said. "We want to see where we can be most effective."

And as for the effectiveness of campus-level SAACs in Division II? "It varies so much," Pelezo said. "Some people have an athletics department that keeps them informed, and some people don't. Right now it's all over the place."

Division III

In Division III, the SAAC already has a voice on the national level. Now it's working to ensure that all institutions in the division have effective campus SAACs. The Division III SAAC is also working to build relationships with other athletics organizations and to establish a Division III student-athlete image.

The Division III SAAC is composed of 24 student-athletes. Four representatives are from each of the four Division III regions, and eight representatives are at-large selections.

In Division III, the SAAC has two student-athletes who are voting members of the Management Council. "They can see where they can have a direct impact on Division III athletics, and they're excited about that," said Division III SAAC liaison Karl P. Hicks, NCAA enforcement representative. "They have a voice, and they can express their concerns, whether they're agreed with or not."

"I think it's great that they give us a chance to give our input," said Brandon Graham of Hope College. "It shows that they really do care about the student-athlete."

SAAC chair Julie Fernandez, from Maryville University of St. Louis, said the Division III student-athletes are grateful that they have votes on the Management Council. And, because it's a new situation, the relationship between the student-athletes and the members of the Council is still growing.

"That is still something where that relationship needs to develop a bit more," Fernandez said. "We need to work on that. Everyone is used to the old process, and we still need people to get used to turning to the student-athlete representatives and asking for their feedback."

Fernandez also noted that the student-athletes are on the Management Council to listen as well as to comment. "While we still need to get that exchange developed more, I think it's a great step and we'll learn a lot," she said.

Graham said that student-athletes on the national SAAC work hard to look out for the welfare of student-athletes, and that their voice represents the ideas and opinions of many others.

"We work to represent everybody equally," he said. "There are so many different sports and so many different issues. We talk to student-athletes and get their opinions. Then we try to articulate those opinions, not just our own."

One of the Division III SAAC's goals this year is helping schools establish and develop active, effective campus SAACs.

In addition to tracking -- and contacting -- institutions that either don't yet have SAACs or have not responded to an inquiry asking about their campus SAAC, the national SAAC is working to serve as a clearinghouse to provide schools with ideas and information about how to put together an effective campus SAAC.

The national SAAC has collected information, including sample agendas, mission statements and activities from campus SAACs throughout Division III. These "models" will be made available to all Division III institutions.

"Another one of our goals is to promote a positive Division III student-athlete image," Fernandez said. "We are looking into perhaps producing a public service announcement, and we're interested in writing articles for the (NCAA) News."

Also, the Division III SAAC is working to develop relationships with Division III representatives in other organizations, such as the Black Coaches Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators.

"It's important, now that we're federated, that we get in touch with Division III officials and let them know that we want to focus on Division III issues," Fernandez said. "We're more effective if we build strong relationships with them so we can understand them better and help educate them about us as well. It makes the whole process go more smoothly."

While student-athletes' level of involvement in Division III athletics decision-making on an institutional level still varies, student-athletes in Division III say they generally enjoy a collegial and open relationship with their athletics department.

"I think for the most part, in talking to Division I and II athletes, that our situation is probably where they want to be," Fernandez said, adding that student-athlete welfare is often a concern in Division III.

"Most of the administration on the Division III level understands that we're students first. My coach used to ask me what was going on in the rest of my life -- not just what went on on the court."