Pacific Lutheran Athletics

Pacific Lutheran University

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee

About SAAC
Board Members
Current Representatives
Meeting Dates
NCAA DIII Home
Contact Information

Message From The President:

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee is an organization that unites athletes and allows them to have a voice within the athletic department. Each sport has representatives so that other athletes can be updated about their season and that we can support our fellow Lutes. As a committee we also organize all athlete events throughout the year so that student-athletes can get to know others outside their sport. Along with these things SAAC also serves to improve things on and off the field for student-athletes. We look at the issues that really affect student-athletes such as improving facilities and student/faculty relations and then make those needs known to the Athletic Department and Student Life. SAAC works to be the face of student-athletes within the rest of the PLU community and links Athletics with other organizations. SAAC not only deals with issues on the PLU campus but also allows student-athletes to have their opinion known about national, regional, and Northwest Conference NCAA Division III legislature. SAAC provides a direct link to our school's Athletic Department and serves as a way to bridge the gap between student-athletes and administration. It also allows student-athletes a voice other than their coach's and can bring up issues related to living on campus that only student-athletes would know about. We are excited about this up coming year of competition as well as the events and programs we have planned. Go Lutes!

Mallory Mueller

SAAC President

What is SAAC?

A Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations, and policies that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses. Presently, there are separate national SAACs for NCAAA Divisions I, II and III. NCAA legislation mandates that all member institutions have SAACs on their respective campuses. Further, NCAA legislation requires that all member conferences have SAACs.

History of SAAC

An Association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention and was formed primarily to review and offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affected student-athlete welfare. The initial national committee was comprised of student-athletes from all membership divisions for the purpose of ensuring that the student-athlete voice was one that accounted for the myriad of educational and athletics experiences of both female and male student-athletes at all NCAA member institutions. In August 1997, the NCAA federated along divisional lines. The federation caused the SAAC to expand to three SAACs representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Each national divisional committee is comprised of both female and male student-athletes charged with the responsibility of assisting in the review of NCAA proposed legislation and representing the voice of the student-athlete in the NCAA governance structure. This is accomplished by providing student-athlete input on issues related to student-athlete welfare that are division specific.

The input of the respective DI, II and III SAACs continues to be sought by a variety of constituencies within the Association. SAAC members have the opportunity to speak with their respective NCAA Management Councils, and the DII and DIII SAACs continue to speak to legislative issues on the NCAA Convention floor.

Purpose of SAAC

The purpose of the SAAC may vary across conferences and institutions. However, the following five points reflect the primary purposes of SAAC and should serve as a guideline when developing the SAAC's strategic plan.

Generate a student-athlete voice within the institution
Solicit student-athlete response to proposed NCAA legislation
Suggest potential NCAA legislation
Organize community service efforts
Create a vehicle for student-athlete representation on campus-wide or conference wide committees

Meeting Dates

(Each team needs to have at least two SAAC representatives at each meeting)

Monday, 9/14/09: Foss Field (Follows Fall Kickoff)
Monday, 9/28/09: Lute Loft
Monday, 10/12/09: Lute Loft
Monday, 10/26/09: Lute Loft
Monday, 11/9/09: Lute Loft
Monday, 11/23/09: Lute Loft
Monday, 12/7/09: Lute Loft

Contact Information:

Jennifer Thomas Assistant Director of Athletics / Senior Woman Administrator 253-535-8109 thomasjl@plu.edu

Current Representatives

Baseball:

Alex Bodenhamer and Eric Weir

Men's Basketball:

Victor Bull and Kyle McTaggart

Womens' Basketball:

Melissa Pixler, Elise Parr, Tracy Goehri, Sara Backstrom

Men's Cross Country

John Phillips

Women's Cross Country