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Meetings: • April 11-12, 2008
PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE
April 13-14, 2007 Doubletree Hotel - San Jose, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by chair, Abby Windell at 7:03 p.m.
1. Approval of minutes of November 10-12, 2006, meeting It was VOTED (20-0) "to approve the minutes of the November 10-12, 2006, meeting." 2. Meeting Schedule Windell reviewed meeting schedule for the SAAC meeting and Student-Athlete Forum. 3. Remarks from the Commissioner Hansen thanked the group of student-athletes for taking the time to participate as a representative from their respective institutions and emphasized the importance of their opinions to institutional and conference administrators. 4. Leadership Lesson Rountree presented a leadership lesson to the SAAC members. discussing the traits a leader posses. Each trait discussed was then elaborated on and related to athletics. 5. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed the materials which provided background information for the Pac-10 SAAC participants. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 list serve. Each person who attended the Pac-10 SAAC meeting would be added to the list serve, and was responsible to monitor it. Any institutional SAAC member was free to subscribe to the Pac-10 list serve. Emphasis was provided about using the list serve as a resource for institutional questions and communicating with the NCAA Pac-10 SAAC representative. Instructions on how to subscribe were included in the meeting materials. Dawson stated that all Pac-10 Conference meetings use Robert's Rules to have orderly discussions during the meeting. The Rules were briefly reviewed. Dawson reviewed the members of the Pac-10 SAAC Advisory Committee, and the Pac-10 staff list, noting that these individuals were available to help any Pac-10 SAAC representative as requested. She also reviewed the list of Pac-10 Council members, and encouraged SAAC members to interact with and get to know the Council members at their institutions. Making note that the decisions made within the Conference are made by Pac-10 Council members. The specific break down of responsibilities for each group of the Pac-10 Council could be found in the supplement. Dawson explained the chart describing the institutional SAAC structure and asked each member to review the chart and e-mail any corrections or changes to Kris Lara at the Pac-10 Office. 6. Review of "Action Item" List from November, 2006 meeting Windell reviewed the list of action items from the November 2006, Pac-10 SAAC meeting. There was a show of hands for each action item indicating which had been completed. The consensus was that SAAC representatives needed to do a better job of completing the action items to make their SAAC representation more effective. 7. NCAA SAAC Report Chappell, the chair of the NCAA Division I SAAC, informed the group of the primary role NCAA SAAC has and its structure. She emphasized it was the voice for all student-athletes and explained the NCAA SAAC has a unique chance to discuss student-athlete issues with members of the Management Council and Board of Directors, as well as speaking on behalf of student-athletes at the NCAA Convention Legislative Forum. She emphasized the importance of each institutional SAAC taking the time to discuss topics effecting student-athletes and legislation, so the NCAA SAAC can represent all student-athletes best. She highlighted the primary discussion topics from the January 2007 NCAA SAAC meeting, including text messaging, social networking sites, male practice players, training tables and meals for all student-athletes, and the new proposed NCAA governance structure. Chappell described the NCAA SAAC newsletter. She planned to send a notice to the Pac-10 SAAC list serve as each issue was published, and encouraged SAAC members to distribute on campus when it was published. Any student-athlete who was interesting in providing an article for consideration to be published in the newsletter or the NCAA News should contact her. Chappell informed the group about a survey the NCAA SAAC devised to get a better understanding of the things institutional SAACs are currently doing in order to determine the best ways to meet their objectives of the strategic plan. She asked for full participation when the survey was distributed. They are also working on improving the NCAA SAAC website and that will be relaunched in the near future. Lastly, she described what the National leadership Conference was and encouraged all those interesting in participating and representing their institutions, to talk with the Life Skills Coordinators on their campus. 8. NCAA SAAC Representative Lara explained that Chappell will finish her term as NCAA SAAC Chair in January 2008 and a replacement needed to be submitted by the Pac-10. She described the role of the NCAA SAAC representative. The term is for two years but if the student-athlete had remaining years of eligibility, they could be re-elected for an additional year. Lara reviewed the nomination process. She reminded the group of the two criteria each applicant had to meet as voted by the Pac-10 SAAC in 2005. If someone is interested in replacing Chappell and meets the two recommendations, they must fill out the nomination form and submit it through a Pac-10 Council member. Once all nominations have been submitted, the Pac-10 Selection Committee will narrow the field to three people. Those three people, ranked by they conference, will them be forwarded to the NCAA SAAC to consideration. An additional application online is required when a person is forwarded on to the NCAA SAAC. Chappell added emphasis on the importance of the essay submitted by each applicant. Lara explained the selection process once an application is forwarded to the NCAA SAAC. The Administrative Subcommittee within NCAA SAAC looks at each application and decides on a representative. All factors are considered by the Admin. Subcommittee including, diversity of sport, ethnicity, GPA, major and gender before a decision is made. She emphasized sharing this information with all institutional SAAC members and encouraged those who were interested to speak with a member of the Pac-10 COuncil at the institution. 9. Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award The SAAC reviewed the applications for the 2007 Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award, then voted and selected male and female winners. Mitch Canham, a baseball student-athlete from Oregon State University, and Jenny Tangtiphaiboontana, a golf student-athlete from Stanford University, were selected. An award was to be presented to the institution on the student's behalf at the Pac-10 Summer Meetings. In addition, the applications were to be forwarded to the NCAA as the Pac-10's nominees for the NCAA Sportsmanship Award. The other nominees were: Krista Foster (basketball; California), Ta'Tyana McElroy (basketball; Oregon State), Maritza Mora (track & field; Arizona), Shay Murphy (basketball; USC), Kelly Ramirez (cross country; Washington State), Courtney Thompson (volleyball; Washington); Men's Gymnastics Team (Stanford), Ryan Kalil (football; USC), Andy Kuharsky (tennis; Washington), Joseph Persichina (baseball; Arizona State), Alex Pribble (basketball; California), Ivan Radenovich (basketball; Arizona) and Simi Reynolds (baseball; Washington State). Each nominee was to receive a certificate. The number of nominees was increased from the previous year, but ideally, every institution should nominate a male and a female for the award. The group was asked about the nomination process at their institutions. A few institutions expressed their SAAC was not involved in the nomination process and others described that coaches or members of institutional SAAC bring nominees and SAAC votes. Chappell suggested creating an institutional list serve as a way to easily communicate about such things as the sportsmanship awards. It was VOTED (20-0) "to add the NCAA SAAC Representative as a voting member on sportsmanship award nominees." 10. Strategic Plan Windell explained how the idea of a Pac-10 SAAC strategic plan began. Chappell outlined the purpose of the NCAA SAAC Strategic Plan, and discussed how it would potentially help the Pac-10 SAAC carry out its objectives. With such a high turnover of representatives, this document would help keep structure and productiveness. Saneholtz reviewed the strategic planning process and facilitated a discussion about possible actions the Pac-10 SAAC could adopt along with budget implications and the party whom would be responsible for carrying out the action. SAAC members used the objectives set forth in the mission statement to generate possible action items. The following are the ideas posed:
Strategic Plan Action Ideas Action Budget Implications Responsible Party Timeline During Rivalry Week, TBD Pac-10 SAAC, institutional work in partnership, SAAC and Administrators on one philanthropical Pac-10 community service idea or each pair decides on their own project. Add a portion to the TBD Pac-10 Staff and others Pac-10 public announcements recapping the community service projects of the previous year. Conduct Pac-10 wide TBD Pac-10 SAAC and institutional SAAC community service project 2 times a year (spring & fall) such as food drives. Create Pac-10 t-shirts TBD Pac-10 Staff ASAP, then yearly to promote Pac-10 pride. T-shirt should carry all institutional logos as well as Pac-10 logo. To be given to all student-athletes. Designate one SAAC N/A Institutional SAAC (Freshman) Appointed yearly representative from each institution to act as liaison between NCAA SAAC and institution. Re-design layout of TBD "In the SAAC." Possibly hire a design team to re-design. Distribute information none Institutional SAAC through social networking sites. Distribute newsletter minimal Institutional SAAC Continuous more effectively by placing hard copies in populated areas. Utilize Pac-10 SAAC none Pac-10 Staff 4 times a year List Serve and update names more often Compile all institutional none Institutional SAAC Beginning of year. outreach programs available and share through list serve. Designate 1 Pac-10 TBD Institutional SAAC, rotating yearly September and January community service event that will occur twice a year, charged by an institutional SAAC. SAAC representatives none Institutional SAAC Ongoing promote SAAC during recruiting visits. Create a sheet of bullet points and accomplishments. Condensed version of none Institutional SAAC Ongoing newsletter with bullet with Administrators points explaining legislation and its current status. Publish an article none Institutional SAAC Ongoing about legislation in institutional newspaper. Compliance director none Institutional SAAC Ongoing meet with one student-athlete from each sport whom will relay important information to team. Dedicate a portion of none Institutional SAAC Ongoing SAAC meeting to work on leadership skills learned from Forum and National Leadership Conference. Devote time for SAAC none Institutional SAAC Ongoing members to talk about issues or upcoming events during team meetings . Have a student-athlete none Institutional SAAC Ongoing representative involved in student government. Members of the Pac-10 Staff were to narrow the list and add it to the November 2007 SAAC meeting agenda, at which time responsibility for items will be appointed. 11. Pac-10 Blog Lara explained the Pac-10 Blog on the Pac-10 website. It was a new addition to the website, featuring Conference student-athletes, with a focus on sports other than football and basketball. The blog has been an article written by a number of student-athletes from different institutions. Lara asked the SAAC members to take this idea back to their institutions to help find individuals interested in writing for the Pac-10 blog. Those who were interested should contact the SID at his/her institution. 12. Selection of Championship Participant Mementos Dawson asked SAAC members for suggestions which would appeal to student-athletes, to be given to all participants at Pac-10 championship events in 2007-08 (other than the basketball tournaments), which the Conference provided. The budget for this item was $30. Suggestions included bean bag travel pillow with Pac-10 logo, nalgene water bottles (narrow mouth) with championship logo, a travel alarm clock, and a fleece blanket with Pac-10 logo. Student-athletes expressed a like for the t-shirts given at each championship, but asked form more small and medium shirts to be ordered rather than larger sizes. Dawson also asked SAAC members for feedback on the mementos presented to the Pac-10 Champions in each sport. Dawson had a display of mementos given the past five years. The consensus was the student-athletes liked to receive something that can be displayed in their homes to show their accomplishments. Previous items have included a pen, a clock, a picture frame, a sterling silver key chain, and a glass bowl. Suggestions included a neutral color frame that can hold multiple pictures, keeping the same frame, but include a mat, place a medallion of the conference seal in the glass bowl, a wooden box with the medallion on top. The student-athletes expressed like for the clock and pen, but felt the key chain was more appropriate as a participant gift. 13. SAAC Campus Corner Lara explained the idea behind the addition of the "SAAC Campus Corner" to the SAAC portion of the Pac-10 website. It was designed to highlight campus activities from each of the 10 institutions. Each month a different institutions would be highlighted. A list of suggested topics for the story was given at the meeting. Dawson explained the rotation. Chappell explained the site would be a good resource for institutional SAAC to get ideas throughout the school year from other Pac-10 institutions. It was suggested to link every institutional SAAC website to the Pac-10 website and to denote the person who is takes notes at each institutional SAAC meeting as the representative who submits the story to Lara. Pac-10 staff will revise the schedule to incorporate quarter and semester institutions. A list of the assigned months is as follow.
Assignment Rotation Month School Due Date Post Date May 2007 Washington State April 20, 2007 May 1, 2007 June 2007 Arizona State May 20, 2007 June 4, 2007 September 2007 Arizona Aug. 20, 2007 Sept. 3, 2007 October 2007 Stanford Sept. 20, 2007 Oct. 2, 2007 November 2007 Oregon State Oct. 20, 2007 Nov. 1, 2007 December 2007 UCLA Nov. 20, 2007 Dec. 1, 2007 January 2008 Washington Dec. 20, 2008 Jan. 2, 2008 February 2008 California Jan. 20, 2008 Feb. 1, 2008 March 2008 Oregon Feb. 20, 2008 Mar. 1, 2008 April 2008 USC Mar. 20, 2008 April 2, 2008 14. Election of Officers Dawson asked SAAC members who were interested in serving as an officer of the Pac-10 SAAC were asked to identify themselves at the meeting. She explained the role of the chair and vice-chair. The elected people were to run the meeting and be the primary contact between the conference office and members of Pac-10 SAAC. She stated they were to be the voice of the Pac-10 SAAC if ever needed. Joey Lucas of Oregon was elected co-chair, and Justin Pollard of California was elected co-vice-chair. Their terms were to end in the spring of 2008. 15. Appointments to Subcommittees SAAC members were asked to identify which subcommittee they wish to serve on by completing a preference form from the meeting. Appointments will be made by the Executive Committee. 16. Pac-10 Leadership Award Windell and Chappell gave an overview of the Pac-10 Leadership Award criteria. The application from for the 2006-07 Pac-10 Leadership Award was in the meeting materials. Attendees were reminded that submission of institutional nominees needed to be coordinated through the SAAC and the life skills coordinator by the July 15 deadline. Discussion arose about the criteria for the Pac-10 Leadership Award. The question was posed if a student-athlete had graduated, but wanted to enter into a continuing education program such as a nursing school, could they still be eligible for the Pac-10 Leadership Award. Choper stated it was a valid point. He was to talk with the other Faculty Athletics Representatives for their opinion. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
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Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Action Item List from Meeting of April 13-14, 2007
1. Meet all Pac-10 Council members at institutions.
2. Review institutional SAAC formats listed in April meeting and advise Kristine Lara of any changes necessary.
3. Talk with institutional SAAC about Pac-10 Blog and identify student-athletes who would be interested in participating in writing for it.
4. Invite compliance staff member to SAAC meetings to discuss legislation and institutional SAAC positions.
5. Talk with institutional SAAC members about possible NCAA SAAC Representative nominees.
6. Discuss Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award nomination process at institution.
7. Review with institutional SAAC, Pac-10 SAAC Campus Corner project and assign a campus representative to be in charge of composing write-up and sending it to Kristine Lara by the assigned date.
8. Talk about Student-Athlete Forum and discuss ways of identifying representatives for the 2008 Student-Athlete Forum. PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE
November 10-12, 2006 Doubletree Hotel - San Jose, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by chair Zinser at 7:05 p.m. 1. Approval of minutes of April 7-8, 2006, meeting It was VOTED (17-0-0-3; ORE w, WSU m/w absent) ??"to approve the minutes of the April 7-8, 2006, meeting." 2. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed the materials which provided background information for the Pac-10 SAAC participants. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 list serve. Each person who attended the Pac-10 SAAC meeting was to be added to the list serve, and was responsible to monitor it. Any institutional SAAC member was free to subscribe to the Pac-10 list serve. Instructions on how to subscribe were included in the meeting materials. Dawson briefly reviewed Robert's Rules of Order, pointing out that all Pac-10 Conference meetings used Robert's Rules to have orderly discussions during the meeting. Dawson also reviewed the members of the Pac-10 SAAC Advisory Committee and the Pac-10 staff list, noting that these individuals were available to help any Pac-10 SAAC representative as requested. She also reviewed the list of the Pac-10 Council members, and encouraged SAAC members to interact with and get to know the Council members at their institutions. 3. Review of "To Do List" from April, 2006 meeting Zinser reviewed the list of action items from the April 2006, Pac-10 SAAC meeting. There was a show of hands for each action item indicating which had been completed. The consensus was that SAAC representatives needed to do a better job of completing the action items to make their SAAC representation more effective. 4. NCAA SAAC Report Chappell, the vice-chair of the NCAA Division I SAAC, informed the group of the primary discussion items from the July, 2006, the NCAA SAAC, including text messaging, social networking sites, and nutritional concerns of student-athletes, including whether student-athletes were using meal money for food, or spending it on other personal items. Chappell noted that a national survey had been administered and the results from that survey prompted the discussion about nutrition. With regard to social networking sites, Chappell urged all SAAC members to be leaders on their respective campuses and be advocates for posting only appropriate content. Chappell also reviewed the role of the national SAAC, and how it served as the voice of all student-athletes across Division I athletics. Additionally, Chappell gave a report about the NCAA's National Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Florida, each year. Leadership skills were the focus of this conference, but each student-athlete participant left with an action plan. SAAC members were encouraged to find out if their institution had a representative at the 2006 Conference, and if so, assist him/her in implementing the action plan developed there. Chappell also reviewed the Regional Leadership Conferences, which focused more on conference-wide issues and promoted unity among institutional and conferences personnel. She noted that Pac-10 institutions would have an opportunity to participate in the West Region Leadership Conference in October of 2008. Chappell urged all SAAC members to read the national SAAC newsletter, and share it with student-athletes at their institutions. The newsletter contained a variety of information about what is going on in the college athletics world from the student-athlete perspective. The newsletter could be accessed on the NCAA website (www.ncaa.org). A notice was be sent to the Pac-10 list serve when a new issue of the newsletter was ready to be downloaded. 5. NCAA Legislation Chappell explained the Division I Legislative process and calendar, highlighting student-athlete opportunities for input into the process. Rountree then led the SAAC members through discussion and voting on a number of 2006 NCAA legislative proposals. SAAC members established positions on the legislation for Chappell to take to the NCAA SAAC meeting, in addition to being communicated to the Pac-10's Management Council representatives. The positions were as follows: 5.1 Amateurism
Would permit an enrolled student-athlete to receive expenses one time from a professional team (or combine) for a tryout.
Would permit a student-athlete to try out for one or more professional teams during the summer and receive tryout expenses from each team.
Would permit an enrolled student-athlete in sports other than football and basketball to enter a professional league's draft remain eligible, and later return to the intercollegiate team.
Would require men's basketball players who enter the draft but wish to return to intercollegiate competition to withdraw from the draft within 30 days after the conclusion of the NCAA championship.
Would prohibit agents from serving as an advisor to student-athletes in any capacity. 5.2 Recruiting
In softball, would prohibit coaches from attending an event involving prospects in which the original schedule required more than three games in a day.
Would eliminate the use of instant messaging and text messaging in recruiting. The consensus of the group was that text messaging was a form of communication between friends and peers and was not a professional method of contacting a recruit. Therefore, the SAAC was in strong support of eliminating it as a recruiting tool.
Would permit IM and text messages, but specify a time frame.??The consensus was that this proposal as written would be impossible to enforce, however text messages needed to be regulated like the other forms of communication. 5.3 Eligibility
Would require student-athletes to pass six units the preceding term to be eligible for NCAA post-season competition between terms.
Would increase the participation limit for a hardship waiver from two contests or 20% to four contests or 40%.
Would require JC transfers who were non-qualifiers to have completed specified number of credits in math and English in order to be immediately eligible at four year institution.
Would prohibit the use of the one-time transfer exception, unless the transfer was from Division III to Division I. 5.4 Financial Aid
Would permit provision of one training table meal per day during the championship season to all athletes without counting it as financial aid. 5.5 Awards, Expenses & Benefits
Would permit walk-ons to eat at training table and pay the same rate as is deducted for the scholarship players, rather than the actual cost of the meal. 5.6 Playing & Practice Seasons
Would eliminate the time frame of September 15-April 15 for out-of-season practice activities that involved more than four students.
Would specify a time frame for individual workouts in baseball.
Would establish nine-three day tournaments or 24 dates of competition as the maximum in golf (the current rule is 24 dates).
Would eliminate the tournament exception and specify that each game counts as one toward the limit of 56 in softball (whereas the current rule permits a team to play up to three games a day in a maximum of 10 tournaments and count each day as one game). 5.7 Miscellaneous
Would permit a conference office to coordinate a sportsmanship initiative which included prospects.
Would requires prospects to complete their core courses by the date of graduation for their high school class.
Would broaden the non-sponsored/discontinued sport exception for transfers.
Would require JC transfers to spend at least one year at the junior college to be immediately eligible when transferring to a four-year institution.
Would permit institutions to provide financial aid to student-athletes selected for an NCAA Degree Completion Award.
Would permit a conference to provide a trophy to its "Athlete of the Year."
Would increase the number of comp tickets a student-athlete could receive for a game at which he/she is being honored from three to four.
Would permit institutions to provide an additional meal (or cash in lieu of the meal) during vacation periods and after the end of the academic year (i.e., during NCAA playoffs).
Would expand the types of national team qualifying events for which an institution could provide expenses to a student-athlete.
Would require a physical before initial participation in any athletic activity, with an annual update thereafter.
Would permit each student-athlete to participate on a foreign tour one time, instead of the once-in-four-years limit by institution. The SAAC members felt that if a student-athlete transferred to a new institution, but had participated in a foreign tour at the previous institution, he/she should be eligible to travel with their new institution on a foreign tour. 5.8 Convention Override Vote Proposal 2005-54
Would permit a student-athlete who has completed his/her undergraduate degree to enroll at another institutions for graduate school and be immediately eligible, regardless of any previous transfer. 6. Pac-10/Cooper Tire Leadership Award The SAAC members selected Darrell Brooks and Anna Chappell, both from University of Arizona as the 2006-06 Pac-10/Cooper Tires Leadership Award winners. Also nominated were Ryan McBride from Arizona State, Brian Callahan from UCLA, Jon Hickey from Washington, Cassidy Farwell From Arizona State, Ashley Chandler from California, Mari Embertson from Oregon State, and Jessica Ferris from Washington. 7. Pac-10 SAAC Website Lara explained the idea behind the addition of the "SAAC Campus Corner" to the SAAC portion of the Pac-10 website. It was designed to highlight campus activities from each of the 10 institutions. Each month a different institution would be highlighted. It was suggested to keep all of the campus highlights on the web page all year long. It was also suggested to allow institutions to submit highlights throughout the year if additional activities were hosted to allow for more recognition. The group decided to start with the "SAAC Campus Corner" and see how well institutions fulfilled their obligation to provide an article. Expansion of the site would be possible for the future.??It was VOTED (17-0-0-3; ASU M/W, WSU W absent) ??"to implement the SAAC Campus Corner on the SAAC portion of the Pac-10 website." 8. Review of Student-Athlete Handbooks
Armstrong led the discussion about the most beneficial contents of the student-athlete handbooks. The following contents were highlighted: It was suggested that the best way to get student-athletes familiar with their student-athlete handbook was at the welcome party or orientation held at the beginning of each school year. 9. NCAA Strategic Plan Chappell outlined the purpose of the Division I SAAC Strategic Plan, and discussed how it was developed and implemented. She raised the idea of the Pac-10 SAAC developing a strategic plan. The Pac-10 SAAC's strategic plan could build from the existing mission statement, which outlined the stated goals of the SAAC. The strategic plan would provide a roadmap for reaching those goals. The item was to be placed on the April 2007 SAAC meeting agenda, at which time the Pac-10 staff would provide more information about the process. 10. Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund A report of the uses of the NCAA's Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund (SAOF) was provided in the meeting materials. SAAC members shared information about uses of the SAOF at their institutions, which ranged from direct grants to every student-athlete, to purchase of computers and equipment available to all students. Institutional SAAC's had varying levels of input into use of the SAOF, highlighted by complete control of the fund at Oregon. Armstrong encouraged the SAAC members talk with their administration about the allocation of the SAOF, and about their desire for input. Dawson suggested that the SAAC compile a list of desired uses, and present that to the the administration as a way to start the dialogue. Funding the SAAC budget was a common use of the SAOF, and could be a starting point for SAAC's seeking more input. Dawson noted that while it was unusual for the SAAC to completely control use of the SAOF, it was reasonable to request some input. 11. Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award Zinser encouraged SAAC members to add discussion about Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award as an agenda item to institutional SAAC meetings, with a goal of generating one male and one female nominee from each institution. Institutions could determine their own methods for identifying the nominees. The deadline to submit nominees was March 31, 2007. It was noted that the 2005-06 Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award winner, Anna Key from California, was selected as the NCAA Division I Sportsmanship Award recipient. This generated positive publicity for the Conference. 12. OSU Operation Santa Johnson and Canham reported on the Operation Santa project which had been organized by OSU SAAC member Kyle Jeffers. This had become the first Conference-wide community service project, and OSU had already received items from most Conference institutions. They thanked everyone for their involvement in the project and reported that this year, more gifts were collected than ever before. A packing party was scheduled on Thursday, November 16, and the gifts would then be sent to U.S. Marines in Iraq. 13. Diversity Leadership Initiative Review Committee The Conference had established the Diversity Leadership Initiative Review Committee to study how best to increase the number of qualified minorities and female administrators and coaches in college athletics. A student-athlete member was desired for the Committee. Elizabeth Lumpkin, Simi Reynolds, Bojana Bobusic, Rachel Gavin, and Louis Maturo expressed interest in serving on the Committee. (Note: Lumpkin and Reynolds were later appointed by the Pac-10 Nominating Committee). ??Dawson noted that diversity and gender equity plans were a required part of the NCAA Certification process, which each institution underwent on a periodic basis. The student-athletes from Arizona discussed the experience of going through the certification process last year. It was recommended that SAAC members ask to review the last NCAA Certification documents from their institutions to better understand the structure, goals and plans of the athletic department. 14. Election of Officers SAAC members who were interested in serving as a officer of the Pac-10 SAAC were asked to identify themselves at the meeting. Simi Reynolds of Washington State was elected co-chair, and Elizabeth Lumpkin of UCLA was elected co-vice chair. Their terms were to end in the fall of 2007. 15. Appointments of Subcommittees SAAC members were asked to identify which subcommittees they wish to serve on by completing a preference form from the meeting. Appointments will be made by the Executive Committee. 16. 2006-07 Student-Athlete Forum The 2006-07 Student-Athlete Forum was to be held April 14-15, 2007. The format of the meeting called for small group discussions on Saturday, followed by a presentation on leadership on Sunday by Felicia Hall-Allen. Armstrong also gave a brief description of the DISC assessment she was to present at the spring SAAC meeting, which would give the participants a better understanding of their leadership style. Topics of interest for the small group discussion topics which were generated included social networking websites, how to deal with the media, how to deal with injured student-athletes, sharing ideas about how to re-energize SAAC members for new programs, student-athlete and coach relationships, how to promote a positive public image, and different communication styles.??Dawson asked for suggestions for mementos which would appeal to student-athletes given to all participants at the Student-Athlete Forum. The suggestions included a jump drive, and alarm clock, a Nalgene water bottle, a polo shirt with the Student-Athlete Forum logo, and a t-shirt with the Pac-10 logo and the logos of all 10 institutions. 17. Championship Mementos Suggestions for mementos which would appeal to student-athletes, to be given to all participants at Pac-10 championship events in 2007-08 (other than the basketball tournaments), included a plaque, a watch with the Pac-10 logo, a key chain with the championship logo, an iPod cover with the Pac-10 logo, bean bag travel pillow with the Pac-10 logo, and a beanie with the championship logo. 18. Pac-10 Blog The Conference intended to implement a Pac-10 blog on the Pac-10 website. The purpose was to have a section of the Pac-10 website written by Conference student-athletes, with a focus on sports other than football and basketball. The blog was to be a single article written by a number of student-athletes from different institutions. The consensus was that most all of the student-athletes were very interested in participating in such a project. Lara asked the SAAC members to take this idea back to their institutions to help find individuals interested in writing for the Pac-10 blog. Those who were interested should contact the SID at his/her institution. The meeting was adjourned at 1:17 p.m.
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Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Action Item List from Meeting of November 10-12. 2006 1. Review institutional SAAC formant listed in the November meeting and advise Kristine Lara of any changes necessary. 2. Review with institutional SAAC Pac-10 SAAC Campus Corner project and assign a campus representative to be in charge of composing write-up and sending it to Kristine Lara by the assigned date. 3. Download and distribute NCAA SAAC newsletter when published. 4. Talk about Sportsmanship Award and devise a plan to identify institutional nominees for 2006-2007. 5. Talk with institutional SAAC about Pac-10 Blog and identify student-athletes who would be interested in participating and writing for it.
PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE
April 7-8, 2006 SFO Westin - San Francisco, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by Chris Dawson at 7:05 p.m. The chair, Anna Chappell, arrived at approximately 7:30 p.m. due to travel delays.
1. Approval of minutes of November 4-6, 2005, meeting It was VOTED (15-0-0-5, USC M/W, ARIZ M/W, STAN M absent) "to approve the minutes of the November 4-6, 2005, meeting." 2. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed the materials which provided background information for the Pac-10 SAAC participants. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 list serve. Each person who attended the Pac-10 SAAC meeting would be added to the list serve, and was responsible to monitor it. Any institutional SAAC member was free to subscribe to the Pac-10 list serve. Instructions on how to subscribe were included in the meeting materials. Dawson stated that all Pac-10 Conference meetings use Robert's Rules to have orderly discussions during the meeting. The Rules were briefly reviewed. Dawson reviewed the members of the Pac-10 SAAC Advisory Committee, and the Pac-10 staff list, noting that these individuals were available to help any Pac-10 SAAC representative as requested. She also reviewed the list of Pac-10 Council members, and encouraged SAAC members to interact with and get to know the Council members at their institutions. 3. NCAA SAAC Report Chappell,who had been elected vice-chair of the NCAA SAAC, reported on the NCAA SAAC activities. She sought input on the use of text messaging on cellular phones, and posed the question, should the NCAA regulate the number of texts sent to recruits?. Chappell reported that this was a very big recruiting issue. It was permissible under NCAA rules for coaches to send unlimited text messages to recruits. This may create an undue burden for coaches as well as recruits who felt pressured to constantly engage in this activity. It was stated that some recruits may feel uncomfortable receiving constant text messages from coaches, and that there was a cost involved in receiving messages. In addition, some coaches send a text message to recruits and have the recruit call them back, so it doesn't count as the permissible weekly phone call. The consensus of the group was that there as there was no limit on the permissible number of e-mails, there should not be a limit on text messages sent. In addition, it was suggested that it would be extremely difficult for compliance to track text messages, if some controls were instituted, since phone bills lack detail on the messages. One suggestion was made to propose legislation that says if a recruit does not return a coach's text message, the coach must cease messaging that recruit. It was VOTED 13-3-3-1 (ASU W, USC W, ORE M opposed; ASU M, CAL W, WASH W abstain, STAN M absent) "to recommend that there be a limit on the number of text messages and e-mails sent to recruits per month." Chappell was to take that information back to the NCAA SAAC discussion. Chappell described the NCAA SAAC newsletter. She planned to send a notice to the Pac-10 SAAC list serve as each issue was published, and encouraged SAAC members to distribute on campus when it was published. Any student-athlete who was interesting in providing an article for consideration to be published in the newsletter should contact her. The November Pac-10 SAAC meeting was to include a review of NCAA legislative proposals. Because of the extremely large number of proposals, not all are discussed. The Conference office identifies the proposals that directly affect student-athletes. Chappell urged anyone who wished to discuss a particular proposal to advise the Conference office to make sure it was included on the list. 4. Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award The SAAC reviewed the applications for the 2006 Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award, then voted and selected male and female winners. Eric Nygard, a track and field athlete from Washington State University, and Anna Key, a soccer player from the University of California, were selected. An award was to be presented to the institution on the student's behalf at the Pac-10 Summer Meetings. In addition, the applications were to be forwarded to the NCAA as the Pac-10's nominees for the NCAA Sportsmanship Award. The other nominees were: Kate Benz (basketball; Washington State), Anna Chappell (basketball; Arizona); Lindsay Draper (swimming and diving; USC); Josie Hancock (gymnastics; Arizona State); Courtney Thompson (volleyball; Washington); Simon Burnett (swimming; Arizona); Matt Leinart (football; USC); James Lepp (golf; Washington); Scott Smith (football; California) and Cain Valasquez (wrestling; Arizona State). Each nominee was to receive a certificate. The number of nominees was increased from the previous year, but ideally, every institution should nominate a male and a female for the award. The group was asked to strategize about how to obtain male and female nominees on each campus. The institutions which did submit nominations in 2005-06 discussed the process they used to select their nominees. One method which involved all teams was to have each team nominate one person for this award, and then have the campus SAAC would vote to select the institutional nominees. The Conference staff was also asked to have the information about the Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award be relayed more thoroughly to people on campus in a timely way. Dawson stated the information was sent to the life skills coordinators as well as to the Council. SAAC members were also notified via the list serve of the nomination process and upcoming deadlines. The attendees at the November Pac-10 SAAC meeting also usually had this as an action item from their meeting. 5. Student-Athlete Code of Conduct The group was was asked if their athletic department had a student-athlete code of conduct. Four schools reported that their athletic departments had a student-athlete code of conduct (WASH, ORE, ASU, OSU). The other six schools used the university's code of conduct. The schools that had a student-athlete code of conduct reported that this code was distributed in their student-athlete planners. Along with the student-athlete and university code of conducts, the group reported having sport specific team rules. Some coaches made student-athletes sign-off on the fact that they had read the rules and would abide by them. It was VOTED 15-0-1-5 (ORE M abstain, USC M/W, ARIZ M/W/W absent) "to recommend that each SAAC review its campus code of conduct, and discuss whether a student-athlete code of conduct is desirable, if one does not already exist. If a student-athlete code of conduct does exist, it should be reviewed with every student-athlete." A discussion about the current events taking place at Duke, Colorado and Chico State arose. The question of whether student-athletes should be held to a higher standard was brought up. The group thought that since student-athletes are more recognizable and that they represent not only themselves, but their universities as well, they should be held to a higher standard. The group suggested that codes of conduct don't strongly influence behavior, but student-athletes need to be accountable to their teams, coaches and universities. The idea of using the SAAC to make the code of conduct more important to student-athletes was raised. The group acknowledged that peer-to-peer communication of the code of conduct and behavioral expectations would be more effective than just distributing written information or presentations by administrators. The group suggested after doing this, that the athletic administration enforce the code as well. The group suggested having lectures touching on major issues relating to the code of conduct which include alcohol, sexual harassment, gambling, financial planning, etc. Another suggestion was to have a coach from each team discuss current events happening in athletics that could both positively and negatively affect a team. There was no support for creating a Conference-wide student-athlete code of conduct. 6. Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Survey The NCAA Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee conducted a survey which attempted to gauge the sportsmanship expectations of presidents, athletic directors, sports administrators, coaches, faculty athletics representatives and student-athlete advisory committees. The survey was to provide guidance and best practices at a Sportsmanship Summit scheduled for June 23, 2007, at the NACDA Convention. The SAAC was asked to complete, and have student-athletes at their institutions complete, the survey if they had not yet done so. It was suggested that SAAC members send the web address to every student-athlete at their respective institutions. No institutions had a sportsmanship or ethical conduct policy of their own. It was suggested that the Pac-10 sportsmanship policy (CER 5-1 in the Pac-10 Handbook) be given greater visibility within the Conference. 7. Policies on Social Networking and Internet Sites Websites such as Facebook.com and myspace.com have become quite popular with student-athletes. It was stressed to the SAAC that these websites are not private, and anyone with a .edu e-mail address can access facebook, including coaches and administrators, alumni, or future employers. Screens can also be captured and sent via-email to anyone. Positive aspects of the sites included networking, finding old friends, communicating with teammates, and learning about students in study groups. The sites have also been used to research recruits, which some teams have found useful. Negative aspects which were identified included having information or photos which reflected negatively on an individual or team, problems with stalkers, safety issues as a result of giving out too much personal information. Although the SAAC did not favor banning the use of the sites, the importance of making good decisions about what was posted was stressed. For example, photos that show drinking or other illegal behavior may cause repercussions, ranging from team sanctions to diminished employment opportunities. Personal information may also be used to harass or stalk users. SAAC members were to educate their constituents about these issues as an action item from the meeting. 8. Selection of Championship Memento SAAC members were asked for assistance in selecting the memento which the Conference provided to members of teams which win Pac-10 championships. The budget for this item was $30. Previous items have included a pen, a clock, a picture frame, and a sterling silver key chain. Suggestions included a toiletry bag, towel, robe, wall clock, back pack, drinking glass set and a jump drive. 9. Selection of Participant Memento In 2005-06, for the first time, all student-athletes who participated in Pac-10 championships (with the exception of the basketball tournaments) received the same participant memento, a messenger bag. The feedback about the bag from the group was that some of the teams liked the bag and others thought it was too big. Recommendations for the 2006-07 participant memento included a towel, robe, engraved photo album, director's chair, stool, and portfolio. The budget for this item was $30. 10. Participation Numbers Strange described the chart provided as a supplement in the meeting materials which showed the participation data for Pac-10 institutions. The data was drawn from the 2004-05 Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act report, a federally required annual report on institutional athletics programs. The chart broke down the percentage of male student-athletes, percentage of female student-athletes, and the total student body by gender, and compared them. The purpose of this chart was to identify which institutions in the Conference provided intercollegiate level of participation opportunities for male and female students in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments. Oregon State, Stanford, Washington and Washington State appeared to be the institutions which satisfied the proportionality prong of the test for participation opportunities as outlined in Title IX guidelines. The difficulty of achieving proportionality when an institution sponsored football was noted. Some SAAC members advocated eliminating football from Title IX analysis., because there was no women's sport with equivalent participation numbers. Others believed football should be included because every student-athlete should be counted, regardless of which sport the person competed in. Dawson reviewed the Title IX regulations, which do not make an exception for football. The Department of Education, the federal agency responsible for enforcing Title IX regulations,proposed permitting interest in participation to be measured by an e-mail survey. Non-response to the survey would be interpreted as a lack of interest. Rivera discussed the need for more research done to measure interest in participating in intercollegiate athletics on campus, especially for women. The SAAC did not believe such a survey would be an effective way of measuring interest. 11. Election of Officers SAAC members who were interested in serving as an officer of the Pac-10 SAAC were asked to identify themselves at the meeting. Abby Windell of Oregon State was elected co-chair, and Whitney Myers of Arizona was elected co-vice chair . Their terms were to end in the spring of 2007. 12. Appointments to Subcommittees SAAC members were asked to identify which subcommittees they wish to serve on by completing a preference form from the meeting. Appointments will be made by the Executive Committee. 13. Cooper Tire/Pac-10 Leadership Award Smith gave an overview of the Cooper Tire/Leadership Award criteria. The application form for the 2005-06 Cooper Tire/Leadership Award was in the meeting materials. Attendees were reminded that submission of institutional nominees needed to be coordinated through the SAAC and the life skills advisor by the July 15 deadline. 14. Re-Use-a-Shoe Program Jeffers described the Re-Use-a-Shoe Program his institution (Oregon State) implemented. Used tennis shoes are collected and then taken to a recycling center. Nike then recycles the shoes and builds play surfaces for hospitals, tracks, play parks, etc. Jeffers suggested having teams on every campus do this. Another suggestion that came out of this discussion was to send gently used tennis shoes to other countries. It was noted NCAA regulations relating to equipment needed to be followed in such programs. 15. Review of Action List from November, 2005, Meeting Chappell reviewed the list of action items from the November 2005 meeting. The consensus was that SAAC representatives needed to do a better job of completing the action items to make their SAAC representation more effective. A suggestion was made to e-mail the action items list to the SAAC list serve. In addition, a message board on the Pac-10 website directly related to SAAC ideas and issues was suggested. The meeting was adjourned at 9:52 a.m.
njs Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Action Item List from Meeting of April 7-8, 2006 1. Review institutional SAAC format listed in the April meeting materials and advise Nicole Strange of any changes necessary. 2. Review institutional code of conduct. If there is no separate student-athlete code of conduct, determine if one would be appropriate. If separate student-athlete code of conduct already exists, review it. In addition, find out how the student-athlete code of conduct was developed and what the avenues would be to suggest changes or additions. 3. Complete NCAA Sportsmanship survey on-line by April 28th. The URL is http://web1.ncaa.org/surveys/sportsmanship_survey.html. 4. Download and distribute NCAA SAAC newsletter when published.. 5. Have administration give presentation on APR to SAAC if it was not done previously. 6. Talk about Sportsmanship Award and devise a plan to identify institutional nominees for 2006-07. 7. Bring student-athlete handbook to November meeting. 8. Have student-athletes (SAAC members or others) talk to teams about issues associated with Facebook.
PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE
November 4-6, 2005 Doubletree Hotel San Jose, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by co-chairs Jake Arnold and Lindsay Oman at 7:02 p.m.
1. Approval of Minutes of April 15-17, 2005, Meeting It was VOTED (18-0-0-2, ORE W, WSU M absent) "to approve the minutes of the April 15-17, 2005, meeting." 2. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed the Pac-10 SAAC outline, subcommittee information, the list serve and website, Robert's Rules of Order, and the institutional and Conference staff lists. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 list serve. Those attending the meeting would be added to the list serve, and were asked to monitor the information. The list serve was useful to open the lines of communication between institutions. Anna Chappell, the Pac-10's NCAA SAAC representative, planned to use the list serve to obtain information when needed from Conference student-athletes. 3. Review of Action List from April, 2005, Meeting Dawson reviewed the list of action items from the April, 2005, Pac-10 SAAC meeting. There was a show of hands for each action item indicating which had been completed. The consensus of the group was that SAAC members had done a better job after the April meeting of getting the information out and completing the action items than previously. This should help institutional SAAC's be more effective on campus. 4. NCAA SAAC Report As the Pac-10's national SAAC representative, Chappell informed the group of what was discussed at the NCAA SAAC meeting in July. This included an overview of the Academic Progress Rate (APR), hardship waiver qualifications, ways for student-athletes to deal with the media, and a sports wagering task force that was in place to provide education on campus. The wagering task force was sending out blue wrist bands to each campus that read "Don't Bet on It", which were to be distributed to the student-athletes. It was also anticipated that there would be revised compliance forms related to sports wagering that every student-athlete would have to sign. Other issues covered included the national SAAC's strategic plan, and the amateurism clearinghouse. In addition, the SAAC viewed a film about Title IX which was made by a student-athlete at Arizona. Chappell urged all SAAC members to read the national SAAC newsletter, and share it with student-athletes at their institutions. The newsletter contained a variety of information about what is going on in the college athletics world from the student-athlete perspective. The newsletter could be accessed on the NCAA website (www.ncaa.org), and a notice was to be sent to the Pac-10 list serve when a new issue of the newsletter was ready to be downloaded. As the NCAA's SAAC representative on the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA), Chappell attended the CWA July meeting. The issue of male practice players on women's teams was a significant item of discussion, as was the need to equalize the way sports and events were labeled because of the way such labeling can diminish perceived importance. For example, calling the NCAA men's basketball championship "the Final Four" but adding the qualifier of "Women's" for the women's championship (i.e., "Women's Final Four") implies the men's tournament is the "real" tournament. Chappell also reported that the CWA changed the Woman of the Year Award nomination system from state-based to conference-based. Commissioner Hansen told the group that the NCAA has established committees of elite football and basketball student-athletes which work with the NCAA SAAC. Three of the 15 student-athletes on these committees were from the Pac-10: Donnie McClesky, California, football; Jordan Kent, Oregon, men's basketball; and Kayla Burt, Washington, women's basketball. 5. NCAA Legislation Smith reviewed the Division I legislative process and the legislative calendar. SAAC members discussed selected proposals and established positions which were communicated to the Pac-10's Management Council representatives. The positions were as follows:
Proposal (2005-111) would prohibit use of the one-time transfer exception in the sport of baseball, making it similar to basketball, football, and men's ice hockey. A major concern in baseball was the informal recruiting of active collegiate players which occurred in the summer leagues. In addition, because baseball players often leave after their junior year for professional baseball, a team's APR was negatively affected. Requiring transfers to serve a year in residence would limit transfers. Still, SAAC representatives did not support limiting transfer opportunities for baseball players because there are many different factors affecting a student-athlete's decision to transfer.
These proposals would change in various ways the time limits on required athletically-related activities outside the playing and practice season, which were limited to eight hours per week, two of which may be skill instruction with no more than four student-athletes participating. In 2005-06, the rules changed in basketball, permitting more students and a longer time period for skill instruction. SAAC members favored sport-specific practice rules, which best suited the training needs of the sport. In general, the group desired four hours of skill instruction per week with unlimited numbers of students, yet a strong desire was expressed for individual work as well as team practice time during the four hours. It was clear that many athletes did not wish to sacrifice one-on-one instruction for team practice, even while recognizing the value of building team camaraderie.
SAAC members agreed that something should be done to equalize the effects of weather on the baseball playing and practice season which puts northern institutions at a disadvantage. They endorsed start dates for practice and competition to address this. While some favored reducing the number of games from 56 to 52 because of the amount of missed class time which would result from playing 56 games in 13 weeks (an average of more than four per week), an equal number wanted the number to remain the same. The SAAC agreed that college sports should always remain in the academic year time frame.
In general, SAAC members opposed changes to NCAA rules which would further restrict the use of a student-athlete's name or likeness, as long as the student-athlete consented and any funds raised benefited institutional, charitable, or educational activities. A concern was stated about a direct link of the student-athlete to a corporate sponsor, which was seen as an element of 2005-26. They also opposed proposal 2005-99, would permit institutions to designate a third party to sell photographs of student-athletes in a manner similar to the sale of highlight films and media guides. They did not believe a third party should benefit financially from student-athletes' reputations.
SAAC members opposed restricting permissible medical expenses (including surgical expenses, medication, rehabilitation, physical therapy and dental) to athletically-related injuries or illnesses that occur during the academic year or summer. Recognizing that unlimited medical care was very expensive for institutions, they preferred a system where the medical staff could make decisions about care. A concern was stated about coaches potentially affecting decisions about medical care. It was pointed out that the SAOF could be used to supplement payments for medical expenses, if other budget funds were unavailable.
While recognizing the enormous cost implications for institutions, the SAAC favored permitting institutions to purchase general medical insurance. They agreed that if institutions were able to purchase general medical insurance, it would be very likely that families would rely on that insurance rather than covering the student under family insurance.
The SAAC did not believe football should be different from every other sport in the area of seasons of competition, with football players able to have five seasons of eligibility and all other student-athletes only four. Thus, this was unanimously opposed.
This proposal would permit prospects who have signed an NLI to be employed at an institution's summer camp the summer prior to enrollment. The group agreed that this would allow incoming freshman the opportunity to work camps and get paid to do so, while also being able to build chemistry with their teammates. It was noted that incoming freshmen could work elsewhere at jobs arranged by the athletics department, so it made sense to allow them to work institutional camps.
This proposal, which was previously reviewed by the SAAC, would modify playing and practice seasons in various sports. SAAC members continued to oppose changes which would reduce opportunities for competition. The main concern was about practicing four months out of the year without having a game. 6. Pac-10 Cooper Tire/Leadership Award The SAAC selected Emerson Ward of Arizona State and Molly Seaman of Washington as the 2004-05 winners of the Cooper Tire/Pac-10 Leadership Award. The group discussed the requirement that Cooper Tire Leadership Award nominees have two years of institutional SAAC service. Because of the way SAAC members were selected at some institutions, student-athletes may not have the opportunity to serve two years, yet they would otherwise be excellent candidates for the award. It was VOTED (17-2-0-1, ASU M, OSU W opposed, WSU M absent) to reduce the requirement for SAAC service to one year. 7. Academic Performance Program Rivera explained the NCAA Academic Performance Program and Academic Performance Rate in depth. The following points were made:
It was stated that one outcome of the Academic Performance Program was expected to be that coaches would focus more on the academic performance of student-athletes they were recruiting, and the ones to whom aid was being awarded. Fewer than half of the student-athletes in attendance had been briefed on the APR and related issues. It was seen as an important item to discuss at member institutions because of the potential it had to negatively affect teams, and the negative publicity which was generated when the APR data with low scores was released. Having institutional administrators brief their SAAC (and all student-athletes) on the APR was identified as an action item. The student-athletes agreed that having the APR generated discussion on the academic performance of student-athletes, and may help establish a culture on teams where academics were emphasized. It also made student-athletes focus on the fact that they need to be academically eligible for every term whether they are competing during that term or not. Rivera also mentioned that the NCAA has established a monetary incentive program to reward teams which perform at a high level, the details of which were not yet established. 8. Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund SAAC representatives reported on how their institutions planned on using the SAOF in 2005-06. A majority planned to use some of the money to pay for expanding academic support services. This included paying for summer school, upgrading learning centers with new computers and printers, and giving out zip drives, academic planners, notebooks and backpacks. Most of the schools reported that the SAOF funded some sort of welcome back event for all athletes where food was served. A majority of the schools also reported creating special game-day t-shirts for student-athletes to wear during specified home contests. Many institutional SAAC's had a budget which came from SAOF funds. Several institutions provided vouchers for types of items which were permissible uses of the funds, such as educational supplies or travel. It was noted that stipends per se (i.e., a check for $100 per student) were not permissible. Most institutions required receipts for items purchased by individuals. Other reported uses included funding for funerals, or student-athletes attending funerals of family members, as well as transportation for seniors' parents to attend awards banquets. The SAAC discussed the possibility of spending the SAOF in ways that would help build camaraderie with non-athletes by having events like a Greek and athlete exchange, having a wacky Olympics for athletes and non-athletes together, or meals with non-athletes. Long reminded the group that the SAOF was to be spent on educational expenses and fees, health and safety expenses, personal and family expenses and institutional academic or programming enhancements. It was noted that sharing information about SAOF expenditures at previous Pac-10 SAAC meetings had been helpful when SAAC members returned to campus and sought input on SAOF spending. Finding out who on campus was the decision-maker for the SAOF and how decisions were made to spend the fund was identified as an action item. 9. Title IX The SAAC discussed the participation opportunities aspect of Title IX, in light of the "clarification" issued by the Office for Civil Rights in March of 2005. That clarification changed the way in which compliance with Prong 3 of the three-part test for evaluating participation opportunities (effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented gender) may be measured. The clarification would permit the use of an e-mail survey to measure interest, and a lack of response to the e-mail could be interpreted as a lack of interest in participation. This proved to be controversial. Dawson described how equitable participation opportunities are measured in complying with Title IX. An institution has to satisfy one of the three prongs which may be used: having the student-athlete population be substantially proportional to the undergraduate student population; having a history of continued expansion of opportunities for the underrepresented gender; or demonstrating that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented gender have been met. She cited the requirement to provide participation opportunities as the reason that the numbers of female athletes has increased so dramatically since the 1970's on both the high school and college levels. Some SAAC members stated that Title IX had caused the elimination of men's sports, when schools were trying to reach compliance with participation opportunities. The fact that there was no women's sport that had as many participants as football unfairly skewed the numbers, in their view. The revenue production (and consumption) of football was also a factor in team sponsorship and other Title IX compliance areas. Dawson pointed out that Title IX laws require comparison between male and female athletes as a group, not separated out by sport, regardless of the effect any individual sport might have. The group eventually agreed that the goal of Title IX was not to drop men's sports, so institutions should focus on means of complying with Title IX other than eliminating men's teams. 10. 2005-06 Student-Athlete Forum The 2005-06 Student-Athlete Forum was to be held April 8-9, 2006. The format of the meeting calls for small group discussions on Saturday, followed by a presentation on Sunday. Sports psychologist Dr. Joel Fish was to present a seminar on leadership. The group came up with topics of interest for the small group discussion topics which included the SAAC structure, student-athlete and regular student relationships, relationships between student-athletes and faculty, how to recruit for SAAC, leadership development, marketing non-revenue sports, unity between teams on campus, community service, budget, MRSA bacteria, programs sponsored by SAAC and Title IX. 11. Election of Officers & Appointments to Subcommittees SAAC representatives completed a subcommittee preference form. Since the meeting was past its scheduled end time, voting for the executive committees was to be done via email. (Note: No voting was required. Jason Zinser of UCLA was identified as the co-chair for 2005-06. The other subcommittee appointments were to be done by the executive committee). 12. Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts A summary of some of the actions of Pac-10 institutions relative to hurricane Katrina relief efforts was reviewed. The group was asked for any additional actions that could be performed by the Pac-10 SAAC. The suggestions included sending SAAC members to New Orleans during spring break to work with Habitat for Humanity, collecting donations at championships for the Red Cross, and increasing ticket prices at Pac-10 championships by one dollar and donate the proceeds to a relief effort. Another suggestion was to participate in the NCAA's Habitat for Humanity effort and raise $75,000 to buy a "house-in-a-box" to be built by SAAC members. No action was planned by the Conference SAAC, but individual SAAC's were encouraged to consider these activities on their own campus. 13. 2006-07 Championship Mementos Dawson asked for suggestions for mementos which would appeal to student-athletes which would be given to all participants at Pac-10 championship events in 2006-07. The suggestions included a toiletry bag and a mug. Dawson also asked for suggestions for mementos which would appeal to student-athletes which would be given to the members of the championship teams in all Pac-10 sports in 2006-07 (except basketball). The suggestions included a watch, luggage tag, travel lunch bag, sunglasses case, t-shirt and a silver ball which is inscribed with the Pac-10 championship logo. 14. Student-Athlete Lounges Because rule interpretations from the Pac-10 compliance office banned the provision of entertainment items like video games and pool tables in student-athlete lounges, the topic of what was appropriate for student-athlete lounges was discussed. A majority of the group thought student-athlete lounges were good for escape from the regular students, and a place to build camaraderie with other student-athletes and teams. Since they were not allowed to congregate and talk in the training room or study hall, student-athletes needed a place to go between classes or practice if they wished. The lounges were seen as particularly useful if the institution's athletics facilities were spread around the campus, rather than being concentrated in one location. The suggestions for what was necessary included couches, a television, tables and chairs and a microwave and a refrigerator. Having computers also was suggested, although the amount of work which would really get done in the lounge was debatable. Smith explained that the extra benefit rule which prevented student-athletes from having a benefit which other general students do not was the basis for excluding video games and the like. She stated that if such amenities were readily available free of charge to other students (in dorms or the student union, for example), then it would be permissible to have them in the student-athlete lounges. Otherwise, they could not be provided. However, student-athletes were free to bring their own video games and hook them up to the televisions. 15. SAAC Codes of Conduct UCLA, USC and Oregon brought drafts of their SAAC code of conduct to the meeting and described them. All of the codes of conduct discussed included general statements and principles about behavior at sporting events as well as other events sponsored by SAAC. The purpose of the codes was to get student-athletes to think about how they represented their institutions, athletic departments, their teams, and themselves. It was stated that codes of conduct at sporting events should also apply to other students and members of the Greek system, since it was not only student-athletes who exhibited poor sportsmanship. Each institution was to develop an institutional SAAC code of conduct and bring it to the April, 2006, Pac-10 SAAC meeting. After they were reviewed, the SAAC was to discuss whether there should be a general Pac-10 SAAC code of conduct. The meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m. njs 11/23/05 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Action-Item List from Meeting of November 4-6, 2005 1. Download and distribute NCAA SAAC newsletter when published. 2. Have administration give presentation on APR to the SAAC. 3. Find out who on campus is the decision-maker for the SAOF and how decisions are made to spend the fund. 4. E-mail your SAAC profile - the budget and structure of your SAAC, as well as the number of student-athletes at your institution, to Nicole Strange at the Pac-10 office. 5. Work to raise awareness of the NCAA Sportsmanship Award and submit one male and one female nominee by the March 31 deadline. 6. Bring your SAAC code of conduct to the next Pac-10 SAAC meeting. Include the student-athlete general program code of conduct, and the SAAC code for sponsored events.
PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE
April 15-17, 2005 Doubletree Hotel San Jose, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by co-vice chair Lauren Westendorf at 7:03 p.m.
1. Approval of minutes of November 5-7, 2005, meeting It was VOTED (18-0-0-2, OSU M/W absent) "to approve the minutes of the November 5-7, 2005 meeting." 2. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed the materials which provided background information for the Pac-10 SAAC participants. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 list serve. Student-athletes were encouraged to sign up for the Pac-10 list serve so the form of communication within the Conference would be easier. At least one member of each institutional SAAC should subscribe to the list serve and monitor it. Instructions on how to sign up were included in the meeting materials. Dawson stated that all Pac-10 Conference meetings use Robert's Rules to have orderly discussions during the meeting. The Rules were briefly reviewed. She reviewed the members of the Pac-10 SAAC Advisory Committee, and the Pac-10 staff list, noting that these individuals were available to help any Pac-10 SAAC representative as requested. She also reviewed the list of Pac-10 Council members, and encouraged SAAC members to interact with Council members at their institutions. 3. Review of Action List from November, 2004, Meeting Starting with the November, 2004, Pac-10 SAAC meeting, a list of action items for the attendees was developed. This was an effort to ensure that information provided at the meeting reached students back on campus. Westendorf reviewed the list of action items from the November 2004 meeting. There was a show of hands for each action item indicating which had been completed. The consensus was that SAAC reps needed to do a better job of completing the action items to make their SAAC representation more effective. 4. Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award The SAAC reviewed the applications for the 2005 Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award, then voted and selected male and female winners. Cara Chlebicki, a water polo player from the University of California, and Channing Frye, a basketball player from the University of Arizona, were selected. An award was to be presented to the institution on the student's behalf at the Pac-10 Summer Meetings. In addition, the applications were to be forwarded to the NCAA as the Pac-10's nominees for the NCAA Sportsmanship Award. The other nominees were: Betsy Boardman (basketball; Arizona State), Tamara Diles (track and field; Washington State); Bre Ladd (volleyball; Arizona); Lorenzo Alexander (football; California) and Mkristo Bruce (football; Washington State). Each nominee was to receive a certificate. Ideally, every institution would nominate a male and a female for this award. Dawson asked the SAAC what could be done to increase the number of nominations. Since some of the SAAC members in attendance were unfamiliar with the award, Dawson reviewed the notification/application process. The Conference office sent to the Life Skills Coordinator and Pac-10 Council members information about the award, a copy of the application, and pertinent procedures and deadlines. It was up to each institution to decide how its nominee would be selected. Those institutions which did nominate individuals used different methods. In some instances, the nominee was selected by administrators without the input of the SAAC. One effective method, used at WSU, was to have each team nominate one person, and then the institutional SAAC selected the nominees. Another method was to have SAAC members nominate people, and then try to get the paperwork completed. For some institutions, the paperwork proved to be an obstacle. It was suggested that this topic be on the coaches' meeting agenda at every institution to raise coaches' awareness and enlist their assistance in identifying candidates. Dawson agreed to use the list serve to provide information about nomination deadlines as well as access to the nomination forms themselves. 5. NCAA SAAC Report Cassel informed the group that he will be leaving his NCAA SAAC term a year early due to job responsibilities. He outlined the selection process for the new member, noting that the term was two years and student-athletes could serve one year past the completion of their eligibility. Cassel described the national SAAC duties and obligations. A benefit of the position was the ability to meet with the NCAA Management Council and the Board of Directors. SAAC members had to be up on the legislation and issues surrounding college athletics. He emphasized the importance of student-athletes communicating new ideas and opinions about legislation to the national SAAC representative from their conference to make them more aware of the views they have. Cassel asked the group to create awareness on campus about this open position to get a wide range of nominees for the position. Cassel reviewed the topics from the January, 2005, NCAA SAAC meeting. Male practice players competing on female teams was a prominent topic of discussion. Pac-10 SAAC members who were opposed to this concept stated that male practice players take away opportunities for women to participate and develop their skills, as well as use institutional resources. Some believed, however, this was beneficial since male practice players provided the daily competition in practice to help make the women's teams better. One approach to this issue might be to limit the number of male practice players allowed per team. Legislation on this topic was expected for the 2005-06 cycle. Cassel reviewed selected pieces of legislation that were discussed at the January, 2005 NCAA SAAC meeting.
The national SAAC's position was that all student-athletes should be treated the same, so these student-athletes should not be counters. The Management Council approved this piece of legislation.
The national SAAC supported the legislation as a student-athlete welfare issue. Some Pac-10 SAAC members were very concerned about it, as they believed need-based and academic financial aid could be manipulated to benefit student-athletes, as well as the fact that private institutions may have more funds and more flexibility in awarding them. (Note: The Management Council approved 2003-23-A, but the Board of Directors referred it back to ManCo for further review). Cassel mentioned to the group that the national SAAC was opposed to 2004-40, since student-athletes valued competition so highly. (Note: This proposal was tabled).
The national SAAC opposed this piece of legislation, because it believed such transfers in football and basketball would be detrimental to academic progress and team chemistry.
The national SAAC opposed this piece of legislation, since it believed five visits would benefit prospects and provide greater choices. Having five official visits may also help so-called "mid-major" institutions which might not get a high-profile athlete to visit if only four visits were allowed. Cassel reminded the group that the national SAAC puts its report from each meeting on the web at www.ncaa.org. 6. NCAA SAAC Representative Dawson reminded the group that the Pac-10 needed to submit the names of three nominees for its new representative to the NCAA SAAC. To date, six different institutions had submitted nominees. The Pac-10 Selection Committee would decide which three names would be forwarded to the NCAA. A number of reps were unaware that nominations had been solicited from the institutions, which led to a lengthy discussion of how best to get the word out on campus and identify interested candidates. Dawson said the topic was discussed at the Fall SAAC meeting, and was an item on the action list for participants to report to the campus SAAC. The information was also distributed to institutional SAAC advisors, as well as to the Council members. Frustration was expressed that the information did not reach a wider range of student-athletes directly. It was suggested that the information be e-mailed to the Pac-10 SAAC list serve. Dawson stated that would only be effective if students signed up for the list serve. The staff agreed to add the information to the SAAC page of the Pac-10 web site. It was VOTED 18-0-0-2 (OSU M/W absent) "to recommend that the e-mail addresses of those student-athletes who attend the Pac-10 SAAC meetings automatically be placed on the Pac-10 SAAC list serve for one year." SAAC members expressed a desire for campus SAAC's to be more involved in determining their institutional nominee for the NCAA SAAC position. At a minimum, they wished to ensure that the nominee had participated in the institutional SAAC, and to be informed when a nominee was being forwarded. Dawson explained the nomination method used by the Conference for all NCAA committee openings which required a Council member to submit the nomination. It was suggested that SAAC's take the initiative to work with their Council members to develop a system for input that would work at their institution. It was VOTED (18-0-0-2, OSU M/W absent) "to recommend that any institutional nominee for the NCAA SAAC must have been a member of institution's SAAC for at least one complete year." It was VOTED (18-0-02, OSU M/W absent) "to recommend requiring the signature of an institutional SAAC officer (other than the nominee, if applicable) for any nominee submitted to the Conference office for the NCAA SAAC position." 7. NCAA Hardship Rule Based on her personal experience with an injury in her senior year, Westendorf discussed a proposal to amend the NCAA hardship regulation to increase the limit on participation percentage from 20% to 30%, for fourth year seniors only. Her reasoning was that those students had not used a redshirt year, and the injury for most student-athletes in team sports essentially represented the end of their competitive careers. Many agreed it was a student-athlete welfare issue. The SAAC debated whether it would be appropriate to apply the increased percentage to all years, not just the fourth. In addition, some favored permitting the injury to occur in either half of the season. It was observed that if the regulation was relaxed, there would be the potential for manipulation of seasons of eligibility by coaches. Smith reported that a 1998 NCAA proposal to increase the participation percentage to 33% failed. It was VOTED (15-5-0 ASU M/W, WASH M, ORE W, WSU M opposed) "to recommend that if the proposal was supported, the increased percentage should apply to all years." No motion was made to recommend a proposal. It was suggested that SAAC members visit with Council members at their institutions to discuss this topic. 8. NCAA Legislation Saldivar reviewed the process for creation of NCAA legislation. He stated that within the Pac-10, the proposals are reviewed by the Legislative Committee and the Council before the Management Council representatives are directed in how to vote. Saldivar discussed selected NCAA legislative proposals which received final approval by the Management Council at its April 11-12 meeting, noting that they would not be final until approved by the Board of Directors. 2003-23-A - To permit a student-athlete who participates in an equivalency sport to receive institutional academic scholarships and need-based institutional aid under specified conditions without including such aid in an institution's equivalency computation in the applicable sport Dawson observed that with this rule in place, student-athletes would no longer have to turn down need-based aid to accept an athletic scholarship (or vice versa). Some thought that limiting the amount of need-based aid per team would be a safeguard against manipulation of the legislation. It was noted that international students would not benefit from this change, since they did not receive need-based aid. 2004-112-D - In all sports, to specify that during the student-athlete's initial year of enrollment at the certifying institution, participation in preseason exhibition contests or informal practice scrimmages shall not result in the loss of a season of competition. After some discussion the group suggested making this piece of legislation applicable for all years. 2004-88-B - In softball, to establish the second Thursday in February as the first permissible contest date for championship segment softball competition. The change in the softball start date did not extend the season. However, there was a similar proposal in baseball which would push the College World Series into July. The SAAC opposed this piece of legislation because it would result in the loss of a summer break for baseball student-athletes. Hansen discussed proposal 2004-72, which permits a twelfth game annually in Division I-A football. This would benefit the Pac-10 by allowing Pac-10 teams to meet every other Conference school each year. In addition, the extra game would provide additional revenue for departments. Hansen also made the SAAC aware of the recommendation from a task force to have every student-athlete covered with insurance before competition. Hansen emphasized the need for student-athlete voices to be heard in discussions of legislation. To illustrate the power of the SAAC, Hansen described the appearance of NCAA SAAC president Ian Gray at the NCAA Management Council meeting. Gray spoke against proposed legislation that would have restricted student-athletes in women's basketball from working at camps or clinics other than at their own institution. The NCAA SAAC argued that this would close off that source of employment for those who did not live in the community. That argument was effective in changing the perspective of ManCo members and the proposal (2004-134) was defeated. 9. NCAA Academic Performance Program Smith explained the new NCAA Academic Performance Program, in particular the Academic Performance Rate (APR), which was developed as a real-time assessment of teams' academic performance compared with the six-year graduation-rate calculation. The APP factored in both overall team performance as well as individual eligibility and retention. Student-athletes needed to be aware of this program and what it potentially means for their teams and institutions in terms of penalties. Student-athletes could help change the academic culture on teams to avoid performance that would lead to imposition of penalties. The establishment of the APP could also change the way recruits were evaluated. SAAC members were concerned that the APP could hurt their team's performance if scholarships were cut. Other stated that this might accelerate tracking of student-athletes into certain courses in order to maintain the requisite scores. 10. Behavior At SAAC Events Long reminded the group of the responsibility of the institutional SAAC to make sure events it sponsors are conducted in a safe manner, as well as in a manner which reflects positively on student-athletes and the institutions. As leaders within their athletics departments, it was their responsibility to set and enforce standards for behavior. Washington SAAC representatives described a social dance sponsored by their SAAC that ended up with attendees being taken away in an ambulance. Despite extensive pre-event planning, including communication with each team and all coaches before the event, and several levels of security, the actions of a few individuals who arrived intoxicated resulted in the failure of the event. There was resulting negative publicity and the banning of future events of this nature. Since most SAAC's sponsor some sort of a dance or social gathering, some with institutional support and some independently, the reps had extensive discussions about the ways to conduct the event in the safest possible manner. None of the "official" SAAC events had alcohol available, For those who believed alcohol should be available, it was suggested to have the event at a private club which supplied its own security and bartenders to check ID and enforce the age limit. It was suggested that holding the events in a private place, rather than in a public venue such as a hotel, could limit any potentially negative interaction with other guests and passersby. All agreed that whether or not alcohol was available at the event, some students would choose to drink beforehand, and this could be problematic. SAAC members were asked to consider that there might be alternate ways to accomplish the social cohesion dances were intended to have. Some suggestions included a National Student-Athlete Day event, a beginning of the year event like a BBQ, and a talent show. SAAC members stated part of the appeal of the event was to get dressed up, so awards banquets were another type of event which could be fun and promote camaraderie among teams. In addition to social events, SAAC members needed to create behavior expectations for other events which they sponsored, for example, brother-sister teams. At their meeting, the Pac-10 game managers observed that varsity teams which came as spectators to other teams' contests were often the worst behaved in terms of heckling and unsportsmanlike behavior. It was suggested that developing a code of conduct with clear expectations about behavior might be a first step in addressing these types of problems. It was VOTED (13-4-3, ORE M, ASU W, CAL W, OSU M opposed, STAN M, ARIZ M./W abstained) "to recommend that institutional SAAC's develop a code of conduct for student-athletes at all public events organized by the SAAC. SAAC members were to bring a copy of it to the fall, 2005, Pac-10 SAAC meeting." Dawson advised the group that most athletic departments have a code of conduct for their student-athletes, and that would be a good starting point for the SAAC. 11. Title IX McBee wanted to open a dialogue about Title IX and explore changes in ideas about the way it is enforced. He stated that the opportunities for males to compete in sports other than football and basketball continued to diminish. He described the drop in sponsorship of Olympic non-revenue sports, noting that the trend was cutting of men's sports, and attributed the decline to efforts to comply with Title IX. He shared his perspective that including football in determining institutional compliance with participation rates and financial aid was unrealistic, citing a lack of compliance with the law after 30 years as evidence. SAAC members were sympathetic to the lack of opportunities for males in some sports, but were wary of singling out football as the cause. Dawson urged the group to try to conceptualize the issue without attaching sport labels, and think in terms of opportunities for participation and funding by gender when deciding what is fair. 12. 2005-06 Championship Mementos Dawson asked for suggestions for mementos which would appeal to student-athletes for 1) the memento which would be given to all participants at Pac-10 championship events beginning in 2005-06; and 2) the memento which would be given to members of the championship teams in all Pac-10 sports (except basketball). A watch, key chain, towel, blanket, and robe were offered as suggestions. 13. Election of Officers & Appointments to Subcommittees Meeting attendees completed an interest form listing their subcommittees preferences. Since the meeting was past its scheduled end time, the voting for the 2005-06 officers was to be done via e-mail. (Note: Subsequent to the meeting, Jake Arnold of Arizona was elected co-chair, and Blake Bidleman of Washington was elected co-vice-chair). The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. njs 5/11/05 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Action-Item List from Meeting of April 15-16, 2005 1. Inform all student-athletes about the items on the action item list, not just SAAC members. 2. Start a binder with reference materials and minutes from SAAC meetings. 3. Arrange to have SAAC representatives attend a coaches' meeting to discuss the Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award and enlist the help of the coaches in identifying candidates. 4. Draft a code of conduct for activities sponsored by SAAC and bring it to Fall, 2005, Pac-10 SAAC meeting. 5. Monitor Pac-10 list serve and assist institutional administrators in completing applications for SAAC initiatives (e.g., Sportsmanship Award, Cooper Tire Scholarship) in a timely way. 6. Meet with institutional administrators to establish a system for the SAAC to provide input when nominees are solicited for the Pac-10's NCAA SAAC representative.
Doubletree Hotel San Jose, CA Those in attendance were:
The meeting was called to order by co-vice chair Jake Arnold at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approval of minutes of April 9-10, 2004, meeting It was VOTED (17-0-0-3, USC M, WSU M/W absent) "to approve the minutes of the April 9-10, 2004 meeting." 2. Meeting Materials Dawson reviewed materials which provided background information for the Pac-10 SAAC participants. Particular note was made of the Pac-10 SAAC outline, and the five Pac-10 subcommittees to which new members will be appointed by the new executive committee. SAAC representatives were asked to make sure at least one person from each institution was signed up for the Pac-10 list serve, to make communication from the Pac-10 office and with other members of the Pac-10 SAAC quicker and easier. It was hoped that the Pac-10 SAAC list serve would become a more effective tool in the future. Robert's Rules of Order were reviewed, with a reminder that those desiring to speak needed to be recognized by the chair before speaking. Strange reviewed various lists of Pac-10 and institutional personnel, all of whom would be available to help Pac-10 SAAC representatives if needed. 3. NCAA Legislation Smith reviewed the NCAA legislative process and timeline, as well as the procedure for introducing legislation. Any proposals originated by the Pac-10 SAAC would be forwarded to the Pac-10 Council for a vote to determine if the Conference would sponsor the legislation. If sponsored by the Conference, the legislation would then enter into the regular NCAA process. The SAAC discussed and took positions on several pieces of proposed legislation in the 2004-05 NCAA legislative cycle, as follows: 2003-23-A (would exempt need-based and academic aid from counting against team equivalency): Favored (13-3-3-1, UCLA M/W, WASH W opposed; WASH M, OSU M/W abstained; USC M absent). Generally, SAAC members believed that students should be able to retain aid from outside of the athletic department without affecting the team equivalency. Those opposed believed that some institutions may have greater amounts of aid to award, or may manipulate the awards, resulting in unfair competitive advantage. 2003-23-B (would exempt academic aid only from counting against team equivalency): Favored (13-6-0-1, ORE M, UCLA M/W, WASH M, CAL M/W opposed, USC M absent). Those in favor believed that students should be able to retain aid from outside of the athletic department without affecting the team equivalency. Those opposed believed that some institutions may be able to provide greater amounts of such aid, resulting in unfair competitive advantage. 2004-21 (would increase the maximum grant-in-aid limitations in selected women's sports): Favored (12-5-2-1, WSU M/W, OSU M, CAL M/W opposed, STAN M/W abstained, USC M absent). Those in favor believed this would increase the percentage of women's participation. Those opposed stated this might negatively affect men's sports if existing funding for men's teams was shifted to pay for these scholarships. It was stated that increasing the limits might help some institutions meet federal gender equity guidelines. 2004-98 (would permit an institution to pay for one parent or guardian to accompany a prospect during an official visit): Favored (15-4-0-1, WSU M/W, CAL M/W opposed, USC M absent). Those in favor stated that because guidance from parents is desirable when making major life decisions, a prospect should have the option of bringing a parent or guardian at the institution's expense. Those opposed were concerned about the costs, especially at institutions with existing budget problems. In addition, it was stated that because the parent would not be at the school with the student once enrolled, making the visit without a parent provided a more realistic view of campus life. 2004-99 (would reduce the number of expense paid official visits from five to four in football and basketball): Opposed (1-18-0-1, WSU W favored, USC M absent). Those opposed believed a fifth visit was needed in order to compare and contrast with the previous four schools. If the legislation were passed, the SAAC favored (18-1-0-1, UCLA M opposed, USC M absent) applying the legislation to all sports. 2004-40 (would amend the maximum number of contests in certain sports): Opposed (1-16-2-1, WSU M favored, WSU W, OSU M abstained, USC M absent). SAAC members were concerned that these limitations would negatively affect skill development, as well as decrease motivation to train. 2004-44 (would permit an institution to reimburse student-athletes for travel related to practices at off-campus sites): Favored (18-0-1-1, WSU W abstained, USC M absent) Those in favor stated that reimbursement should be granted for travel if a student-athlete is required to be at a practice and has to use his or her own means of transportation. 2004-48 (to permit the use of the one-time transfer exception in all sports): Favored (12-4-3-1, UCLA M, WSU M/W, WASH M opposed, ARIZ W, STAN W, UCLA W abstained, USC M absent). Those in favor believed that all sports should be treated the same and this rule gives the student-athlete an option to leave a situation that does not fit him/her. Those opposed believed this could professionalize college sports and student-athletes would start acting like free agents. 2004-84 (permits an institution to provide one shirt bearing the institution's logo per academic year for team travel or other team events): Favored (17-0-2-1, ARIZ M, WASH M abstained, USC M absent ). 2004-111 (permits additional benefits in men's basketball): Opposed (2-17-0-1, ORE W, UCLA M favored, USC M absent) Those opposed believed that men's basketball players should be treated the same as other student-athletes. Those in favor stated that men's basketball players help bring in money and should be rewarded for it. 2004-73 (in Division I football, to permit a student-athlete to engage in five season of competition): Opposed (0-17-2-1, ORE W, OSU M abstain, USC M absent). Those opposed believed that this would limit the number of new potential football players to be signed, as well as expressing concerns about course selection during the fifth year, and premature return from injuries because the hardship year would be eliminated. If the legislation were to be passed, the SAAC favored applying it to all sports (17-0-2-1, STAN M, CAL M abstain, USC M absent). 4. SAAC Information Sharing Representatives shared information about their institutional SAAC's, including format, meeting schedule, and committee structure. A majority meet once every two weeks, for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Some institutions have committees which meet separately from the normal SAAC meetings. Most SAAC groups try to have two representatives from each team at the meetings. Attendance by senior institutional administrators varies widely, but was seen as desirable. Activities common to institutional SAAC's include identifying contests for each team which all other student-athletes try to attend, often publicized through t-shirts; and social events, such as barbecues, formals, banquets, or pizza parties. Examples of community service activities included student-athlete auctions to generate funds for a cause; elementary school reading programs; participation in the "Sparrow Clubs" program to help a sick child; humane societies, canned food drives; and health fairs. Common problems faced by SAAC's included securing attendance and participation from all teams at the institution, and delegation/sharing of workload beyond the core of officers. 5. Pac-10 Cooper/Tires Leadership Award The SAAC selected Jason Ranne of Arizona and Nikki Neuburger of Oregon State as the 2003-04 winners of the Cooper Tires/Pac-10 Leadership Award. Noting that there were only three nominees for the award, SAAC members were asked to help publicize the award at their institutions, and encourage nominations and completion of the application materials. The group declined to alter the qualifications, which may have resulted in a larger pool of nominees. 6. Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award Because the NCAA Sportsmanship Award criteria had changed so that only student-athletes were eligible, the SAAC voted (20-0) to change the Pac-10's criteria for its Sportsmanship Award to match the NCAA's criteria. As of 2004-05, there will be awards to one male and one female student-athlete from the Pac-10, whose name will then be forwarded to the NCAA. It was noted that the element of a "specific act of sportsmanship" had been eliminated. Arnold stressed the need to publicize this award at institutional SAAC meetings and within the athletics department, so there is a sufficient pool of nominees. The SAAC also voted (18-0-1-1, WSU M opposed, OSU W absent) to create a Pac-10 Sportsmanship Award for coaches or staff who exhibit exceptional sportsmanship. The Pac-10 staff was to develop suggested criteria for approval at the next Pac-10 SAAC meeting. 7. NCAA 20-Hour Rule The SAAC was surveyed to see how many were familiar with educational information which the NCAA distributed in August of 2004 regarding the 20-hour rule. About half of the group reported having seen or reviewed it at their institution. Smith led a discussion about application |
