By Chuck McGill

MountainEast.org

FAIRMONT, W. Va. — Ever since the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee — more commonly known as SAAC — expanded across all three NCAA divisions in 1997, Fairmont State athletics administrator Kristi Kiefer has overseen that organization at her institution.

Kiefer, who is an Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator, has always been the person tasked with student-athlete development, which aligns with her passion for helping student-athletes. Annually, SAAC organizes community service projects and facilitates fundraisers, which delights Kiefer as she provides guidance and helps the group’s direction on engaging projects.

This year, Fairmont State’s SAAC Executive Leadership Committee came to Kiefer with an ambitious plan: Generating $10,000 to donate to the Make-A-Wish America, which would fully fund one child’s wish. Kiefer was thrilled, but typically $3,000 to $4,000 was an impressive fundraising campaign for SAAC.

This year, Fairmont State’s SAAC raised $20,748.67.

“Our executive committee started this time last year and they brought this idea to me and were all about it,” Kiefer said. “They said, ‘This is our goal — we’re going to grant a wish’ and they started with that goal in mind and set out to do it.”

Now, ahead of the July 15 deadline, Fairmont State will be able to provide two wishes to children. While plans are still in the works, the idea is to do one reveal in the fall — potentially at a football game — and another in the spring. The total money raised is the most ever for Fairmont State’s SAAC, and the NCAA recognized the achievement in June by spotlighting the school in a newsletter.

The NCAA detailed how Fairmont State doubled its fundraising goal by pulling together the community with events on campus. SAAC tabled multiple sporting events, including Football, Women’s Soccer, Swimming, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, and Acrobatics & Tumbling. The Fairmont State Swimming teams held a Swim-A-Thon. The Falcons’ Volleyball team hosted a tournament. The Men’s and Women’s basketball teams sold T-shirts and raffled gear baskets. The Softball team held a youth camp. There were fundraisers at a local restaurant and SAAC members ventured into the community to spread the word.

“Our SAAC and student-athletes, in addition to the support of our President, athletic administration, coaches, and community members made this all possible,” Kiefer said in the NCAA newsletter.

She added that Make-A-Wish has always had a special place in her heart. NCAA Division II established a partnership with Make-A-Wish in 2003, which is why Fairmont State’s SAAC has always taken part in fundraising for the cause.

“I was all about it,” she said. “It was inspiring watching them come together and work together. My position is as an advisor; I am here to guide them. We have always had strong leadership since the inception of SAAC, and this was a good, supportive group. When that happens, it makes my position easy. And with the support of our president and administration, it made all of this so rewarding to watch.”

ABOUT SAAC:

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a committee consisting of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC offers input on rules, regulations, and policies that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses. There are three SAACs at the national level representing NCAA Divisions I, II, and III. NCAA legislation mandates that all member institutions institute a SAAC on their respective campuses. Further, NCAA legislation requires that all member conferences institute a SAAC.

An Association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention and was formed primarily to review and offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affected student-athlete welfare.

The initial national committee was comprised of student-athletes from all membership divisions for the purpose of ensuring that the student-athlete voice was one that accounted for the myriad of educational and athletics experiences of both female and male student-athletes at all NCAA member institutions. In August 1997, the NCAA federated along divisional lines. The federation caused the SAAC to expand to three SAACs representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Currently, the Division II National SAAC is comprised of female and male student-athletes of various diversities charged with its initial goal, to offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation affecting student-athlete well-being. This is accomplished by providing student-athlete input on issues related to student-athlete well-being. To fulfill this charge, Division II National SAAC members serve not only on the committee, but are also engaged in many NCAA opportunities where they may speak on NCAA issues. These opportunities include, but are not limited to, serving on Association-wide committees, serving on division specific committees, speaking and voting on the NCAA Convention floor, and playing significant roles in the NCAA leadership conferences.

The input from the Division II SAAC continues to be sought by a variety of constituencies within the Association. Division II SAAC members have the opportunity to speak with the Division II Presidents Council and Division II Management Councils, in addition to speaking and voting on legislative issues on the NCAA Division II Convention floor.