SAAC Names Executive Board
August 11, 2010 04:30 PM | General
August 11, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – West Virginia University has announced its 2010 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) executive board. The board is comprised of five student-athletes and serves as the overall voice of the student-athlete body on campus.
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| Paul Downey |
This year, Stephanie Caruso has been elected to her second term as President of the SAAC. A senior exercise physiology major, Stephanie is a member of both the Track and Cross Country teams. Also elected to a second term as Vice President was Ashley Zultanky, a senior member of the rifle team who is currently majoring in psychology and criminology.
Abby Monson, a junior volleyball team member and management major, will be serving her first term as Secretary and Big East Representative, while Jeff Byrd, a junior team captain on the swimming team and a psychology major, will also be serving his first term as a second Big East Representative. Lastly, Brittany Fink will be serving her first term as Treasurer. A senior track and field team member and political science and foreign languages major, Brittany will also serve as the Student Government Association Representative.
“These student athletes are the leaders of the leaders,” said Paul Downey. “Each member of the SAAC is a leader on their respective team, and these five student-athletes were chosen by the SAAC to represent WVU."
Responsibilities of the executive board include taking an active role in the governance structure and legislative process of the NCAA, serving as a representative body for the interests and concerns of student-athletes, and serving as leaders to develop institutional student-athlete advisory committees while enhancing the role and efficacy of the BIG EAST SAAC.
“The executive board has to attend once a month meetings to discuss any new legislation. They are also the students who coordinate events such as Jockfest, and the spring semi-formal for the student athletes,” Downey said.
Jeff Byrd has also been awarded the honor of being selected as WVU’s representative to attend the BIG EAST Conference SAAC in-person meeting in September. The meeting serves as a gathering for student-athletes from each BIG EAST institution to meet with administrators and discuss campus and conference topics, while also learning about proposed NCAA legislation.
Paul Downey has also been selected to serve on the BIG EAST Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as a campus SAAC Advisor. This position requires Downey to represent an institutional perspective as it relates to the SAAC, and to also represent student-athlete issues to the conference as a whole.
“My job will mostly deal with reviewing new legislation and discussing it with the SAAC to gain student-athlete perspectives. It’s a three year commitment, and I have a lot of experience with the SAAC ,” Downey said.
