Bloomsburg Athletics

1.     Purpose
a.     To promote efficient communication between the Bloomsburg University Athletics Department and student-athlete population.
b.     To unite student-athletes of Bloomsburg University across all sports.
c.     To discuss issues that affect student-athletes and to implement programs that makes the student-athlete experience better.
d.     To provide opportunities for the involvement of student-athletes in campus and community engagement projects.

2.     Membership
Two student-athletes from each sport will be chosen by the Head Coach.  Team representatives must be a combination of an underclassman and an upperclassman in order to ensure continuity of the group from year to year. Each member will serve as a liaison between the committee or officers and his or her individual team.  Each member shall serve at least one year, and must remain academically eligible to compete at all times in order to retain membership.  Student-athletes who have exhausted their playing eligibility will be replaced on the committee at such time.  Any individual who is no longer a part of their team will be replaced on the committee.

3.     Officers
The committee has four officers and four sub-officers that compose the SAAC Executive Board.  These officers play equal roles in the successful organization of the committee, including meeting and event planning.  They are required to attend Conference SAAC meetings and participate on any conference calls set up by the league.  Each spring semester, nominations/volunteers will be solicited for the following year, and a vote will be taken to decide the board. Officers that have done a satisfactory job may be re-appointed by the committee liaison, provided they have athletic eligibility remaining for the entire upcoming academic year.

4.     Liaison
The committee liaison will be the Student-Athlete Advocate. This individual has ultimate responsibility/oversight for the committee, and will guide the officers and group as a whole in the successful operation.  The liaison will have the authority to pursue matters brought before the group through the proper channels within the athletics department and/or University. 

5.     Representative Responsibilities
a.     Actively participate in all SAAC meetings by representing the views and opinions of his or her team.
b.     Report back to the team with all pertinent information.
c.     Vote on current issues before the committee, including PSAC and NCAA proposed legislation.
d.     Actively participate in all SAAC community engagement activities.

6.     Attendance Policy (Rev. May 2016)
In order to have two representatives from each team at ALL meetings of the Bloomsburg University SAAC, the following Attendance Policy has been developed.  At each SAAC meeting a sign-in sheet will be used track that each team has two student-athletes present.

a.     All SAAC members are expected to treat SAAC as a priority; SAAC meetings are comparable to classes and team practices.  Meetings are announced at the beginning of each semester, allowing ample time to plan your other commitments accordingly (including schoolwork and studying).
b.     If you are going to miss a meeting for any reason, you need to notify your Head Coach and the SAAC Advisor.  If the Coach and Advisor approve your absence, you may then send someone else from your team in your place (in which case the absence will not count against you).  Failure to obtain approval or failure to send a replacement will result in an unexcused absence.
               - Teams with “combined” rosters (tennis, swimming, cross country, track) are required to have two student-athletes of each gender present to avoid incurring and unexcused absences.
c.     At least one official member of each team must be present at each SAAC meeting.  If a team is represented at the meeting by two non-members, your Coach will be notified, and both official members may be charged with an unexcused absence.
d.     Excused absences include such things as having practice, competition or class at the time of the meeting, family emergencies, and personal illness.
e.     Following a first unexcused absence, your Coach will be notified that you missed the meeting.
f.      Following a second unexcused absence, your Coach will be notified again, and you will be replaced on the committee by a teammate that your Coach selects.
                - Any member that is replaced on the Committee will not be eligible for the Committee for the remainder of his/her time at the University.

7.     Voting
a.     Each team will have one vote towards pending issues.  Votes will be taken either at SAAC meetings or via email.  The SAAC Advisor will tally all votes and report the results to the entire group.
                - Exception:  When voting for group officers, each active SAAC member will have one vote (i.e., two votes per team).

8.     Meetings
Regular meetings will be held approximately once a month during the academic year.  Other meetings will be held if deemed necessary (i.e., planning for a special event, discussing NCAA legislation).  Typically, meetings will be held at 9:00 p.m., to allow all members to be in attendance.  Meetings are held in Conference Room 230 at Nelson Field House.  Meeting dates will be selected with every effort to avoid days when teams are competing.