The Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) is a new initiative in the Pac-12. SALT is made up of two student-athletes from each institution with 12 members, one from each school, attending every Pac-12 Council meeting. Our representatives are our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee leaders Casey Skowron (football) and McKenna Witt (sand volleyball). McKenna attended the first meeting last week and Casey will be our rep at the spring meeting.
The Pac-12 Council, which serves under the direction of Pac-12 presidents and chancellors, is now made up of four subgroups, the Athletics Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives and Senior Woman Administrators, along with SALT. We believe it is important to understand the thoughts and concerns of our student-athletes and SALT provides an opportunity for the league to incorporate their perspective into the official voting governance structure.
At the first meeting that included SALT last Wednesday and Thursday, the student-athlete reps discussed issues and legislation that related to student-athlete welfare and reviewed conference policies, procedures and initiatives. In addition, they joined the other three representatives from their school to cast votes in the Council’s voting process.
Not only is it important for our student-athletes to be represented during the decision-making process, but this is also a wonderful opportunity for them to get an inside look at how the conference operates. It’s both a functional and educational outlet to keep our student-athletes engaged in the transformation of college athletics and we believe this will be extremely beneficial long term.
