March 22, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Michael Piscetelli has been representing Wake Forest since he first donned the Old Gold and Black of the Demon Deacon track and field team in the fall of 2001. While his days of competing on the college oval are over, Piscetelli continues to represent his alma mater nationally and even internationally.

Piscetelli, who was a member of Demon Deacon track and field teams until graduating in 2005, holds the prestigious role as Chair of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Named the Chair in January 2006, Piscetelli plays a prominent role as the voice of all Division I student-athletes from every sport throughout the nation.

Make that, throughout the world.

Piscetelli has been chosen as one of two representatives of the United States to the eighth International University Sports Federation (FISU) Forum in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from March 25-30.

Although not sponsored by the NCAA, the FISU Forum chose Piscetelli because of his status on the NCAA Division I SAAC committee. He has represented Wake Forest and the ACC on the national committee for the past two years and prior to his endorsement as the chairperson, he served for a year as the vice-chair.

The FISU was formed in 1949 and is the international governing body of the World University Games and the World Winter University Games. Representing nearly 25,500 student-athletes from 135 different countries, FISU is also responsible for the biannual FISU Forum, which brings together students and staff from all across the globe to discuss and compare university sport programs.

Piscetelli will be the representative for NCAA Division I athletes, while Heather Mathias from Maryville College (Tennessee) will represent NCAA Division III athletes. The pair will also be accompanied by faculty representative, Dr. Dolly Lambdin of the University of Texas.

"It is such an honor to represent not only Wake Forest University, but all Division I student-athletes," Piscetelli said. "I am still overwhelmed that I am going to this conference.

"The one thing that I want to come away with is to be able to put the student-athletes of the United States in a better light. I want to make people realize that we work just as hard and that we go to school just as much as anyone else. It is very important to me to have people know that we are just as much of a student as we are athletes.

"The United States is not the largest country that will be represented, but we do offer a very structured opportunity for student-athletes. I think that some international student-athletes have more of what we would consider clubs, or intramurals - they don't have the travel and per diem that we have, or the flashiness of uniforms. In addition to educating others on how the United States and the NCAA works, we hope to gather more of an understanding of how other countries structure their athletics and how it differs from the U.S."

Piscetelli's three years of experience on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee has given him an opportunity to learn the inner workings of the NCAA.

"My first year at Wake Forest I was asked to replace an outgoing member of SAAC on the track team," Piscetelli said. "At the end of my sophomore year, I was selected as the vice-president and was also chosen to represent the school at the conference level. In my senior year I was president of the ACC, in addition to being a member of the national committee."

At the institutional level, SAAC focuses on building the community around the student-athlete. Focusing not only on the well-being of the individual athletes, Wake Forest also has a large community service component that the committee focuses on.

"In addition to building relationships with the administrators and the entire student population at the institutional level, we try and do a lot within the community." Piscetelli said. "Here at Wake Forest, we do Santa's Helpers, Eat With The Deacs and a number of other programs that helps us give back to the community.

"In addition, we discuss a lot of different legislation issues and how certain things will affect us. For the most part, we are there for professional development opportunities and to make sure that those are there for our peers. We also try to be positive images of student-athletes in the community."

Within the ACC there are two representatives from each school and the committee meets twice a year to discuss legislation that has been passed down from the national level. From the conference level, representatives then report back to their individual institutions.

"At the ACC SAAC, we discuss all topics from financial aid, time management, to medical insurance," Piscetelli said. "From those discussions, it is the responsibility of the student to go back to their campus and to find out how the individual institutions feel about the issues."

The national level is the main governing body of all student-athletes and is comprised of 31 members - one for each Division I conference. As the top tier of the SAAC pyramid, the Division I SAAC reports directly to the Division I Management Council and both the chair and the vice-chair participate in each Management Council meeting as non-voting members.

"The national level is an extension of the conference level. We are asked to provide the NCAA subcommittees input as to the opinion of student-athletes. We focus heavily on legislation and we tend to do a lot of lobbying at the convention and throughout the year to try and explain our position on the welfare of us as student-athletes."

Piscetelli was selected to the national committee to represent the ACC at the end of his junior year. In the January of his senior year, he was named the vice-chair. Serving for one year, he was promoted to the chairperson at the NCAA convention this past January.

"You can serve up to a year after your eligibility runs out, which is valid because you have to learn and understand all the legislation of the NCAA, the conference structure and how things work," Piscetelli said. "I have been some given incredible opportunities while serving on all levels of SAAC, especially this particular conference. It will be my first time abroad and not only am I looking forward to that, but also in representing so many student-athletes."