HONOLULU—Univeristy of Hawai'i softball player Jori Jasper has been appointed as the Big West Conference's representative for the NCAA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Jasper was one of six Big West candidates nominated and was selected by the NCAA to represent the BWC for the next two years. She will be one of 31 members on the national committee representing each NCAA Division I conference.

Jasper—who just completed her junior season as a first baseman—has been a SAAC member at Hawai'i since her redshirt freshman year. Last year, she served as Hawai'i's SAAC chairperson and UH's representative to the Big West Conference. She is just the second UH student-athlete to be selected as a conference representative to the national SAAC. Rainbow Wahine swimmer Jessica Stacy served on the NCAA committee for 2011-2012 while UH was a member of the Western Athletic Conference. 

In addition to her duties with the National and Big West SAAC, Jasper will continue to chair UH's SAAC in which each sport as two representatives. The UH SAAC members discuss how institutional polices and decisions affect their athletic programs and act as voices for their teammates. They also participate in community service activities and projects both on campus and in the community.  

As the Big West's representative, Jasper will seve as a liaison between the BWC's nine member Universities and its student-athletes, and the NCAA Division I Leadership Council. Her year-round duties include attending and participating in the national SAAC meetings, conference calls and community positions on high-priority issues between the Big West and the national leadership council.

The aim of the NCAA SAAC is to provide opportunity for and to protect the well-being of all its student-athletes as well as promote a positive student-athlete self image. National SAAC members provide input on rules, regulations and polices that affect the lives of student-athletes and insight into the overall student-athletes experience.  

Jasper will be attending the NCAA's SAAC conference in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 23-25, 2013 where she will also have the opportunity to meet NCAA president Mark Emmett.  

Jasper earned her bachelor's degrees last fall with a triple major in entrepreneurship, marketing and international business. Currently, Jasper is working on her master's degree in sociology. This past May, she was selected as the 2013 Shidler College of Business' Outstanding Senior in Marketing Award for her outstanding academic record and contributions to the school and community. In 2012, she was the recipient of the 2012 Shidler College of Business' Outstanding Student in Entrepreneurship. Jasper was named to the National Society of Collegiate Scholars; a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholar; a Golden Key International Honor Society Scholar; and for the past three years, she's been a National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Scholar-Athlete. Jasper is currently interning over the summer at First Hawaiian Bank in the legal and trust department.

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