University of Northern Iowa sophomore quarterback Christian Ellsworth has been awarded with a two-year appointment on the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Ellsworth (Grand Island, Nebraska/Northwest HS) is currently serving on UNI's SAAC and the Missouri Valley Conference's SAAC. His two-year appointment on the NCAA committee will begin June 1, 2018 and will run through May 31, 2020.

The mission of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by protecting student- athlete well-being, fostering a positive student-athlete image and inclusive student-athlete environment, and promoting student-athlete engagement at the national, conference and local levels.

UNI Academic Advisor Andrea Greve set one of her goals to have a Panther student-athlete serve on a national committee.

"It's so exciting to see one of our UNI student-athletes be selected to serve as a National SAAC Representative," Greve said. "When I got to UNI, I set a goal to help ensure our student-athletes are aware of, and have a chance to take advantage of opportunities available to them through the NCAA. One of these things was National SAAC. It's exciting to know Christian will be able to use his position to spread ideas and information from UNI and the MVC to help influence future student-athletes."

Christian said he cannot wait to gain to the opportunity of joining fellow student-athletes on the national stage.

"I'm looking forward to having UNI on my name tag at the meetings and ultimately being a voice for UNI and the MVC," Ellsworth said. "College athletics are so special and it's great to be a part of it. You learn about yourself, your friends, your teammates and you are able to manage the hours it takes to be a student-athlete. I've been blessed with this opportunity and want to take advantage of it the best I can."

Ellsworth said his quarterbacks coach John Bond gave him some words of advice in a meeting.

"Coach Bond said this program will do more for you than you can ever do for this program," Ellsworth said. "It has held true. I feel like just being on the football team has given me these opportunities to travel to Indianapolis and St. Louis to interact with other SAAC members from different institutions from around the country."

Ellsworth also talked about the leadership and support from Andrea Greve and Jadyn Spender, which has allowed the UNI SAAC to grow.

"Andrea and Jadyn are at every meeting and they put in countless hours to assist us," Ellsworth said. "Some schools don't have that support, but we are fortunate to have two of them at virtually every meeting. We got a lot of credit for the PESPY's, but the help and tireless effort that Andrea and Jadyn put forth made the event possible."

Ellsworth joined the UNI SAAC after he was invited to a meeting by teammate Marcus Weymiller.

"Marcus introduced me to it and I've been a part of the UNI SAAC for the last two years," Ellsworth said. "You see the behind the scenes efforts and what it takes to be a successful student-athlete. I enjoyed being a part of it and then I got an opportunity to serve on the MVC's SAAC. Then Andrea said one of her goals was get to one of our student-athletes on an NCAA committee and I said I'd be happy to do it. Now I'll be sitting at the table with the Power 5 conference SAAC folks and meeting some really good people."

Greve said the inclusion of Ellsworth on the UNI SAAC has been well received and his leadership skills have served him well.

"Christian has been an excellent addition to the UNI SAAC," Greve said. "He has taken his role seriously, remained motivated to help grow the group's involvement and impact on this campus, and been a committed member of our executive team. He continues to be excited about his role with the MVC SAAC, and I know he will approach the role of a national SAAC representative with equal enthusiasm and a degree of seriousness that will ultimately help him gain the most out of the experience, and help guide efforts here at UNI."

Christian is the son of Jeff and Sherri Ellsworth. He is majoring in digital media leadership at UNI.