Honoring demonstrated dedication, support, and guidance to student-athletes and an institution’s athletics program
Launched in 2013 by the NCAA Division II national Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Dr. Dave Pariser Faculty Mentor Award is a student-athlete driven award that honors an institutional faculty member who has demonstrated dedication, support, and guidance to student-athletes and the institution’s athletics program. Division II sets forth a strong commitment to prepare student-athletes to excel in their endeavors after their athletics careers have ended. The nominee for this award should be an example of this philosophy. The nominee should demonstrate exemplary support to student-athletes both on and off the field/court of competition while representing the NCAA Division II core values of learning, passion, service, resourcefulness, sportsmanship and balance. This support can include, but is not limited to, athletics, academics, life skills, career development or other areas.
Eligibility and How to Apply
Who’s Eligible
- Nominees must be a currently employed faculty member at a Division II active member institution.
- Nominees must have shown support to student athletes both on and off the field/court of competition. This support could be provided through, but is not limited to, athletics, academics, life, career development or other areas.
- Nominees should not be a member of the coaching or athletics administration staff, such as the director of athletics, senior woman administrator or compliance administrator.
How to apply
- Each institution can submit nominations to their conference’s national SAAC representative.
- Each conference or independent institution student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) will review the candidates from their conference and vote for their top candidate.
- Nominations of finalists should be submitted online via the Dr. Dave Pariser Award Nomination Form.
How Recipients are Selected
National SAAC will evaluate each conference’s finalist and independent’s finalist and select the national winner in the fall.
Candidates are evaluated based on the responses to the three qualities which address the candidate’s service to the institution’s student-athletes.
Represents the core values of learning, passion, service, resourcefulness, sportsmanship and balance.
Exhibits “Mentorship” for their institution’s student-athletes in areas including athletics, academics and life skills.
Established a strong commitment to preparing student-athletes to excel in their endeavors after their athletic careers have ended.
The NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selected Eric Gaynor from Bentley as the recipient of the 2025 Dr. Dave Pariser Faculty Mentor Award.
Important Dates
Please contact your conference’s national SAAC representative regarding their preferred deadline.
Nomination deadline: October 15
Winner Selection: During the fall.
Winner Announcement: January Prior to the NCAA Convention
For more information about the Dr. Dave Pariser Faculty Mentor Award contact your national SAAC representative or email Marcus Brown.