Staff Directory

Kyle Saunders

Title:
NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative
Email:
Phone:
(970) 491-5751

Kyle Saunders serves as Colorado State University's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), a role he has held since the 2018-19 academic year. The FAR is appointed by the President of CSU from the tenured faculty.

As FAR, Saunders serves as the liaison between the institution, the President's Office, the Athletics Department, the NCAA, and the Pac-12 Conference, with responsibility for ensuring academic integrity, safeguarding student-athlete welfare, and supporting institutional control of intercollegiate athletics. Working with the Provost’s Office, Athletics Compliance, Student-Athlete Support Services, Admissions, and the Registrar's Office, he certifies travel schedules, student-athlete academic eligibility, and reviews team rosters before each competitive season. He also coordinates the panel that hears student-athlete transfer and disciplinary appeals, reviews all institutional violation reports, and signs all NCAA legislative waivers submitted by the university.
Saunders works to promote balance between academics, athletics, and the broader collegiate experience for CSU's student-athletes. He regularly attends Student-Athlete Advisory Committee meetings and competitions, and serves as an independent source of counsel and assistance for student-athletes navigating academic and welfare issues.

A respected voice in conference and national athletics governance, Saunders chaired the Mountain West Joint Council and its Faculty Athletics Representative Committee in 2022, represented the Mountain West on the NCAA 1A FAR Board from 2021-24, and now serves on the Pac-12 Joint Council and FAR Committee as Colorado State transitions to its new conference home. On campus, he is an ex officio member of Faculty Council as well as the Faculty Council Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Saunders is a Professor of Political Science with research spanning political behavior, public opinion, and American electoral politics. He earned his Ph.D. from Emory University in 2001 and is the author of more than four dozen widely cited peer-reviewed articles and chapters.

More about his research and work can be found at kylesaunders.com. His perspective on the role of intercollegiate athletics in the University's academic mission appeared in a 2025 guest column for CSU's SOURCE.