The NCAA Convention has experienced an interesting history. It typically has been the place where NCAA history is made, since the Convention served as the legislative centerpiece for Association business. But since the Association restructured in 1997, Convention attendance has lagged, and some NCAA members have lamented out loud about the grand meeting losing some of its familial luster.

The NCAA Convention is different these days. While Divisions II and III continue to use the annual meeting to vote on legislation, Division I's governance meetings at the Convention aren't the final stop for proposals. Thus, there are fewer Division I "delegates" in attendance, which some members believe takes away from the Convention as a gathering of the Association.

That begs the question of whether steps should be taken to recapture what the Convention used to be, or if organizers should simply accept the Convention for what it is and program events accordingly.

At least for the next few years, an attempt will be made to accomplish more of the former than the latter.

The Convention is first and foremost a business meeting, but when NCAA members arrive in Nashville for this year's Convention January 9-14, they will notice efforts aimed at enhancing the overall experience.

A student job fair, issue forums for each division, specific programming for college and university presidents, complimentary shuttle service and more participant-friendly logistics are just a few of the enhancements for the Association's 2004 gathering.

According to John L. Johnson, NCAA director of promotions and events, the goal is to make the Convention the place where the entire membership can come together to celebrate, share and learn, even if the three divisions are gathering for different reasons.

"We certainly want to ensure that the business meetings of the Convention run smoothly and that we meet all those needs," Johnson said, "but we also want to make the NCAA Convention a place where all three divisions can come together to not only celebrate the successes of the previous year, but to refocus and re-energize with their peers."

At the heart of the blueprint for the NCAA Convention is a belief that it should be an Association-wide gathering.

Adding to a good experience

"While the NCAA Convention has operated smoothly in the past, we wanted to be able to put more attention on the Convention on a year-round basis, especially in the areas of programming and some of the ancillary things that happen around the business meetings," he said.

NCAA President Myles Brand has supported the effort as well, charging the national office staff with transforming the Convention into a dynamic learning and business experience where attendees come together as one Association. Organizers also are charged with trying to increase presidential attendance through programming relevant to their needs. In addition, planners hope to use the Convention as a platform to service the Association's strategic plan and to celebrate the accomplishments in intercollegiate athletics and higher education.

The extensive list of enhancements in fact could lead to a perception that the Convention was broken and needed to be fixed. But Johnson is quick to emphasize that's not the case.

"Really, the improvements we've put in place serve only to enhance the Convention, not change it to something it's not. It's adding value to a good experience to make it a great experience," he said.

Convention attendees will find enhancements both logistically and in programming. Logistically, delegates and their guests should notice more involvement from the local community.

"For the first time, the NCAA is working with a local convention and visitors bureau and sports council that will be providing volunteers to help us not only with transportation, but with welcoming delegates at the airport and providing assistance throughout the Convention on the hotel property," Johnson said.

Conventioneers also can look forward to a cyber cafe where they can check e-mail between sessions. There also will be increased signage promoting the NCAA brand and mission.

"We want to remind people -- through displays that feature our Honors Program and Woman of the Year winners -- that their institutions and their professions are important because they help produce these kinds of individuals," Johnson said.

Constituent-specific programming

As for programming, sessions targeting presidents will be introduced. One of the topics will be the role of the college or university CEO in the integration of athletics and higher education.

Carol Cartwright, president at Kent State University, headed a panel that developed the presidential session slated for Sunday, January 11.

"The basic reason for developing a presidential agenda was to experiment with ways to make the Convention attractive for presidents," said Cartwright, a member of the Division I Board of Directors and chair of the NCAA Executive Committee. "In effect, what we're trying to do is think about the stakeholders and what would be of interest to them. If we program more toward presidents' specific needs, then perhaps they will be more interested in coming to the Convention."

Since increasing presidential involvement is one of the goals of the Convention enhancements, Cartwright said topics were selected with as broad an audience as possible. In that vein, she said the integration of intercollegiate athletics and higher education applies to all presidents, not just those involved in the governance structure.

"It's about being relevant to today's CEO and the issues that he or she has to deal with," she said. "You need only to pick up a newspaper to see how important an issue like integrating athletics and higher education is."

Also, this year more so than last, panelists and facilitators for the Association-wide sessions will be selected from the membership in an effort to increase interaction, debate and discussion.

"We want people to get the sense that this is the place to go to discuss or debate the current issues of the day," Johnson said, "which is part of the reason we want to engage more of the membership in topic selection. We want to be able to put what's important to them on the table."

Other enhancements for the 2004 Convention include the designation of a host institution (Vanderbilt University), a student job fair and the appearance of the NCAA Beyond the Game Tour presented by CBS Sports.

The student job fair will give institutions an opportunity to interview student-athletes for open positions. The NCAA Beyond the Game Tour, which makes stops nationwide, will be open during the delegates reception to give Convention attendees a taste of NCAA championship excitement.

Even small details, such as delivering a copy of The NCAA News to each guest room in the hotel and imprinting an NCAA logo or message on hotel key cards, as is done at the Men's and Women's Final Fours, have been arranged.

"The whole idea is to enhance the experience and make it more meaningful and provide value," Johnson said.

Topical attraction

Besides adding value to the Association's annual meeting, though, organizers hope that the attention being paid to enhancing Convention attendees' experiences will translate into increased attendance. The 2003 Convention drew 1,598 attendees, down from 1,689 in 2002 and well off the mark of 2,685 in 1997, the Convention before the NCAA restructured.

There are several theories as to why Convention attendance fluctuates. Donna Ledwin, commissioner of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and a member of the Division III Convention Planning Committee, offers two.

"There have been any number of institutions, both private and public, that have had discretionary funds on their travel budgets cut back or eliminated. Where maybe a school may have sent several delegates in the past, they are now sending one or none," she said.

Ledwin also speculates that if budgets are a concern, then schools may review the Convention agenda and legislation with a critical eye for important issues slated to be discussed or voted upon.

"The second reason may be a perception that if budgets are tight, folks may have looked at the legislative proposals on the agenda and just did not feel that there were any major hot-button issues that would compel them to attend," she said.

North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Marcil has been a key proponent in the creation of a new vision for the NCAA Convention. He said that although Division II attendance has been fairly steady over the past few years, the location of the Convention may influence attendance.

"Sometimes it does make a difference when the Convention is located at one of the coasts," said Marcil, a former chair of the Division II Management Council. "I think it's harder then for people on the opposite coast to get there," he said.

Like Ledwin, Whitman College Director of Athletics Travis Feezell, who also is a member of the Division III Convention Planning Committee, thinks that the topics on the Convention docket play a role in attracting delegates and participants.

"If there is a hot topic, a highly controversial topic, then my sense is you may get better attendance," Feezell said.

Both Ledwin and Feezell said the reform package being debated by Division III at the 2004 Convention may draw a crowd.

"With the reform package this year, it's a hot topic in which presidents will need to be engaged along with senior woman administrators, athletics directors and faculty representatives. There's more there to discuss with colleagues around the country this year," Feezell said.

Division I attendance

Cartwright cautioned against using attendance as a benchmark for evaluating a successful Convention. She said since the purpose of the Convention is different now for Division I, overall attendance naturally will be lower, but that doesn't mean that the Convention is somehow failing.

"Just looking at attendance pre- and post-restructuring is not very helpful because it gives us an inflated sense of participation," she said. "When the Convention was one school, one vote, there was a different reason for coming. Now we have a different situation and within that different structure we need to find ways to make the annual meeting relevant and target it to the different needs of different stakeholders."

Chris Plonsky, director of women's athletics at the University of Texas at Austin and chair of the Division I Management Council, said that Division I has struggled to make the Convention a meaningful part of its legislative cycle. In recent years, Division I acted on legislation during October and April governance meetings, leaving the Convention sessions with a lesser legislative role. But now that Division I has adopted a new single annual legislative cycle that positions the January Management Council and Board of Directors meetings as the initial consideration of proposals, Plonsky said that may help revitalize Division I's interest in the Convention.

"Now that the cycle has been altered, that January period becomes a very opportune time for collective discussion and forums," Plonsky said of legislative review sessions set for the Convention. "That leads into the membership comment period, cabinet review and a final vote in April. The timing is better now for meaningful membership involvement in January."

Although in the past, the Convention could be more accurately described as a no-frills business meeting, some in the membership -- specifically members of the Divisions II and III Convention Planning Committees -- have a different vision of what the Convention should be.

George Klebez, director of athletics at West Virginia Wesleyan College and a member of the Division II Convention Planning Committee, said he would like to see all three divisions come together during the Convention. He said the change in the governance structure that no longer requires Division I representatives to attend the Convention hurts the NCAA as a national organization because it reveals a separation -- an unintended consequence.

"We all face the same types of problems, just at different levels," he said. "We don't have that exchange anymore. I think trying to bring the organization together under one roof one time a year is a very sound and appropriate idea."

For Marcil, a new-look Convention should include opportunities for interdivisional relationship building and for celebrating successes within intercollegiate athletics.

"We hear so much from the public and in the media about some isolated concerns or problems, and we're always working to address those, but I think, in the end, one reason the NCAA is approaching its 100th anniversary is the tremendous success that we have in terms of student-athletes being successful academically and athletically," Marcil said. "We should use the Convention to celebrate that."

Wilmington College (Ohio) President Dan DiBiasio, who also is a member of the Division III Convention Planning Committee, is pleased that the Convention is incorporating sessions aimed specifically at college and university presidents.

"My vision would be to try to create more programming specifically for presidents that would cause them to gain value from attendance," he said.

Ledwin said she thinks everyone, including presidents, has a responsibility to attend and participate in the Convention.

"To me, the Convention serves as an opportunity to hear all sides of the issues, all sides of what people are dealing with and it gets me out of my own little world," she said. "I think if the Convention can do anything, it's that -- to get us out of our rut."

The enhancements planned for the 2004 Convention and beyond are designed to do just that.

2004 NCAA Convention enhancements

Student job fair

Involvement of "host" institution

Complimentary shuttle service

NCAA Beyond the Game Tour (presented by CBS Sports)

Presidential-only programming

"Cyber cafe"

Use of Nashville Sports Commission volunteers as information providers

NCAA News delivered to hotel rooms

Additional graphics/improved signage

Selected hotel staff in NCAA apparel