NCAA Convention delegates will have the opportunity to attend a variety of educational sessions designed for representatives from all three divisions. Session topics highlight the theme "An Association Providing Leadership in Changing Times" by exploring the ways in which the societal, cultural and technological transformations over the last 10 years have shaped the face of intercollegiate athletics. The sessions will arm administrators with the knowledge to guide their institutions in the future.

Among the more popular sessions for pre-registrants is one that seeks to get at the heart of the identity of the new generation of student-athletes. Entitled "Keeping Up With The Times: Meeting the Changing Needs of Today’s Student-Athletes," the session will help athletics administrators understand the culture of student-athletes, discussing everything from the popularity of social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace and personal digital music players like iPods to the influences of parents and self-perceptions.

Becky Ahlgren Bedics, associate director of education outreach, said classes on hip-hop culture and other influences on today’s generation are taught on campuses nationwide, and many athletics administrators would benefit from learning about the culture in which their student-athletes live.

"The concept of a generation gap is nothing new," Bedics said. "But coming into this generation, there has never been as much of a technology gap."

A panel of educators and researchers will discuss the evolution and history of student-athlete culture.

A related session, "New Media: Grasping the Opportunities of Changing Technology," will explore the opportunities afforded to the athletics community by advances in technology. The session will focus on recognizing promotional and communication opportunities such as using the Internet to broadcast games or creating podcasts with coaches and administrators.

Josh Centor, the NCAA coordinator of new media, will lead a discussion about how to package their product effectively using all the different technologies available to them.

"Athletics administrators need to create an environment in which fans, student-athletes, alumni and other interested parties have easy access to their product," Centor said.

The session also will focus on how technology such as blogs can be used to carry the message of an institution and its athletics department.

"Blogs like the Double-A Zone (the official blog of the NCAA) give fans and critics a more realistic view of the landscape of college sports," he said.

Pfeiffer University President Charles Ambrose will join others on the panel, and Centor said that presidential leadership was an important element in embracing new technology.

"When the person running the institution is invested and committed, it’s a signal that the athletics department should stay on top of changing technology," he said.

Another session expected to generate interest is one revealing the preliminary results from the Study of College Outcomes and Recent Experiences (SCORE) and the Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students in college study (GOALS).

The SCORE and GOALS research is the NCAA’s most ambitious effort to understand the lives and experiences of student-athletes on campus. Officials believe the data garnered from the studies will shape NCAA policy in the coming years.

The SCORE research involved more than 8,000 elite student-athletes who graduated high school in 1994. The participants were surveyed about academic attainment, career paths, health and well-being, inclusion, and satisfaction with their college experience. The GOALS study surveyed 20,000 current student-athletes from all three divisions about similar issues with an additional section devoted to in addition to time commitments.

NCAA Managing Director of Research Todd Petr said the comprehensive studies had been considered for some time before they were conducted, and two books published on the subject — "The Game of Life" by William G. Bowen and James L. Shulman and "Reclaiming the Game" by Bowen, Shulman, Sarah A. Levin and Colin G. Campbell — inspired the more comprehensive research found in SCORE and GOALS.

"We have long noted that we can explain only so much about student-athlete academic success by knowing things like high school and college academic variables," Petr said. "There are all kinds of other factors that lead to success or failure in college, and we wanted to know much more about these other issues."

The results will be interesting not only to the intercollegiate athletics community, but also to others involved with higher education. Petr said the research staff is "excited to have the opportunity to understand the issues and challenges facing student-athletes better than we ever have."

A panel of student-athletes will be involved in the session.