The Division III Presidents Council is beginning to share its recently adopted strategic positioning platform with a variety of groups as it moves toward a formal unveiling of the new tool for sharpening the division’s identity.

Because the initiative is presidentially led, efforts continue to focus on sharing details of the platform with institutional presidents, who have been invited to participate in any of three telephone conferences scheduled for that purpose on November 17 and 30 and December 2 (the formal introduction to the entire membership will occur at the NCAA Convention in January).

But other elements of Division III’s membership also are beginning to review the platform, including a small group of “pilot” conferences whose leaders have been asked for advice on ways of putting that tool to practical use, as well as representatives of other constituencies ranging from faculty athletics representatives to sports information directors.

“We’ve not only shared the platform with pilot conferences, but we’ve attempted to drill down a little bit deeper and challenge the participants in those meetings to identify practical ways in which they could put the platform to use,” said Division III Vice President Dan Dutcher.

“We’ve asked, how do you communicate what Division III is about now, and how might you take the platform to better communicate what Division III is about in the future? And how might the national office help in putting the platform to practical use in their own campus-based communications efforts?”

Those discussions are helping shape the formal unveiling of the platform, scheduled during the Convention’s Friday-morning Division III issues forum.

The platform document describes Division III’s approach to intercollegiate athletics as combining rigorous academics, competitive sports and an opportunity for student-athletes to pursue a broad range of interests.

The document is intended for internal use by Division III and its conferences and member institutions as a blueprint for clearly articulating the division’s ideals more consistently.

Delegates can expect not only to learn details of the document during the launch in Atlanta, but also to learn about tools that will be made available to help put the platform to work at the institutional and conference levels, Dutcher said.

“The unveiling of the platform during the Convention will be more than just a discussion of the language contained in the platform,” he said.

“For example, we’re planning to produce a video that will portray the essence of Division III – something powerful, and something that can be used at the institutional level to help explain the Division III experience. We have some other ideas that the Presidents Council also will be considering before the Convention.”

Groups scheduled to learn more details about the platform in coming weeks include Division III conference commissioners, members of the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association, leaders of the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators and representatives of the College Sports Information Directors of America, as well as the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and chairs of Division III committees.

The Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, which will begin work on the division’s next two-year budget this month, also will be reviewing the platform with an eye toward incorporating it into the division’s strategic initiatives and providing funding for its use by the membership.

“This has been a very ambitious undertaking,” said Paul Trible, chair of the Division III Presidents Council and president at Christopher Newport.

“We have come a long, long way in a very short period of time. There is an element of truth in describing this initiative as historic because for many years there has been great debate and discussion within our division about who we are. That debate has focused more on our differences than what unites us.

“What this initiative was intended to do, in my mind, was to define, powerfully and persuasively, who we are, what we value, and what we aspire to be. And if it’s done properly – and it certainly is being done correctly – it will direct and define all that we do for years to come.”