The Division III Presidents Council will tackle long-term initiatives alongside more immediate legislative questions during its summer meeting Thursday in Indianapolis.

Council members will consider ways to proceed with two of their top priorities – defining presidential leadership and promoting the division’s identity – in addition to making final decisions about whether to sponsor as many as seven legislative proposals at the 2010 Convention.

One of those legislative proposals would directly address a Council priority by amending the Division III philosophy statement. Council members agreed earlier this year that they will ask the Division III membership to support codifying the expectation that presidents and chancellors shall perform a leadership role in intercollegiate athletics at the institutional, conference and national levels.

The Council will review that proposal, as well as recent recommendations by the Division III Management Council to:

• Place fall and spring nontraditional seasons on the same footing by ending them five days before the beginning on an institution’s final exams.
• Change the way in which a student-athlete’s eligibility for a hardship waiver is calculated.

Legislative discussions always are an important component of the Council’s summer meeting because it is the group’s final opportunity to decide which proposals it will sponsor.

However, much of this year’s meeting will be devoted to another Council priority: Division III’s “identity initiative.”

After discussions Wednesday night with the Division III Chancellors and Presidents Advisory Group , the Council will consider a “strategic communications platform” that is expected to guide the division in promoting its approach to intercollegiate athletics and choosing appropriate methods for that purpose.