For the second straight year, presidents of Division III member schools are expected to make their presence felt at the NCAA Convention – and again, it doesn’t have much to do with the legislative agenda.

More than 100 presidents preregistered to attend this year’s Convention, and all will have an opportunity at some time this week to react to a set of “white papers” recently issued by the Division III Presidents Council to address issues related to continuing membership growth.

After dealing with this year’s relatively light legislative agenda, the entire membership has an opportunity during Saturday’s business session to hear a report from the Presidents Council on the status of those discussions.

However, the substance of the “white papers” also tops the agenda for the Council’s meeting Thursday, and will be the primary topic at a Friday luncheon open to all Division III institutional presidents attending this year’s Convention.

More than 120 presidents made their presence known during both the issues forum and the business session at last year’s Convention, as Division III considered whether to restructure its membership into smaller groups. Several voiced a desire to work within the current structure to address issues stemming from Division III’s size and diversity of institutional missions – a stance that ultimately prevailed in a membership survey last spring.

In response to those survey results and a subsequent series of “town hall meeting,” the Presidents Council is attempting to lay out the issues facing Division III – and options for addressing them – through the “white papers” series. The papers were distributed to institutional presidents and shared with the division’s membership in September.

The stated purpose of the papers is to “clearly articulate the characteristics that make Division III distinctive while simultaneously deciding how to best accommodate the future growth and diversity within the existing structural framework of the division.”

The papers cover a variety of issues, but the Council has focused much of its attention during the rollout of the initiative on the role that presidents play – and leadership they might provide – in Division III governance. It also has indicated interest in re-examining the Division III philosophy statement, and then using it to better define and promote the division’s identity.

Christopher Newport President Paul Trible, who will succeed John Fry of Franklin & Marshall as chair of the Presidents Council after the Convention, believes the past year’s discussions have captured presidents’ attention.

“It seems to me we should seize this moment, when we have people’s attention, and perhaps sharpen our focus – state more clearly what it is we believe,” he said.

This year’s Convention potentially offers a platform for involving presidents in the initiative, by equipping them to lead the effort.

The Council’s leadership is expected to seek feedback from colleagues attending Friday’s luncheon about issues identified in the papers, as well as how those issues should be prioritized and what related timetables might be established.

Because most conferences will hold meetings during the afternoon following the luncheon, presidents also will be asked to lead discussions then and during coming months within their leagues about the highest-priority issues and possible responses.

Judging from preregistration figures, presidents at least are interested in how Division III will address those issues. The Presidents Council now will be considering how to turn that interest into action.