A broad swath of Division III gets its first opportunity beginning this week to help shape ways in which the division will portray its distinctive approach to intercollegiate athletics for years to come.

Presidents, student-athletes, institutional and conference administrators, coaches and faculty are being encouraged to participate in an online survey exploring aspects of Division III athletics. The survey is an important step in an effort led by Division III presidents to create a “strategic communications platform” designed to translate the division’s philosophy of intercollegiate athletics into a clear and compelling “story.”

E-mail invitations to participate in the survey are being sent this week to every Division III institutional president, director of athletics, senior woman administrator and faculty athletics representative, as well as conference commissioners. It also is being sent to known “direct reports” such as vice presidents who oversee athletics programs.

Athletics directors and senior woman administrators will be asked to forward invitations to coaches and student-athletes.

“This is a thoughtful, multistep process that involves talking to representatives of the entire Division III community, gaining insight and ideas, and then – with excitement – telling our story,” said Division III Presidents Council Chair Paul Trible.

“The purpose of all this is to allow us to celebrate the special qualities of Division III and the success of our student-athletes, and to tell that story more powerfully and persuasively on our campuses, in our communities and throughout the country.”

Among other outcomes, the effort will better equip Division III member schools to explain to internal and external constituencies why they subscribe to the division’s approach to athletics.

“Division III presidents, working through the Presidents Council, are leading an effort to clearly identify the attributes that make the division distinctive in higher education and intercollegiate athletics,” said NCAA President Myles Brand.

“They begin this effort on high ground, working from Division III’s philosophy statement, which details several elements of Division III’s story – particularly its strong emphasis on ensuring that intercollegiate athletics is an integral part of the educational experience. They also will be able to build on the desire expressed last year by the membership during discussions about the division’s structure to move forward in unity.

“All of these factors – presidential leadership, a distinctive philosophy for the conduct of athletics and a common purpose – will be important in pursuing this opportunity to write the definitive answer to an important question: What is Division III?”

The effort has its roots in Division III’s decision last year not to restructure into smaller membership groups. That choice prompted the Presidents Council to write a series of “white papers” addressing various issues faced by the NCAA’s largest membership division.

One of those papers supported an “identity initiative” to first confirm a shared understanding of what the division stands for philosophically, then create a strategy for communicating those beliefs.

The online survey represents the first broad attempt to measure how various constituencies at Division III institutions perceive the division’s philosophy statement, and to better understand why student-athletes participate in member schools’ athletics programs.

Survey responses, along with input being collected this summer at gatherings ranging from Regional Rules Seminars to a meeting of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, will contribute to the creation of a strategic communications platform that will guide communications efforts by Division III.

The idea is to establish a consistent theme for use in telling Division III’s story, and for choosing whatever tools may be employed to “activate,” or put into action, the storytelling effort. Those tools could include slogans, signage, media, programming or other appropriate methods for use by Division III and its member institutions.

Current plans call for the Presidents Council to consider a platform during its meeting in August, and to present details and objectives of the program at next January’s NCAA Convention.

Trible suggests the platform will portray the membership’s shared belief in Division III’s approach to athletics.

“After everything is said and done, all of us who are participants in the Division III experience know why we’ve chosen that experience, and the qualities that make it so appealing to us and so important to our campuses and communities,” the Christopher Newport president said. “We simply haven’t been celebrating our successes and telling that story.

“So, the purpose of all this is to inform and inspire those efforts in the months ahead.”