Most of the newest members of Division III -- those who recently have participated in provisional-member education -- already know the merits of a new active-member education and communication program that will be introduced at the 2005 Convention.

That's because many of the program's components originally were created to help prospective member institutions learn about Division III, its philosophies and its active members' best practices.

"It's important that we take care of our own," says Tim Downes, director of athletics at Franklin & Marshall College and chair of the Division III Membership Committee, which recently decided to pull those components together into an educational package that now will benefit all Division III members year-round.

The new program -- which seeks to ensure that institutional personnel have the knowledge and information needed to successfully manage a Division III intercollegiate athletics program -- will be introduced during the division's business session January 10 in Dallas.

The program will better organize existing educational opportunities -- such as regional rules seminars and institutional self-study -- alongside new activities, including professional-development programs scheduled in conjunction with the Convention, beginning in 2006.

It also incorporates the various channels of communication that recently have been opened by Division III governance groups and the NCAA staff, including conference visits by Division III Management Council members and the membership services staff, virtual focus groups moderated by Council members, and such tools as the quarterly Division III Newsletter and a monthly e-mail update for conference commissioners.

"The genesis of this is that over the past four years or so the Membership Committee has been working very hard on developing and refining a provisional-member education process," Downes said. "When we looked at our work there, it struck us that we were offering a nice educational package, and that led us to focus on what we are doing for active members.

"Our analysis was, there is a lot we are doing currently, and we also have some new ideas and new delivery methods. This package is a way of centralizing, organizing and communicating this for the membership."

Using technology

The program incorporates several features that already are familiar to at least portions of the active membership, such as the annual regional rules seminars and the Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG), which institutions are obligated to complete once every five years.

But it also includes new initiatives that take advantage of technology, such as the recently introduced "Get in the Game" CD-ROM that was developed last summer to assist institutions with student-athlete orientation -- and that soon will be expanded for use by institutional chief executive officers, faculty athletics representatives, senior woman administrators and others. It also will provide advice on enhancing the role of campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees.

The program also incorporates various types of online communication -- including a monthly e-mail to conference commissioners that succinctly lists key topics and upcoming deadlines, and items such as a "Compliance Corner" column in the quarterly Division III Newsletter -- that are designed to put useful information directly into administrators' hands, rather than making them seek it out themselves.

"We're thinking of creative ways to get information to the membership," Downes said. "We're looking at ways to use technology, to better use conference offices and the NCAA Web site."

Existing programs will benefit not only from that creativity, but also from programming that will result from a developing partnership between the NCAA and the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA).

One anticipated result is the creation of an NADIIIAA convention, which would be scheduled in conjunction with regional rules seminars beginning in spring 2006. The convention would provide an opportunity for Division III athletics directors, senior woman administrators, compliance personnel and coaches to benefit from a range of educational and professional-development programming at one location.

The partnership also promises to help make the regional seminars themselves more attractive to Division III administrators.

"It's a concerted effort to make the regional seminar trip more meaningful, by linking it to another event," said Leah Nilsson, NCAA associate director of membership services, who serves as staff liaison to the Division III Membership Committee. "That linkage appropriately takes into consideration the constraints on budget and time for Division III administrators."

NADIIIAA also will assist in developing Division III-specific programming at the NCAA Convention, where rules-education sessions will be added to current programming such as Association-wide education sessions, diversity workshops and job fairs.

"This idea of partnering is something we haven't done before," Downes said. "It's creative, and it's practical."

Encouraging usage

Although several of the program's components are new, many previously have been available to member institutions -- and some have never been fully used. Thus, another purpose of the new program is to make sure schools know about the range of available opportunities and to encourage their use.

"Even though we had the programs, we found the membership wasn't taking advantage of what we had to offer to them," said Susan Peal, NCAA assistant director of membership services, who also works with the Membership Committee.

Those programs range from the long-established conference-contact program -- through which institutions can obtain not only legislative and interpretive assistance via e-mail and telephone, but also personal visits by staff members to conference meetings -- to a variety of grants that institutions can obtain from Division III to start or enhance campus programs.

The informational components of the new program include a calendar that will be distributed before every academic year. It will list scheduled Association-wide and Division III committee meetings, grant deadlines and start dates, championships dates, and other relevant information.

Most of the program's components, however, take aim at achieving the primary goal: helping institutions sponsor solid athletics programs in compliance with Division III philosophy and values. That, in fact, was the primary purpose of educational programs for provisional members.

"Those are some of the things we want to carry over into the active membership," Downes said.

Even as institutions achieve that goal, administrators at those schools also should benefit personally from the program's professional-development and networking opportunities.

"What we're attempting is to take existing educational programs, and organize and communicate them to the membership, and where needed, to enhance those programs," Downes said. ""We're providing the opportunity for the active membership to take advantage. Whether they really want to is left up to them, but these are some great professional-development tools."

The new program will be introduced soon after the mid-morning break during the Division III business session. Joining Downes in presenting the program will be Chris Martin, commissioner of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and a member of the Division III Membership Committee, and Cathie Schweitzer, director of athletics at Springfield College and NADIIIAA vice-president.