NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland – The most successful teams know the value of working together toward a common goal. Likewise, the dominant message from a Division II educational session January 16 at the NCAA Convention was that whether athletics departments are attached or separate from student affairs, partnerships between the two benefit student-athletes, the university and the community.

Panelist Rick Cole, vice president for institutional advancement and athletics at Dowling, said cultivating positive relationships with athletics and student affairs is critical. He said good first step toward doing that is identifying all the interdependencies between the areas. Then, Cole said, the focus should be on building relationships around those shared needs.

Panelists Karen Stromme of Minnesota Duluth and Debbie Ford of West Florida provided examples of successful partnerships. Stromme recounted how an initial outreach to student affairs led to student-athletes helping with an on-campus music concert. Through the activity, Stromme said the student-athletes felt like part of the campus and the relationship between the areas continued to develop. Later this winter, when the football team went on to win the Division II national championship, she was able to work with student affairs to organize a campus watch party that drew more than 500 students.

Ford, the vice president of student affairs at West Florida, described how her division partnered several units on campus to apply for an NCAA CHOICES grant. After successfully applying for the funds, the school launched an initiative that focused on curbing drinking and making healthy decisions. As a result of the effort, the institution has established a permanent alcohol coalition and developed a network of peer mentors, in which some student-athletes participate as mentors.

A fourth panelist, Tiffany Williams, a former Cameron student-athlete currently serving on the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, encouraged institutions to take advantage of the campus SAAC as a valuable campus resource.