INDIANAPOLIS --- Diversity and inclusion, campus integration, sports wagering and best practices are just a few of the topics to be discussed during the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conference September 30 – October 2 in Dallas.

NCAA Division III student-athletes, athletics administrators and coaches will gather to learn leadership skills and discuss opportunities and challenges that are specific to their division during the conference, which has the theme, “Connecting the Rhythms of Leadership.”

The mission of the Division III Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conference is to prepare student-athletes for leadership in a diverse and dynamic society. Student-athletes, coaches, and athletics administrators work together to facilitate critical dialogue, address Division III-specific issues and create the partnerships needed to impact positive change at the campus, conference and divisional levels.

“The purpose is to encourage student-athletes to create positive change on campus,” said Sarah Dufresne, NCAA assistant director of education outreach and coordinator of the leadership conference. “Student-athletes who attend this conference are encouraged to identify areas that are important to their campus, attend sessions about those issues and develop a plan of action to take back to their home campus.”

Student-athletes will learn leadership tools and skills, learn about the NCAA governance structure, the Division III philosophy and the role the Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs) and the student-athlete voice have in the NCAA. There will also be several information sessions and team-building exercises.

The following sessions will also be offered:
Creating an Effective SAAC: This session, led by national SAAC representatives, is designed to help those who wish to gain a basic understanding of the purpose and ideal structure of a campus or conference SAAC.

Campus SAAC Best Practices: This session is for those who work with a highly effective SAAC. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with national SAAC representatives, troubleshoot common SAAC issues and discuss best practices toward enhancing their campus or conference SAAC.

Diversity and Inclusion: Presented by Rodney Patterson, Full Circle Diversity Consulting, this session will prompt participants to explore the definitions of diversity and inclusion in athletics through an informative and interactive session, as well as focus on how differences are currently treated and how they should be treated in the future.

Sports Wagering: In this informative and interactive session, Deana Garner of the NCAA will review NCAA legislation and provide an update on the NCAA Gambling Survey. The session will also address associated health-risk behaviors as they relate to addictive and compulsive gambling. The speaker asks that participants bring their ideas on how the NCAA can best disseminate educational materials on, and create awareness around, sports wagering.

Division III Hot Topics Discussion: Participants will have the opportunity to discuss NCAA legislation and current Division III issues affecting student-athletes and provide feedback from the student-athlete’s perspective.

Other sessions include Sportsmanship, by Chuck Mitrano, conference commissioner of the Empire 8; and Nutrition and Performance by Timothy Weirman of Nutrition Education Services, Inc.
The student-athletes attending the conference represent a wide array of NCAA sports. Additionally, the Division III SAAC, which is the “voice of the student-athlete” within the NCAA governance structure, will have a strong presence at the conference by facilitating selected sessions.

The Division III Regional Leadership Conferences are conducted twice each academic year in different regions of the country. Each institution may send two student-athletes (three, if one is an ethnic minority or international student-athlete).

Conferences and institutions expected to attend include:
American Southwest Conference: Austin College; Concordia University at Austin; East Texas Baptist University; Hardin-Simmons University; Howard Payne University; LeTourneau University; Louisiana College; McMurry College; Mississippi College; Schreiner University; Sul Ross State University; Texas Lutheran University; University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; University of Texas at Dallas; and University of the Ozarks (Arkansas).

Great South Athletic Conference: Agnes Scott College; Fisk University; Huntingdon College; LaGrange College; Maryville College (Tennessee); Piedmont College; and Wesleyan College (Georgia).

Independent: Bennett College; California State University, East Bay; Chapman University; Chowan College; College of St. Scholastica; Colorado College; Martin Luther College; Menlo College; Meredith College; Mills College; Nebraska Wesleyan University; Rust College; University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of Dallas.

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Augsburg College; Bethel University (Minnesota); Carleton College; College of St. Benedict; College of St. Catherine; Concordia College, Moorehead; Gustavus Adolphus College; Hamline University; Macalester College; Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota; St. John’s University (Minnesota); St. Olaf College; and University of St. Thomas (Minnesota).

Northwest Conference: George Fox University; Lewis & Clark College; Linfield College; Pacific Lutheran College; Pacific University (Oregon); University of Puget Sound; Whitman College; and Willamette University.

Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Bridgewater College (Virginia); Eastern Mennonite University; Emory and Henry College; Guilford College; Hampden-Sydney College; Hollins University; Lynchburg College; Randolph-Macon College; Roanoke College; Sweet Briar College; Virginia Wesleyan College; and Washington and Lee University.

Provisional: Spelman College and University of Texas at Tyler. (A provisional member is a four-year college or university or a two-year upper-level collegiate institution accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency that has applied for active membership in the NCAA. Provisional membership is a prerequisite for active membership in the Association.)

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: California Institute of Technology; California Lutheran University; Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges; Occidental College; Pomona-Pitzer Colleges; University of La Verne; University of Redlands; and Whittier College.

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference: Centre College; DePauw University; Hendrix College; Millsaps College; Oglethorpe University; Rhodes College; Rose-Hulman Institute ofTechnology; Southwestern University (Texas); Trinity University (Texas); and University of the South.

University Athletic Association: Brandeis University; Carnegie Mellon University; Case Western Reserve University; Emory University; New York University; University of Chicago; University of Rochester; and Washington University in St. Louis.

USA South Athletic Conference: Averett University; Christopher Newport University; Ferrum College; Greensboro College; Methodist College; North Carolina Wesleyan College; Peace College; and Shenandoah University.

Upcoming conferences include Region 2 in January 2006, in Jersey City, New Jersey; Region 3 in October 2006; and Region 4 in January 2007. Locations for Region 3 and 4 conferences have not yet been determined. Additional information may be found at www.ncaa.org/leadership.