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NCAA News Release

Division II Presidents Pledge Leadership to Improve Campus Game Environments

For Immediate Release

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Contact(s)


Stacey Osburn
Associate Director of Public and Media Relations
317/917-6117


INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA Division II Presidents Council and conference board officers gathered Wednesday to discuss a number of issues and initiatives facing Division II, including a new focus for fostering a positive game environment on Division II campuses across the country. The 30 campus leaders from across the country also discussed a values study that makes a business case for Division II membership as a destination.

The focus on game environment serves as the next objective in the Division II strategic-positioning platform.

“Our member institutions have embraced community engagement on their individual campuses, and a focus on game environment is the natural next step,” said Mike Racy, vice president of Division II. “As we move forward, we must provide a civil, comfortable, entertaining experience that is in line with the overall higher education experience to ensure that those fans who were welcomed on Division II campuses through community engagement will want to return.”

While many believe game environment is synonymous with sportsmanship, the game environment efforts in Division II are comprised of factors other than behavior. The three categories of these factors include comfortable and inviting facilities; lively and entertaining experiences; and civil behavior by coaches, fans and student-athletes.

During the presidents meeting, the Division II leadership created a mission statement to guide these game environment efforts.

“The Division II Presidents Council and representatives from Division II conference governing boards affirm that athletics events should reflect the values of higher education and the mission of each institution,” the statement reads. “Division II emphasizes learning and development in a personal setting.

As presidents, we are concerned about the uncivil behavior being exhibited at college athletics contests and hereby pledge to work together to make respectful, family-friendly events a standard of the Division II experience.”

According to Stephen Jordan, president of Metropolitan State College of Denver and Division II Presidents Council chair, this statement is the first step in a game environment movement within the division.

“As conference and institution presidents, the leaders attending Wednesday’s meeting pledged their commitment to ensuring a positive game environment within the Division II experience,” said Jordan. “This dedication starts with sharing this statement and the greater message with their respective conference members and presidential peers.”

In a step to provide helpful tools to member schools, Division II is expanding its community-engagement Web site at www.diicommunity.org to include resources and success stories about game-environment issues. The web site launched today with almost 50 suggestions already from Division II members about staging a positive game environment, and those examples are expected to grow as more members utilize the site in the coming months.

Along with the launch of the game-environment online tools, the NCAA also launched another resource for its member institutions today. Division II conference and university presidents discussed a financial study that explores the real cost of investments made through the Division II partial-scholarship model. The study assists institutions in better defining the impact Division II student-athletes have on campus culture, tuition and other institutional revenue, as well as provide a simulation model to assist schools in reviewing their own partial scholarship awarding practices. The model is available to member institutions and conferences today online at https://web1.ncaa.org/dashboard/exec/simulation?version=DII. The tutorial and instructional videos for the model will be added to the website in the next few weeks.

NCAA Division II is one of the three membership divisions within the NCAA, which overall comprises more than 1,200 institutions, conferences and affiliated organizations. Division II is a group of institutions and conferences that serve more than 75,000 student-athletes nationwide, including in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The emphasis for the student-athlete experience in Division II is a comprehensive program of learning and development. The Division II approach provides growth opportunities through academic achievement, learning in high-level athletic competition and the development of societal attitudes in service to the community. The balance and integration of these different areas of learning provide Division II student-athletes with a path to graduation while cultivating a variety of skills and knowledge for life ahead.

 

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