Institutions Come Together For Landmark Institute
MADISON, N.J. – The Landmark Conference hosted its second
Collaboration/Integration Institute Feb. 3-4 at the Liaison Hotel
on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. The two-day event brought
together administrators, coaches and student-athletes from each of
the eight institutions in the Division III athletics conference in
order to cultivate collaborative efforts with a focus on
student-athlete welfare.
In attendance at the Institute were the Chief Executive Officers,
Athletics Directors, four head coaches, as well as two
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members from all eight
Landmark institutions. The event was made possible by funding from
the NCAA Strategic Initiative Grant program which is intended to
encourage collaboration and involvement of all
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| Landmark CEOs and ADs discuss conference issues. |
Division III constituent groups in planning, decision-making and
accountability of programming at the "local level" to achieve the
goals established in the strategic plan and the grant program.
The featured speaker for the Institute was Janet P. Judge, attorney
at law with a concentration on collegiate sports law and a former
student-athlete at Harvard/Radcliffe College
The Institute began on Tuesday Feb. 3 with a presentation from
Judge entitled “Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct and
Student–Athlete Welfare in sport for the student-athlete,
coach, parent(s) and the fan(s)”. The interactive
presentation focused on sportsmanship and the recent problems
student-athletes have been having in regards to internet
social-networking sites and the personal information that can be
gathered there and used to exploit them.
Following the presentation a reception was held with dinner and
roundtable discussion ensued. Various topics discussed included,
the awarding of financial aid in terms of athletic leadership;
first-aid, CPR and AED certification requirements for head coaches;
student-athlete nutrition; Division III philosophy and marketing;
pre-game music and its relation to sportsmanship; Facebook issues;
and the lack of female head coaches.
The Institute resumed on Wednesday morning with more group
discussions. Athletic Directors met with the Chief Executive
Officers in a collaborative effort to discuss issues such as:
working together to advance academic issues; data sharing; cost
containment; and student-athlete welfare issues.
While the AD’s and CEO’s met, the Head Coaches and
student-athletes broke into separate groups to continue discussions
on various topics. Coaches discussed issues regarding out of
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| Landmark SAAC members work to hammer out a Sportsmanship Award. |
season practice as well as recruiting technologies. The
student-athletes developed the criteria to be considered for a
Landmark Conference Sportsmanship Award as well as discussing the
developing relationship between SAAC and the Special Olympics.
Student-athletes were then given the opportunity to sit and discuss
with the coaches as equals previous topics of interest. At the
conclusion of the discussions and meetings, each constituency group
presented action items for the Landmark Conference to pursue in the
coming year.
The Institute concluded on Wednesday with closing remarks by Dr.
Christopher Thomforde, the President of Landmark Conference member
Moravian College and Chairman of the Landmark Executive Board.
He’s also a former Division I student-athlete at Princeton
University.
The Landmark Conference was officially formed in June of 2006 and
began competition in the fall of 2007. The conference is comprised
of eight colleges, universities and a service academy within the
mid-Atlantic region. The eight Landmark member institutions are:
Drew University, Goucher College, Juniata College, Moravian
College, Susquehanna University, The Catholic University of
America, The University of Scranton, and United States Merchant
Marine Academy.
Release written by Glenn Fitzgerald, Landmark Conference intern
