Life In The Balance
In June 2005, 150 Division II chancellors and presidents initiated a comprehensive study of the division’s defining characteristics and key attributes. The Presidents Council surveyed three groups: (1) Division II campus and conference office personnel; (2) Division II student-athletes; and (3) the general public, identified as college sports fans. They sought to define the core values of Division II and to explain why schools choose to be Division II members. What resulted is the Division II strategic positioning platform. The platform includes this statement that describes the Division II student-athlete experience:
Life in the Balance. Higher education has lasting importance on an individual’s future success. For this reason, the emphasis for the student-athlete experience in Division II is a comprehensive program of learning and development in a personal setting. The Division II approach provides growth opportunities through academic achievement, learning in high-level athletics competition and development of positive societal attitudes in service to community. The balance and integration of these different areas of learning opportunity provide Division II student-athletes a path to graduation while cultivating a variety of skills and knowledge for life ahead.
In addition the platform emphasizes six key attributes that summarize the Division II student-athlete experience: