Monday, February 4, 2008

LANDMARK CONFERENCE WILL HOST ACADEMIC COLLABORATION/INTEGRATION INSTITUTE

MADISON, N.J. – The Landmark Conference will host its first Academic Collaboration/Integration Institute Feb. 5-6 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The two-day event will bring together administrators and student-athletes from each of the eight institutions in the Division III athletics conference in an effort to try and foster collaborative efforts in areas of collegiate life outside of athletics.

Attending the Institute will be the Chief Executive Officers, Chief Academic Officers, Athletics Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Advisors for all eight Landmark institutions, as well as two Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members from each institution.

The featured speakers for the Institute will be Daniel T. Dutcher, the NCAA Vice President for Division III and Dr. Christopher Thomforde, the President of Landmark Conference member Moravian College and a former Division I student-athlete at Princeton University.

“This Institute is a major step in achieving one of the principle missions of the Landmark Conference which is to produce collaborative efforts between our institutions outside the realm of athletics,” said Landmark Commissioner Dr. John Reeves. “We are fortunate to have people with the expertise of Dan Dutcher and the experience and background of Chris Thomforde to insure that this is a positive, worthwhile event.”

The Institute will begin on Tuesday Feb. 5 with a presentation from Dutcher regarding the membership issues currently facing Division III. Following that will be a reception and dinner with informal meetings among the constituency groups.

The event will resume Wednesday morning with roundtable discussions between and among the various constituency groups. Topics will include academic collaboration in areas such as study abroad, research and grant submissions, the role of athletics in the Division III community, integration of faculty into athletics, sportsmanship initiatives and membership issues facing Division III. Each roundtable will be followed by a breakout session with each group reporting on its discussion. The goal of the discussions will be to provide the Landmark office with one action item for follow-up for the calendar year.

The Institute will conclude on Wednesday with a presentation by Thomforde about the challenges and benefits of properly balancing athletics and academics.

“We believe the Institute provides a wonderful opportunity for the leaders of our institutions to meet and discuss relevant issues face-to-face, and to be inspired by the energy surrounding the Landmark Conference,” said Dr. Tom Kepple, President of Juniata College and chair of the Landmark Conference Executive Board. “To hear from all of these constituencies, particularly our outstanding student-athletes, will be beneficial for everyone and we look forward to making great progress over the course of the two days.”

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 courtesy of the Landmark Conference