Statement of Philosophy
Wilson College is a Division III member of the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA). The following statement, distributed by the
NCAA, describes the overall Division III philosophy:
Colleges and universities in Division III place highest priority on
the overall quality of the educational experience and on the successful
completion of all students’ academic programs. They seek to establish
and maintain an environment in which a student-athlete’s athletics
activities are conducted as an integral part of the student-athlete’s
educational experience, and in which coaches play a significant role as
educators. They also seek to establish and maintain an environment that
values cultural diversity and gender equity among their student-athletes
and athletics staff.
To achieve this end, Division III institutions:
- Place special importance on the impact of athletics on the
participants rather than on the spectators and place greater emphasis on
the internal constituency (students, alumni, institutional personnel)
than on the general public and its entertainment needs;
- Award no athletically related financial aid to any students;
- Encourage the development of sportsmanship and positive societal
attitudes in all constituents, including student-athletes, coaches,
administrative personnel and spectators;
- Encourage participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities for their students;
- Assure that the actions of coaches and administrators exhibit
fairness, openness and honesty in their relationships with
student-athletes;
- Assure that athletics participants are not treated differently from other members of the student body;
- Assure that athletic programs support the institution’s educational
mission by financing, staffing and controlling the programs through the
same general procedures as other departments of the institution;
Further, the administration of an institution’s athletics program (e.g.
hiring, compensation, professional development, certification of
coaches) should be integrated into the campus culture and educational
mission;
- Assure that athletics recruitment complies with established
institutional policies and procedures applicable to the admission
process;
- Assure that academic performance of student-athletes is, at a minimum, consistent with that of the general student body;
- Assure that admission policies for student-athletes comply with policies and procedures applicable to the general student body:
- Provide equitable athletics opportunities for males and females and give equal emphasis to men’s and women’s sports;
- Support ethnic and gender diversity for all constituents;
- Give primary emphasis to regional in-season competition and conference competition; and
- Support student-athletes in their efforts to reach high levels of
athletics performance, which may include opportunities for participation
in national championships, by providing all teams with adequate
facilities, competent coaching and appropriate competitive
opportunities.