President Jo Ann Gora's homework Wednesday night was a stack of 31 applications that have arrived at Ball State since the soon-to-be vacant athletic director position was officially listed last Thursday.
Gora is chairing the seven-member search committee to find a replacement for Tom Collins, who announced in January his intention to leave Ball State when his contract ends June 30. Gora said she has been pleased with the response so far to the opening, and expects to receive more applications in the next month.
But she planned on getting an early look at those that have arrived so far.
"They're right here on my lap," she said. "I'll start taking a look at them tonight."
Gora said she is expecting to get strong applications from both current athletic directors at smaller schools and associate athletic directors at Bowl Championship Subdivision schools.
"Each of those portfolios gives the candidate a range of experience that makes them qualified for this position," Gora said.
Of the 11 athletic directors in the Mid-American Conference (Buffalo is using an interim athletic director after Warde Manuel left to take the same job at Connecticut two weeks ago), only one, Western Michigan athletic director Kathy Beauregard, does not fit this profile. She is the longest-serving MAC athletic director, the only woman in the role and the only one to have been promoted internally.
Gora, however, said she would give serious consideration to any candidate that meets the qualifications in the job listing, which are broad and far-reaching. Gora said she views the athletic director as the equivalent of a vice president at Ball State.
"This person is responsible for athletics and all of athletics," she said. "Yes, this person has to be a good fundraiser. Yes, they have to be able to communicate with a wide variety of audiences, to recruit good coaches and make difficult personnel decisions when needed.
"This person is responsible for every element of athletics."
The hiring process will vary depending on how many applications Ball State receives. No matter what, Gora said she expects to go through several rounds of interviews, either by phone or teleconference, before bringing any finalists to campus. Ultimately, the goal is to have a new athletic director by the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
While Gora is confident the Ball State job is an attractive one, she wants to make sure the position looks as attractive as possible as the search progresses in the coming months.
"Candidates have many choices," she said. "In addition to our reviewing of candidates, we need to be mindful of the fact the candidates will be reviewing us. We need to sell the university to them."
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