Tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) Ballroom, students are asked to gather for a forum regarding the hiring of the new athletic director and give their opinions and thoughts.
“We are eager to hear from people what sort of traits or experiences they think would be helpful in our next athletic director,” Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Fred Wood said.
This is the third forum to be held for the public regarding the hiring. ASUCD President Adam Thongsavat and Wood agree that it is crucial for students to be involved in the direction this decision will take the athletic program in.
“Adam and I were concerned that students weren’t involved enough, so we wanted to make this forum more student-focused,” Wood said.
Those involved hope that this meeting will break the attendance of the other two meetings, most importantly bringing in more of the student body.
“It’s going to be audience members who ask the questions and give their opinions, and I hope a lot of students show up and give their opinions and thoughts,” Thongsavat said.
The first meeting brought in approximately 70 people, and the second about 100, but not large numbers of students.
According to the 2011 UC Davis Athletics Strategic Audit, a “challenge exists to reestablish the ICA program to the competitive level of excellence of its past and to a level that is consistent with the Vision of Excellence for the campus as a whole.”
In an Oct. 5 letter Chancellor Linda Katehi sent to the members of the advisory committee, the chancellor reiterated the importance of this decision.
“[The new athletic director] will be a critically-important hire for UC Davis, not only for our Intercollegiate Athletics program but also for the campus as a whole as we aspire to meet our collective vision of excellence,” Katehi said.
The search for a new Athletic Director is something that the university as whole has not taken lightly, as it is a long, complicated process. The university hopes to choose a new athletic director by the end of Winter quarter or beginning of Spring quarter.
“From the moment that Greg Warzecka announced his retirement, we started to get a few people nominating others for the position of athletic director at UC Davis, or even individuals who were sending in their applications and resumes,” Wood said.
Because 75 percent of athletics is funded by undergraduate students, those involved in the new hiring wish for the students to have an opinion on who will be leading the program and, in turn, spending their money.
CHARLOTTE YOUNG can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
