The College of Western Idaho has hired from within to fill its new athletic director’s position.

Hired in September as CWI’s assistant chief advancement officer for strategic initiatives, Mahmood Sheikh will now switch roles to oversee a startup in intercollegiate and intramural sports. The state’s largest community college has no athletic programs.

“Our ambition is to launch intercollegiate sports through an endowment-funded model to ensure annual operational costs are made available before the first season begins and throughout the sport’s history,” CWI President Gordon Jones said in a news release Wednesday, announcing Sheikh’s hire. “Rather than relying on yearly fundraising, this approach enables us to build high-quality, sustainable athletics supported by philanthropic contributions, in areas of interest to the Treasure Valley community.”

A native of Moscow and a University of Idaho alum, Sheikh had spent 14 years working in intercollegiate athletics. Before arriving at CWI, Sheikh had worked more than six years as the U of I’s senior associate athletic director for development, and executive director of the Vandal Scholarship Fund.

“As an Idahoan, I am fired up for this opportunity knowing that 98.6% of our student body hails from right here in the Gem State,” Sheikh said in Wednesday’s news release. “Our work in athletics and intramurals will align with CWI’s role of championing accessibility, safeguarding affordability, and designing strong pathways for students and student athletes.”

Sheikh begins his new job on June 1. Student fees will cover his $175,000-a-year salary as athletic director, CWI spokesman Ashley Smith said. Sheikh’s salary in his strategic initiatives role was $125,000 a year.

The A.D.’s hire comes less than six months after CWI acquired the Ford Idaho Center, which includes an indoor arena used for rodeos and other sporting events, and an outdoor horse park. The city of Nampa turned the complex over to CWI in a no-cash transfer.