The College of Western Idaho is advertising for an athletic director — a possible step toward entering intercollegiate athletics.
BoiseDev reported first on the job opening last week.
“I think the opportunity to give our community additional opportunities to marry their academic and extracurricular activities — in this case, athletics — is pretty special,” CWI President Gordon Jones told BoiseDev’s Erin Banks Rusby.
CWI, Idaho’s largest community college, does not compete in sports. Two of Idaho’s community colleges, North Idaho College and the College of Southern Idaho, have intercollegiate sports; the College of Eastern Idaho does not.
According to the job posting, CWI wants its $125,000- to $190,000-a-year athletic director to “design, launch and lead” a comprehensive junior college athletics program. The job description spells out several strategic goals, including:
- Creating a multiyear launch plan, carried out as “endowment milestones are met.”
- Conducting feasibility studies for several possible women’s and men’s programs, such as soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, rodeo, volleyball and cross country.
- Securing and managing access to athletic facilities, on and off campus.
- Planning for Title IX compliance.
- Deciding on hiring phases for future athletics staff.
The athletic director will report directly to Jones.
The application deadline is March 18.
CWI will fund the athletic director’s job through student fees, not taxpayer dollars, Jones told BoiseDev.
Last year, CWI acquired one possible athletics venue: the Ford Idaho Center, adjacent to the school’s main campus in Nampa. The center, which hosts the Snake River Stampede rodeo each summer, had been owned by the city of Nampa, but CWI acquired it in December through a no-cash transfer.
