Kelsey Ackerman | Sports Co-Editor
Effective May 11, Amy Santucci took over the position as Assistant Director of Athletics (AD) at Buena Vista University (BVU).
Santucci’s previous position at BVU was Administrative Assistant of Athletics. Santucci comes to BVU with a diverse background in sports management, administration, facility management, athletic training, and coaching.
“I have worked in a variety of settings within athletics, management, and health care. I believe my diverse background will bring a unique prospective to the job,” Santucci said.
The position of Assistant AD has been open since previous Assistant AD, Jennifer Thompson, left BVU on December 1, 2014.
“This job opening appealed to me because I wanted to opportunity to keep working in an environment that fosters collaboration, teamwork, and success on all levels. Also being apart of an institution that provides our student-athletes the best possible experience during their time here at BVU, where we really care about the students academically, athletically, and their general well-being,” Santucci said.
The duties of an Assistant AD include but are not limited to: handling most of the annual mandatory reporting needed for the Department of Education, the NCAA, and the IIAC, assisting with NCAA and IIAC compliance questions, assisting with eligibility monitoring, overseeing game management, managing the BV Shop (athletics merchandise store), supervising the student workers in the department, and a new duty after prioritization, monitoring the Cheer and Dance programs.
“First and foremost, we were looking for someone with an athletics administration background both educationally and experience-wise. We were also hoping to find someone with Division III experience. After these, we were looking for someone with the right fit for BV and more specifically for our department,” Director of Athletics Christyn Abaray said.
The search committee, comprised of individuals including a few coaches, other department staff, and Abaray, had a big task with 180 applications from all around the country. Once finalists were chosen, Abaray wanted to make sure a student voice was heard, so several student athletes had lunch with the candidates and gave their feedback. The search committee eventually came to the conclusion and Santucci was in fact the best choice for BVU.
Santucci now has the task of transitioning from current position of Administrative Assistant to Assistant AD.
“I’m so excited for this. It’s essential that Amy develop her administrative presence. We will make sure this happens with clearly defined job responsibilities, creating ways for her to assert herself, time, and patience,” Abaray said.
With a new Assistant AD comes the possibility of changes. While Santucci doesn’t have anything major in mind, there are small changes she would love to see around campus.
“I hope to build upon the collaboration that already exists between departments on campus and see how we can strengthen these ties to offer our student-athletes an even more meaningful experience. I would love to see how we can increase support for out teams both on campus and in the community,” Santucci said.
With Santucci taking over as Assistant AD, her previous job title, Administrative Assistant of Athletics no longer exists due to prioritization cuts.
Photo courtesy of University Marketing & Communications
