Executive Search Profile USA South Athletic Conference Commissioner
USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its search for a Commissioner. The USA South seeks a dynamic and visionary leader who will guide this NCAA Division III Conference with exemplary management and supervision skills. The Commissioner will oversee and manage all facets of the conference office and ensure efficient and sound administration of all conference activities, as well as representation on regional and national committees and organizations. Interested candidates should demonstrate a commitment to the NCAA Division III philosophy. History One of the oldest Division III conferences in the nation, the USA South was born as the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1963 when six institutions with similar philosophies of academics and athletics joined as founding members. The original members were: Charlotte College (now UNC-Charlotte), College of Charleston (SC), Methodist College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and Lynchburg College. The basis for the new athletic conference was that participation would be strictly amateur, and thus no athletically awarded financial aid or athletic scholarships would be awarded. That philosophy still exists today. In February 2003, it was announced that the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference would change its name to the USA South Athletic Conference. The name change was made official on July 1, 2003 and the first USA South Athletic Conference championships were awarded in the fall of 2003. The Conference was originally affiliated with
the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and remained with that affiliation until 1973. At that time the NCAA divided into three legislative and competitive divisions, with Division III allowing membership for nonathletic scholarship institutions only. The Dixie joined the NCAA, and in so doing, became one of the first conferences accepted into Division III. Since the inception of Division III, the USA South has been a leader in many areas, and has gained an outstanding regional and national reputation in a number of sports. The USA South sponsored athletic programs for men only until 1981. In that year, the NCAA expanded its sponsorship to include women s sports, and the Dixie followed that lead by including women s sports. Mission The Conference exists to promote and coordinate intercollegiate athletics for the member institutions through the development and maintenance of quality programs that include comprehensive educational experiences in an integrated campus environment. Included is an emphasis on good sportsmanship and fair and equitable competition.
Membership Presently, the Conference features 13 institutions, five in North Carolina, three in Georgia, three in Virginia, one in Alabama and one in Tennessee. The USA South will welcome three new members in 2016-17 as Agnes Scott College, Salem College and Wesleyan College bring the total membership to 16 institutions. Agnes Scott College, founded in 1889, is an independent national liberal arts college for women located in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area. Enrollment is 915 students representing 43 states and territories and 32 countries. The Scotties have six varsity teams: basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. Averett University, founded in 1859, is a four year college, private and co-educational, located in Danville, Virginia, with over 1,950 total students including more than 840 traditional undergraduates from 25 states and 11 countries. Averett participates in 13 sports in the USA South. Covenant College, founded in 1955, is a Christian liberal arts college located in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Covenant s enrolls more than 1170 students offering baccalaureate and master s degrees. Covenant joined the USA South Athletic Conference in the 2013. The College has 13 varsity squads and junior varsity teams compete in seven sports. Ferrum College, founded in 1913, is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia. Ferrum is a four-year primarily residential college with easy access to the major metropolitan area of Roanoke, Virginia. The 1,500 men and women who attend Ferrum come from 25 states and a dozen countries, and 80-plus percent live on Ferrum s 700-acre campus. The institution offers 20 sports for their student athletes.
Greensboro College, founded in 1838, provides undergraduate students a liberal-arts education while also offering four master s degrees. Greensboro College provides a coeducational and independent learning atmosphere with approximately 1,000 undergraduate students from 24 states, the District of Columbia, and 24 nations. Greensboro College offers a 17-sport NCAA Division III athletic program. Huntingdon College, founded 1854, is located on a 73-acre campus in a residential neighborhood of Montgomery, Alabama. There are approximately 1,100 students in traditional day and evening degree completion programs, representing nearly every county in Alabama, approximately 30 states, and several countries. With a liberal arts core curriculum, a broad range of academic majors is offered. Huntingdon s intercollegiate teams include 15 varsity sports. LaGrange College, founded in 1831, is the oldest private college in Georgia. LaGrange, Georgia is the home of LaGrange College and is approximately 60 miles southwest of Atlanta. LaGrange s enrollment is about 1,000 students representing 19 states and 10 countries offering more than 55 academic and preprofessional programs. LaGrange College participates in 16 sports. Mary Baldwin College was founded as Augusta Female Seminary in 1842 and became Mary Baldwin College in 1923. The historic main campus is located in downtown Staunton, Virginia in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. 667 undergraduate women are enrolled in Mary Baldwin College. Degrees offered are Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Social Work. Mary Baldwin student-athletes participate in six NCAA Division III sports. Maryville College is situated in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville. Founded in 1819, Maryville is the 12th oldest college in the South and maintains an affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Total enrollment is 1,213 students, representing approximately 40 states, the District of Columbia and 30 other countries. More than 60 majors are offered, along with seven preprofessional programs. The College offers 14 men s and women s NCAA sports. Meredith College, founded in 1891, is a women s liberal arts college and coeducational graduate school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Meredith enrolls approximately 2,000 women in its undergraduate programs and 300 men and women in its graduate programs from 26 states and 39 countries. Meredith Avenging Angels compete in eight NCAA Division III sports. Meredith has been a Conference member since 2007.
Methodist University, was chartered in 1956 as a senior, coeducational liberal arts college in Fayetteville, NC. In the fall of 2006, in conjunction with the institution s 50th anniversary celebration, the College officially became Methodist University. The 617-acre campus serves approximately 2,400 students 1,750 in the day program, 500 in Methodist University at Night, and 150 in graduate programs. The University offers 20 intercollegiate sports. North Carolina Wesleyan College is a four-year co-educational college founded in 1956. The College enrollment is about 650 students in the traditional program on the 200-acre campus in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and a total of 1530 full time students at various North Carolina Wesleyan campuses in the surrounding area. North Carolina Wesleyan College participates in six men s sports and six women s sports. Piedmont College s 200-acre residential campus is located in Demorest, Georgia, in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains. Founded in 1897, Piedmont is a comprehensive liberal arts institution and also offers a variety of career-oriented majors in the arts and sciences, business, education, and nursing. Total enrollment at both campuses is approximately 2,200 students. Piedmont offers 11 intercollegiate sports. Salem College is a four-year liberal arts school for women located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Salem College is the 13th oldest college in the United States and the oldest women s college by founding date (1772). Salem offers undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, teacher licensure and certificate programs with a total enrollment of 1,100. The Salem College athletic program is composed of seven intercollegiate sports. Wesleyan College was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women when it was founded in 1836. Enrollment is nearly 700 students from across the United States and more than 20 countries. Wesleyan offers undergraduate degrees in 31 major and 28 minor academic programs. Located in Macon, GA, the 200-acre wooded campus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Wesleyan College Historic District. Wesleyan College offers five intercollegiate sports. William Peace University, founded in 1857, as Peace Institute, became William Peace University when it became co-educational in 2011. The University is located on a 21-acre campus in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. 20 majors are offered along with honors courses to its students. William Peace University fields 12 intercollegiate teams.
Athletic and Academic Excellence The Conference sponsors championships in men s and women s cross country, men s and women s soccer, women s volleyball, football, men s and women s basketball, baseball, softball, men s and women s tennis, men s golf and women s lacrosse for a total of 14 sports. When celebrating its 50th Anniversary year in 2013-14, the emphasis was on Fifty Years of Graduates and Champions! The Conference not only recognizes the participants for outstanding athletic achievements each year, but academic excellence as well. Student athletes who maintain academic averages of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale in both academic semesters are named to the Academic All-Conference team. This group annually averages well over 1,350 students. The Scalf Award is presented to the top male and female student-athlete annually and a Woman-of-the-Year is a highly coveted award. Each year, the President s Cup is awarded to the school that accumulates the most points throughout the academic year in sports that are sponsored by the USA South. In 2004-05, the President s Cup was changed to have one winner for men s sports and one winner for women s. In 2005-2006, the Conference began awarding a men s, a women s and an overall President s Cup. There have been several national championships in Conference sports. Conference men s golf teams have excelled with a total of 14 national championships, seven runner-up finishes and 9 individual national champions. Men s soccer teams have won 5 national titles and finished second on three occasions. The Conference also boasts two baseball national championship teams and a runner-up finish as well a men s tennis doubles team that finished second. On the women s side, there have been top two national finishes in basketball, volleyball, softball and soccer with an individual champion in women s tennis. The Conference SAAC sponsors two Conference-wide initiatives each year. Cans Across the Conference in the annual food drive and Pennies for a Purpose is the spring financial collections to assist local charities. Ferrum s President and the Commissioner have served on the NCAA Division III Management Council and Presidents from William Peace University and Christopher Newport University served on the NCAA Division III Presidents Council. Numerous Conference members have served on other various NCAA committees throughout the years.
position announcement USA South Athletic Conference commissioner The USA South Athletic Conference invites applications and nominations for the position of Commissioner, a full-time, 12-month position. The Conference seeks a leader for its NCAA Division III athletics programs who will serve at the direction of the Presidents Council and is responsible for operations involving collegiate athletics among and between its member institutions. The Commissioner is the chief administrator of the 501(c)(3) corporation and manages all financial and legal matters as well. In addition to serving as the Conference s chief compliance officer and NCAA Division III representative, the Commissioner shall oversee all matters involving conference meetings, legislation, budgeting, marketing, education, eligibility, sportsmanship, championships, scheduling, awards and office management. The Commissioner shall also represent the conference in all regional and national committees and organizations. The USA South Athletic Conference celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2013. Originally named the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Conference began in 1963; its name was changed to the USA South Athletic Conference prior to the 2003-2004 academic year. The USA South will begin the 2016-2017 year with sixteen (16) full member institutions. The Conference exists to promote and coordinate intercollegiate athletics for the member institutions through the development and maintenance of quality programs that include comprehensive educational experiences in an integrated campus environment. Included is an emphasis on good sportsmanship and fair and equitable competition.
The membership of the Conference in 2016-2017 will include Agnes Scott College, Averett University, Covenant College, Ferrum College, Greensboro College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Mary Baldwin College, Maryville College, Meredith College, Methodist University, N. C. Wesleyan College, Piedmont College, Salem College, Wesleyan College and William Peace University. The USA South Athletic Conference sponsors championships in baseball, men s and women s basketball, men s and women s cross country, football, men s golf, women s lacrosse, men s and women s soccer, softball, men s and women s tennis and volleyball. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION Serve as Chief Operating Officer of the Conference. Administer, interpret, update and enforce the USA South Constitution/Bylaws/ Handbooks and Sportsmanship Code and NCAA Bylaws as they apply to the conference. Fiscal responsibility for the annual budget and a yearly audit of the Conference. Serve as the Compliance Officer for the conference, with initial responsibility for NCAA and USA South interpretations and rules enforcement; track student-athlete eligibility. Organize, support and administer all USA South meetings, serving as an ex-officio member; support all committee work, including SAAC. Review and rule on all hardship waiver applications. Monitor and promote sportsmanship; administer all Conference awards. Develop and manage championship schedules and assist host institutions with the execution of championships. Attend championships and present awards. Negotiate all service agreements and contracts and attend to all requirements and stipulations; coordinate with Presidents Council on legal matters.
Develop Conference schedules; provide oversight and responsibility for USA South Assignor s of Officials. Identify branding needs of the Conference and oversee their implementation; promote the Conference at the national level Request Hall of Fame nominees, oversee member selection, plan and organize the ceremony. Serve as conference liaison to NCAA; write proposals for and administer NCAA Grants. Serve on various NCAA and Division III Commissioners Association Committees; attend NCAA Convention and D3 Commissioners meetings. Ensure coordination and completion of NCAA Conference Self-Study every five years, as well as implementation of any corrective action plans. QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS & ABILITIES Bachelor s degree required, master s degree preferred. Preference will be given to the candidate who has experience working in a conference office or who can demonstrate a proven understanding of NCAA Division III. The ideal candidate will have worked in intercollegiate athletics for five (5) or more years. The candidate must demonstrate strong communication and organizational skills and must be able to work effectively with a variety of different institutions. The successful applicant will be able to successfully articulate the values of a liberal arts education and the role intercollegiate athletics plays in the development of student-athletes. The applicant will demonstrate examples of past and current leadership opportunities. 10
APPLICATION PROCEDURES Alden & Associates, Inc. is assisting the USA South Athletic Conference with this search. Interested applicants should view the Executive Search Profile for this position at www.aldenandassoc.com. Confidential review and screening of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applications and inquiries will be treated in strictest confidence. Complete applications should be received no later than January 20, 2016 for full consideration. Applicants must include three (3) separate documents: (1) resume; (2) letter of application that specifically addresses the above required qualifications; and (3) a listing of four references, including names, titles, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. Please note that applications must be submitted electronically in PDF format. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Final offer of employment is contingent on a successful background check. Apply for the position at: http://www.aldenandassoc.com/executive-search/current-searches.html Inquiries and nominations should be forwarded to: Ms. Andi Seger, Vice President Ms. Alfreeda Goff, Senior Associate Alden & Associates, Inc. 25 Sterling Road Florence, MA 01062 413-549-1635 andi@aldenandassoc.com alfreeda@aldenandassoc.com www.aldenandassoc.com 11