December 18, 2014 10:58 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The task of running West Virginia University’s $77 million Department of Intercollegiate Athletics must continue following yesterday’s announcement that Oliver Luck is departing in January to assume a new role with the NCAA.
Keli Cunningham, Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director and now Interim Director of Athletics, has been assigned that responsibility.
“I feel extremely fortunate to lead such a great staff and an exceptional group of student-athletes during this period of transition,” Cunningham said during Thursday’s teleconference with members of the media. “In particular, I want to thank President (Gordon) Gee for having the confidence in me to serve in this capacity and I want to thank Oliver Luck as well for his mentorship over the past four years.”
For the past year Cunningham has worked closely with Luck on the day-to-day administration and management of the athletic department as his top senior administrator.
The Petersburg, West Virginia, native has had a key role within the athletic department for the past four years since first arriving in 2010 to administer West Virginia University’s compliance operations.
Prior to that, Cunningham served as Associate Athletic Director for Governance and Compliance at Maryland where she oversaw the day-to-day compliance initiatives for a Terp athletic program that sponsored 27 sports and provided support for more than 700 student-athletes per year.
Cunningham began her professional career working for the Big East Conference after receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees at West Virginia University.
“As a student at WVU I came here as a young lady trying to figure out what I wanted to do in the world and I always had a passion for athletics,” she said. “As an undergraduate student I was able to intern in the compliance office at the time and that provided an opportunity for me to pursue my master’s as a graduate assistant. From there doors just continued to open for me.”
Presently, she is overseeing a WVU athletic department that has undergone a considerable amount of change during the past four years under Luck’s leadership. No. 1 on the list is membership in the Big 12 Conference.
“I think West Virginia University is in a place where we’re in a strong conference and with that comes a lot of pressures and expectations,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of changes with coaching staffs and personnel matters, finances and infrastructure.”
Cunningham noted that change is also taking place throughout the industry.
“One of the real positives with our move to the Big 12 is that we have a lot of extra revenue coming in that we didn’t previously have,” she explained. “As we look at some of the things that we know are going to happen – the increase in scholarship costs, the likelihood of enhanced benefits and opportunities for student-athletes – we feel very good about what that picture is going to look like.”
Cunningham indicated on Thursday that she will be involved in the process of selecting a new athletic director.
“I certainly aspire to be an athletic director and I think everything I’ve done up to this point has positioned me for that opportunity. The timing for this, though, particularly as it relates to WVU … I’ve only been heavily involved in the administration and the day-to-day operations for the past year,” she said. “When I started at WVU in 2010 it was primarily in the area of compliance and then roughly a year after I got more involved with the administration, had some oversight in student administration and some other departments, but it’s really been within the last year that I’ve really seen that broad-based administrative perspective in a number of key areas.
“That may not be enough time,” she continued. “I believe any opportunity is one that you grow in and I’m certainly not saying that I’m not capable of doing the job, or wouldn’t be able to do it, but I think the opportunity for us and the candidates that are out there with extensive experience are potentially ones that we want to take a look at.”
Cunningham is also not sure how long the process will take to have a permanent athletic director in place.
“How active I am will depend on how long (the selection process takes) … if that’s weeks or months, but I anticipate being as active as the circumstances allow me to be,” she said.
Cunningham is confident that West Virginia University is in a position to hire an outstanding athletic director and she listed some of the qualities she believes the new AD must have.
“We need someone who is action-oriented,” she said. “We have a great foundation but there is still a lot that needs to be done so those things need to be seen through. We need someone who is intelligent and eager, someone who understands college athletics and also understands and is embracing of the landscape that is changing in the very near future.”
She concluded, “You can hire the best person for the job who is capable and competent, but I think the passion, energy and genuine interest in what you do is what sets apart someone who does a great job and someone who does an exceptional job. I believe that person is out there and this opportunity is one that can attract someone like that.”
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