Five months after athletics director's exit, Fresno State begins search for a new one

More than five months after Jim Bartko resigned abruptly as athletics director, Fresno State has posted its opening for the position and formed a search committee that includes university administrators, coaches, staff and alumni.

The 14-person committee will be led by Debbie Adishian-Astone, the university’s vice president for administration and associate vice president for auxiliary services. University president Joseph Castro, football coach Jeff Tedford and swimming coach Jeanne Fleck are on the committee.

Fresno State will not hire an executive search firm; it used the search firm DHR International when hiring Bartko in 2014.

The posting closes May 20.

Steve Robertello has served as interim athletics director since Bartko resigned Nov. 6, 2017, continuing his duties as deputy athletics director while taking on management of the department and its 21 sports programs.

In that time Fresno State has fired Lauren Netherby-Sewell and hired Jonathan Winder as its volleyball coach, switched gears on a $60 million plan to renovate Bulldog Stadium, and hired men’s basketball coach Justin Hutson after Rodney Terry took a step back from the Mountain West Conference to start a rebuilding project at Texas-El Paso.

Fresno State had a school-record 60 student-athletes earn Mountain West all-academic team honors in the fall semester, including 24 in football.

It also had success on the field, with the football team going 10-4 under Tedford with a division title in the Mountain West Conference and Hawaii Bowl victory.

But the AD job has its challenges, starting with funding those 21 sports programs with a budget that in 2017-18 is $37.6 million and heavy in university support.

There are 33 schools that play football at the FBS level and have athletics budgets between $30 million and $50 million, according to data compiled by USA Today. Only one of those schools fields more teams than the Bulldogs since the addition this year of wrestling and women’s water polo.

New Mexico has 22 athletic programs and a budget around $33 million, but could eliminate programs in a department that has failed to meet budget in eight of the past 10 years, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The New Mexico Board of Regents on April 17 passed an athletics department budget that included a reduction in sports in future years.

Eastern Michigan, which also has 21 athletic programs and a budget around $30 million, announced in March it was cutting four sports at the end of the academic year.

The Fresno State athletics department has been without two key pieces since senior associate athletics director for development Franklin Alegria resigned in January and senior associate athletics director for business operations Terry Donovan was hired as athletics director at Stanislaus State in March.

The next athletics director also will have to find ways to generate additional revenue from football, which despite a 10-win season averaged only 30,632 in home attendance at 41,031-seat Bulldog Stadium.

Fresno State sold 15,692 season tickets last season, up slightly from 15,404 in 2016.

But ticket revenue has declined sharply over the past decade – in 2017-18 gate receipts accounted for $4.85 million of a $37.6 million budget, 12.9 percent; in 2009-10, gate receipts accounted for $6.76 million of an $18.4 million budget, 36.6 percent.

The renovation of Bulldog Stadium and plans to upgrade the Duncan Building and student-athlete village also are a large piece for the department.

Since ditching the $60 million Bulldog Stadium renovation started by Bartko in 2015, Castro has said Fresno State will use $45 million in university funds to modernize restrooms and concessions stands inside the 38-year-old stadium, replace worn and weathered seating between the 20-yard lines, and make other improvements. The university also is targeting $20 million in private donations to expand the student-athlete village, which includes the Duncan Building, Ricchiuti Academic Center, Meyers Family Sports Medicine Center and a strength and conditioning center.

This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Five months after athletics director's exit, Fresno State begins search for a new one."