Outgoing UIndy AD Reflects on Career
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe vice president of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Indianapolis will retire at the end of the academic year following a 45-year career at the school. Sue Willey has spent the last 17 years as the university’s athletic director and says her successor will have some of the same challenges facing many schools throughout the state and country.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business sports contributor Bill Benner, Willey talked about some of the challenges she was able to overcome during her tenure.
“When I first started as the AD, we has many programs that were led by part-time coaches, so one of the goals was first to get all the head coaches to be full-time and we’ve certainly progressed from there,” said Willey. “Another challenge, another vision that we had was that we’d like to get our sports fully-funded for the NCAA and thankfully with the help of the administration and the university understanding the benefits of our athletics, that has occurred.”
Willey said not only is the athletics program at UIndy thriving, but she praised the university’s coaches and student-athletes. She said in the previous academic year, every team in every sport had a grade point average of 3.0 or better both semesters, marking a first in UIndy’s history.
Willey adds the person selected to replace her as athletic director will continue to face challenges.
“With the decline of graduating seniors in Indiana, for all institutions right now, enrollment is the big question. Enrollment then, for a private institution, goes to budget. Budgets are always a concern and something that we have to look at and plan for, be proactive.”
In addition to her work at UIndy, Willey also served in multiple roles with the Indianapolis-based NCAA. She currently serves as chair of the Division II Championships Committee, a role she will also relinquish upon her retirement.
“Everybody wants to be on that committee so I was thrilled to get on it and I’ve been very fortunate to the chair for the last two years. I’ve served on a lot of different committees but obviously, when we think about the NCAA and we think about our student-athletes, we think about championships and so that’s the work that we’ve been doing.”
Willey is a 1975 graduate of UIndy and was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.