Iowa's athletics department readies for personnel changes

RIVERSIDE — Mark Jennings entered through two sets of double doors at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, turned to his right and immediately ran into two longtime University of Iowa donors.

Jennings, UI's associate athletics director for donor and patron services, immediately shook hands and jumped into a conversation with Bob and Marillyn Schlutz of rural Columbus Junction. They laughed, talked and reminisced as they have dozens of times over the last 35 years.

'The first donation we ever made to the University of Iowa, Mark came down to my office,' said Bob Schlutz, who owned 18 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants and convenience stores before retirement. 'We've been contributing ever since. Each time a little more.

'Mark's a great guy. He never saw a stranger.'

Those interpersonal relationships have served both Jennings and the Iowa athletics department well. The department's budget has doubled in 10 years, from $46.3 million in 2006 to $93.5 million this fiscal year. Major projects — like an $89 million Kinnick Stadium renovation, a $55 million football operations center and a $47 million basketball practice facility — have taken place with Jennings at the forefront of a fundraising campaign.

For some, dealing with wealthy benefactors can be challenging. Jennings calls it a privilege. He considers some donors his closest friends with whom he spends vacations. Jennings also has been there for moments for which he'd like a recall.

'I've had a number of sleepless nights where I thought maybe a donor took something wrong the way I said it,' Jennings said. 'You worry about that all night long and you want to correct it first thing the next morning. By and large, I've been able to read the donors pretty well. I know how to handle them. What I can say, what I shouldn't say. Some of them you stay at an arm's length and some of them like to be touched once in a while.'

If there's ever a time to put a cap on a career, Jennings has found it. Jennings, 65, plans to retire next January. He'll remain close to Iowa athletics as a consultant and continue to help with projects he's overseen. But as for day-to-day operations, he's shutting it down.

'It's very bittersweet,' Jennings said. 'I've been living the dream for 30-some years but I'm still having fun. I am definitely not one of those who are counting the days until it's time to retire.'

'He's such a great asset to the department that we'll keep him involved in different projects, to the extent that he wants to be,' Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said.

CHANGES MOVING FORWARD

Jennings may be Iowa's most visible face exiting the athletics department, but he's hardly the only one. He'll join senior associate athletics director Paula Jantz and chief financial officer Mick Walker in retirement in a year or so. With former administrators Fred Mims and Mark Abbott recently retiring and Jane Meyer and Rick Klatt assigned to roles outside of athletics, that's a ton of institutional memory leaving the department.

Of Barta's eight senior administrators three years ago, all but Mary Curtis will be out of athletics by early next year. Each of the eight worked in the athletics department 10 years ago when Barta replaced current Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby as Iowa's athletics director. Most of the departures were expected.

'About five years ago I had a conversation with one of the staff members and she asked me, 'Have you looked at the general ages of your senior team?'' Barta said. 'I kind of put two and two together that I was going to have a whole bunch of people retiring within about a two-year window.

'Three years ago, I intentionally started to redesign what my senior staff was going to look like.'

In 2013, Mims' compliance and academic service responsibilities were shaved off for new associate athletics directors Lyla Clerry and Liz Tovar, respectively. Abbott, who was in charge of legal affairs, retired in 2014. Instead of rehiring for Abbott's role, Barta and campus administrators chose to create a deputy athletics director and hired Gene Taylor, the longtime North Dakota State athletics director.

Mims retired last summer after serving several roles within the athletics department for nearly 40 years. Last October Klatt shifted to the president's office as UI's director of special communication initiatives.

Not all of the moves have been smooth, however. Meyer, who was hired as the department's senior associate athletics director in 2001, transferred out of the athletics department in December 2014 upon recommendation by assistant state attorney general George Carroll. Meyer, who now serves as a logistical strategist and project manager for the college of liberal arts and sciences, also worked as the senior woman's administrator. Her partner, former UI women's field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum, was fired in August 2014 after accusations of verbally abusing athletes. Both Griesbaum and Meyer have sued Barta and the athletics department, and Meyer's trial is scheduled for April 17, 2017.

Jantz replaced Meyer as the senior woman's administrator last fall. She was elevated to senior associate athletics director in March and oversees sports management, sports performance and event management. Like Jennings, Jantz will retire in January. She will have a major voice in determining her replacement.

'(Jantz) earned the right to be a senior associate,' Barta said. 'When we hire her replacement, as part of a whole reorganization, I want to move in someone with that same level of experience when she retires.'

MOVING FORWARD

Barta's staff reorganization will be complete sometime in 2016 with changes many would consider major. Instead of all associate athletics directors overseeing a few sports — which was the case three years ago — only a few will hold supervisory roles. They include Barta, Taylor, Jantz (and her future replacement) and assistant director Mark Hankins.

In March, Matt Henderson shifted from the UI Foundation to senior associate athletics director. Henderson will oversee athletics department revenue, fundraising and external relations, including with Learfield. Iowa has an opening for a chief fundraiser and Klatt's replacement, who will supervise communications and marketing.

'The world of communication over the last 10 years has changed so fast,' Barta said. 'We're just trying to realign all of our skill sets so we can react the best we can to all those changes. Whether it's social media, video, interaction with traditional media as well as our own website.

'It's really kind of reorganization and make sure we're reacting to all the changes going around us.'

Promotions for Henderson and Jantz weren't announced until after Barta signed a contract extension in January.

'The timing looks like I waited until and maybe at some degree I did,' said Barta, whose original contract expired in June. 'But this plan, I never stopped to wait and see whether or not I got the extension. It will be really critical as we hire the new associate AD, the new marketing director, and the senior associate, that will be important because to attract terrific outside people, they're going to want to know that there's stability in athletic director spot. It is helpful now to have that set in stone as we set these positions.'

The changes are a lot to digest. Jennings, who has worked under only three athletics directors, likes how the department is positioned even with his future absence.

'I think Gary is a master at having vision and this isn't sneaking up on him,' Jennings said. 'We're not going to skip a beat with the retirement. In fact, it will get better. A lot of good people coming up that will take our place.'

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com