Southeast hopes to have new athletic director by Jan. 1

University president Dr. Ken Dobbins said Thursday he hopes to have a replacement for athletic director Don Kaverman aboard by the start of 2009 to lead the the strategic planning initiative for the department.

Kaverman earlier in the day was placed on administrative leave until the end of his contract, which will be terminated Feb. 9.

"Don has done some very fine things," Dobbins said, "but we believe that it's the time for new leadership. This will provide us an opportunity to have a search firm help us hire both an athletic director and assistant athletic director for external affairs."

The board of regents on Thursday morning approved the action, which will relieve Kaverman of his responsibilities and implements a clause in his agreement allowing the university to terminate his employment with 120 days' notice.

Cindy Gannon, an associate athletic director since 2004 and formerly head volleyball coach, has been named the interim director of athletics. She is not interested in being a candidate for the position, according to a release issued by the university.

Gannon did not return calls to her office, and Kaverman did not return calls to his home.

The university took the action on the same day it acknowledged a new round of allegations of NCAA violations for the men's and women's basketball programs and placed men's basketball coach Scott Edgar on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.

The athletic department also was cited for lack of oversight of the programs in two of the violations — a booster making payments of $7,078 in course expenses for a fifth-year women's basketball player who had exhausted her playing eligibility and the men's basketball coaching staff observing summer conditioning workouts and out-of-season pickup games.

The previous NCAA investigation, released in June and concerning largely violations in the women's basketball program from 2003 through 2005, criticized the university for lack of institutional control of the activities under former coach B.J. Smith.

Kaverman's contract was to expire in June, shortly after the conclusion of the current school year, and his status beyond that became uncertain in recent months. The university's board of regents cited athletics as an area of urgent attention in the strategic planning process, and a review of the department sketched a potential course of action. One of the recommendations, which the university adopted, was a restructuring with the hiring of an associate AD for external affairs to assist in marketing and fundraising. Dobbins began the process of identifying candidates in the summer without identifying Kaverman fully in the process, the Southeast Missourian reported last week.

Dobbins said Thursday the process of hiring both an athletic director and associate athletic director will be handled by Bill Carr of Carr Sports Associates, which conducted the athletics review earlier this year.

The university plans to use the early portion of 2009 to develop its strategic plan for athletics.

Carr will be on campus later this month to interview boosters, faculty, current coaches and students in anticipation of a national search for the positions.

Dobbins said Kaverman could be contacted or consulted on any issues where the university may need his assistance.

"We were extremely disappointed with the notice of allegations from the NCAA enforcement staff," Dobbins said. "Consequently, we believe it was necessary to have a change of leadership at the athletic director level so we can move forward and plan where we want to be with intercollegiate athletics in the next three to five years."

The department has a third vacancy with the assistant athletic director for compliance, which was vacated when Jayson Santos left in September for a similar post at Texas State University in San Marcos. A Southeast spokesman said Thursday the university is beginning the interview process for that position.

Santos said Thursday's news "was a little bit shocking."

He said he knew of some of the allegations, but he compiled and presented information to Chuck Smrt of The Compliance Group, which also worked on Southeast's behalf in the first investigation that began in 2006. Smrt is coordinating the current investigation and will assist in preparing the university's response to the NCAA, which must be filed by Jan. 2.

"Obviously, it will be difficult," Dobbins said of pulling the response together without some key administrative roles filled. "We have a dedicated staff that's there. Cindy will provide excellent leadership, and we will continue using Chuck Smrt with putting the response to the NCAA allegations together."

The NCAA Committee on Infractions may consider the response either during its meeting Feb. 20 and 21 in San Diego or at its meeting April 17 and 18 in Indianapolis, according to the letter the NCAA sent Southeast.

The later was dated Friday and received by the university Monday. Dobbins said the university Tuesday posted the notice of Thursday's 7:30 a.m. board meeting.

Santos said he thought the wording for Southeast was harsh, particularly in the area of oversight of the programs.

"There's only so much an institution can do within our resources," Santos said. "To do anything other than what the institution did would be unreasonable, in my mind. We did our part to bring this to light. Despite what it looks like, the institution did put an end to it.

"I would have to say for Don, when I brought anything to him, he would act swiftly."

tcarrig@semissourian.com

388-3630