University of Tennessee Athletics
From the Desk of Mike Hamilton
It was an exciting month of September what with three home football games and a trip to Florida I can only describe as "very memorable." The 25 Millionth Fan promotion is going well and I'm excited about our new customer service initiatives.
I keep coming back to the core values I've talked about in the time since that day in mid-May when I was appointed AD. Let's take another look.
Core Value #3: We will manage our program with fiscal integrity and responsibility.
As I speak in the community, to alumni groups or anywhere else, I keep coming back to my desire to manage this program with fiscal integrity and responsibility. In these economic times, we must be able to get a dollar's worth of value from every dollar we receive from whatever source.
That was the reason we recently named Bill Myers as Chief Financial Officer for the University of Tennessee Men's and Women's Athletic Departments.
Bill will report directly to Joan Cronan and me, with oversight responsibilities in budgeting, coordinating accounting, financial and capital expenditures, managing cash flow and risk management for each Department. He will also be in charge of internal and external audits.
With the growth of our total budgets now exceeding $62 million, a figure which put us in the upper echelon of collegiate athletic departments, it is absolutely critical we focus on both the revenue and expense sides of the ledger. Bill's knowledge of University of Tennessee athletic programs, combined with his years of experience with Andersen Consulting, makes him the perfect choice for this position.
His experience is impressive, part of a resume that quickly got my attention. In his early days at UTAD that began in July 1998, he served two years as Assistant Director of Development, managing the daily operations of the Volunteer Athletic Scholarship Fund (VASF), assisting in ticket assignment and working with donors. As Associate Director of Development from January 2000 to May 2001, he expanded his VASF duties with coordination of the Big Orange Caravan.
He was Director of Annual Giving from May 2001 to August 2002, helping manage the VASF to an all-time giving high of $13.26 million and overseeing daily operations of the annual giving program. Since August of last year, he has served as Assistant Athletics Director, Development.
We look forward to helping create an atmosphere for our coaches and student-athletes to compete effectively, on the field and in the classroom. That's what you expect and that's what we'll do.
Expect to win!
Mike Hamilton
