USF Athletics: Harris Named Senior Associate A.D. and Associate V.P. for Development

[Brad]

Courtesy USF:

USF Athletics: Harris Named Senior Associate A.D. and Associate V.P. for Development

Harris Named Senior Associate A.D. and Associate V.P. for Development

TAMPA – The University of South Florida has named Jim Harris Senior Associate Athletics Director and Associate Vice President for Development, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard and USF Senior Vice President and Foundation CEO Joel Momberg announced on Tuesday. Harris brings 12 years of experience working in external development within intercollegiate athletic departments at the Division I level.

"I am excited to join the University of South Florida family and to work with all of the wonderful donors, alumni, fans, student-athletes and administration at USF,” Harris said. “It is an honor to be part of such a tremendous and growing athletic program, led by Doug Woolard, one of the best in the business, and I look forward to playing a role in the future of USF athletics.”

Harris comes to USF after spending almost four years in development at Ohio University. He started in 2009 as an Associate Athletic Director and was promoted into the role of Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development in the summer of 2011. While at Ohio, Harris oversaw the Ohio Bobcat Club, which is responsible for all areas of philanthropic giving including gift fundraising, capital campaign projects, the Ohio Bobcat Club Annual Fund and Scholarship/Endowment Gifts.

“Jim brings an outstanding skill set and stellar reputation to the development office,” said Woolard. “He has shown documented success in his previous positions and we know he’ll bring his expertise, charisma and dedication to this vital role. We believe our donors and alumni will enjoy getting to know Jim and working with him for the betterment of USF Athletics’ long-term future.”

Notably, Harris served as the point person for the Intercollegiate Athletics campaign at Ohio, part of the $450 million University Capital Campaign. His development team increased donation dollars by over 900 percent during his time at Ohio and he was instrumental in securing a lead gift of $10 million, the largest gift in Ohio athletics history, to be used for an athletics multi-purpose facility.

“Jim Harris has made a career out of developing and successfully implementing innovative fundraising strategies,” Momberg said. “He will be a dynamic leader and a tremendous asset to USF Athletics and the USF Foundation.”

Prior to his tenure at Ohio, Harris served as the Associate Director of Development/Director of Annual Giving at Indiana University for just over four years. During that time, IU increased annual giving 37.4% in his first three years, which represented a $2.1 million increase. That figure represented the largest three-year growth in the history of IU's Varsity Club. He was also responsible for implementing IU's first-ever premium seating for men's basketball. In addition, Harris helped in the major gift efforts for a $45 million North End Zone Facility and a $25 million men's and women's basketball facility.

From July 2004 to June 2005, Harris was Indiana's Assistant Director of Development/Director of Young Alumni Development, where he served as the athletic liaison to IU's Alumni Association and state volunteer network. He was also responsible for the development and implementation of IU's young alumni comp donor program.

Harris served as a graduate assistant in Ohio's Athletic Development office from August 2003 to June 2004, where, among other duties, he maintained the annual giving donor database and acknowledgement system. He worked as a Marketing/Administrative Intern for the Big South Conference in the summer of 2003, when he served as the main contact and liaison for several corporate sponsors.

Harris received a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Indiana University in May 2002, a master’s in business administration from Ohio University in June 2003 and a master’s in sports administration from Ohio in June 2004.

[CousinRicky]

This sounds like the job I was hoping Eric was going to get to replace Vicki.  Hope to God he stays on.  He is such a great guy and would really hate to see him move on because of getting passed over.  We'll play nice with the new guy though.

[Danm1983]

Sounds promising. Hope this guy can do some good work on promotions and fundraising, and looks like it falls in line with Woolard and Genshaft's comments about the OCS coming in the future - they will need a good leader to spearhead fundraising, especially in the tighter budgets forthcoming with the new conference and TV deals. Could be a great thing if the guy is allowed to work and isn't constrained by the AD and others.

 

One thing he had going for him at Ohio is that they started to really field a competitive football team in the last couple of years and that alone helps bring in more people, which equals more donations (or at least not as hard of a sell to get them). Winning is still the best money generator.

[hm101]

Interesting timing, coming after Doug's recent open comments about an OCS. I'm sure his media appearance and this announcement aren't coincidental. 

[charsibb]

Why do people in "development" hate for their departments to be called "sales"?

 

They should be proud, not ashamed, that they're out there selling the university!

 

Good luck Mr. Harris, get those funds!!!

 

Go Bulls!

[Triple B]

Why do people in "development" hate for their departments to be called "sales"?

 

 

[Skingraft]

Why do people in "development" hate for their departments to be called "sales"?

Why you gots to brung my family ento dis

[Mike Stuben]

Sometimes a school, and their fans get upset over the status quo when the status quo is really good. We can all think of examples of schools firing coaches who appear to be doing a pretty good job. Mario Cristobal at FIU, Tubby Smith, Ben Howland all come to mind. I would also say that USF fans who wanted Jim Leavitt fired for not winning enough (before the incident) could be grouped in that category.

 

I think USF had a really good athletic development staff a couple years ago. Now 8 of the 11 are gone, and maybe more will be leaving soon (no inside info in that statement, just a new boss often signals more changes).

 

Not saying that the new staff won't do a good job ... but even great hires on paper (like Skip Holtz) don't always work out.

[BaltoBull]

This sounds like the job I was hoping Eric was going to get to replace Vicki.  Hope to God he stays on.  He is such a great guy and would really hate to see him move on because of getting passed over.  We'll play nice with the new guy though.

 

You're right, Eric is good people. I hope he and his wife, Liisa both stay.

[South_Florida_Flip]

This sounds like the job I was hoping Eric was going to get to replace Vicki.  Hope to God he stays on.  He is such a great guy and would really hate to see him move on because of getting passed over.  We'll play nice with the new guy though.

 

Agree with everything.