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By BOB EL£YSports EditorTo nobody’s surprise,University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletic Director Kelly Higgins is changing jobs.Higgins was named athletic director at his alma mater, the University of South Dakota, on Thursday during a press conference inVermillion, S.D.Higgins is returning to the school where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1981 and where he was an all-conference football player in 1975.“This is an opportunity that doesn’t come often for anyone,’’ Higgins said in a press release issued by the UAF public information office. “To be returning to my alma mater, which is a premiere NCAA Division II institution, and to be able to give back to the school where I started is just something I couldn’tHIGGINSpass up.The university plans to name an interim athletic director on Monday, Dean of Student Services Carla Kirts said.Prior to coming to UAF four years ago, Higgins was assistant commissioner for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in Denver, Colo., and he was associate athletic director for American University in Washington, D.C., from 1988-1993.“We’re sorry to see him go,” said Kirts, who served as Higgins’ immediate supervisor and oversees the athletics and recreation department.“Besides the athletic department accomplishments, there are two things that haven’t really been mentioned,” Kirts said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.“When he was hired I challenged him to improve the academic performance of our student athletes, and he did that,” Kirts said. This past year, UAF student athletes averaged a 2.98 grade-point average, compared to2.76 for the entire student body.“Secondly, I asked him to get more student participation in the athletic program, and he got the athletic advisory board to be a very viable group,” Kirts said.“The other thing that he really helped us with was his detailed knowledge of NCAA compliance,” Kirts said. “He knew it inside and out and he knew the right people to consult with to keep us out of trouble.”Higgins will remain at his post at UAF until the end of June.During his tenure at UAF, the school started the Can You Score? Top of the World Classic men’s Division I basketball tournament, the Nanook Classic Division I women’s volleyball tournament, the expansion of the Pacific West Conference from seven to 16 teams and the hockey program become a fulltime member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.“The community and university haveSee HIGGINS, Page C-5Nanooks to announce interim AD on MondayBy BOB ELEYSports EditorThe next few days figure to be very busy for Carla Kirts, Dean of Student Services at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.Kirts has the responsibility of choosing an interim athletic director after it was announced Thursday that current UAF athletic director Kelly Higgins had accepted a similar position at his alma mater, the University of South Dakota.Kirts said she plans to announce an interim athletic director at noon, Monday at the UAF Patty Center Nanook Lounge.“Today has been very busy,” Kirts said early Thursday afternoon. “So far I’ve received input from 25 to 30 people from within the university and the community and six or seven names keep coming up repeatedly.See INTERIM, Page C-5
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Fri, May 15, 1998
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Evan G.
USA 19 Jan 2022
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