Mike Bohn, Athletic Director. (Photo/Casey A. Cass)

Winter sports are now in full stride for the Golden Buffaloes, following a productive season for the fall sports programs. We are pleased with the collaboration and support from the campus constituencies, creating reason to believe that the direction of the athletic department – along with the tide of public perception - is moving in a positive direction that we can all be proud of.

We have made many changes in staff and policies over the past several months, but we recognize there is still a great deal of work to be done. Most importantly, we have finished writing the first section of a business plan with collaboration from staff across the campus, spearheaded by Jeff Lipton. The best way to summarize the document might be to call it "half mission statement, half Athletics 2010," the strategic plan that was in place upon my arrival last spring. This important effort is an example of the kind of teamwork we are engaging in with faculty, staff and students.

The most visible changes are taking place in our football program. It was well documented that we wanted to "hit a home run" with the new head coach and we did just that with the hiring of Dan Hawkins. He has assembled an impressive staff and retained two assistant coaches, former CU players Brian Cabral and Darian Hagan. He also hired Greg Brown, a familiar face to many in the area. "Hawk" brought four assistants with him from Boise State and looked to Arizona State and California for his other two hires.

Funding for our 17 intercollegiate sports is a top concern for our program, as it is for many departments across the campus. We must generate increased revenue to cover all increases in expenditures, including over $7 million in scholarships. We rely on private donations to help fund scholarships for student-athletes and facilities, among other needs. To that end, we created a new program, the Buff Club Cabinet, an aggressive fundraising effort currently comprised of 38 donors who have pledged $25,000 annually for three years (for a total of $2.85 million).

Additionally, the day we announced "Hawk" as our 23rd football coach, President Hank Brown was on hand to help announce a significant gift of $1.5 million from Tom and Cydney Marsico. This lead gift is well over half of the funds needed to build a multi-use indoor training complex that not only will serve athletics, but numerous university programs through the recreation center and special events as well. We are very excited about building this new facility that students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community will all enjoy for years to come.

Many of you work with our student-athletes and I would like to extend my personal thanks to you for being part of their success and part of our team. We will continue to help showcase the excellence of our faculty and staff at home contests, and I invite you to bring your friends and family to support the Buffs.

We have embraced the "Your TEAM" concept in athletics - TEAM as an acronym for Together, Everyone Accomplishes More. The Your TEAM philosophy certainly applies to the entire Boulder campus, and we look forward to working with you to make CU-Boulder one of the top universities in the nation.