The search committee for Western Kentucky University's head football coaching position has been named, Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig announced today. The committee will consist of the following individuals:
Dr. Gary Ransdell - WKU President
Dr. Wood Selig - WKU Director of Athletics
Howard Bailey - WKU Vice President of Student Affairs
James Brown - NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative
Alexander Downing - 2009 Hilltopper Athletic Foundation Board President
Deborah Wilkins - WKU General Counsel/Chief of Staff
"This is an extremely talented and knowledgeable committee," Selig said. "The diversity in their job responsibilities and backgrounds will enable each to provide unique and valuable insight throughout this process. I have no doubts this group will identify a number of capable candidates for our head coaching position that will result in our hiring the best person available to lead WKU football."
Ransdell was named the ninth president of WKU on September 12, 1997. WKU has been the fastest growing university in Kentucky for 12-straight years, with enrollment rising from 14,500 to more than 20,000 this fall. Ransdell has also overseen a complete rebuilding of the WKU campus. Nearly $400 million in campus construction has been completed since 1998, another $100 million is currently under way and $150 million more is planned for the next few years.
Since Selig was named Director of Athletics in August of 1999, WKU has won 66 Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships, 27 more than the next closest school. His leadership has helped grow the athletics department's annual budget from $5.5 million in 1999-2000 to just under $20 million in 2009-10, and he has overseen $100 million in new construction or renovations to WKU athletics facilities this decade. WKU has had more individuals honored for their academic achievements by the conference than any league institution in each of the last five years, and 85% of all student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility this decade have graduated.
Bailey is Vice President for Student Affairs. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from WKU and joined the staff in 1973 as a residence hall director. He has also served as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Dean of Student Life and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs.
Brown, a Professor of Theatre currently in his 44th year at WKU, also works as the university's NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative. In this role, he serves as the liaison between the university's faculty and WKU student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrative personnel.
In addition to his role with the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation, Downing is President of the College Heights Foundation and Associate Director of Planned Giving. He received a bachelor's degree in accounting from WKU in 1988. He serves in the College Heights Foundation Board of Directors and the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Wilkins is the University General Counsel and Chief of Staff. She is a 1982 WKU graduate and a 1986 graduate of the University of Kentucky School of Law. She joined the WKU staff in 1994.
