SEARCH FOR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT CSUN IS WINDING DOWN LUCAS IS INTERVIEWED; FINAL CANDIDATE ON TAP.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE  Staff Writer

It has taken longer than anyone initially expected, but Cal State Northridge's search for an athletic director appears to be nearing the home stretch.

``We would've liked to have this search completed in May, when the whole campus could've been here,'' said professor Ron McIntyre, a member of the search committee. ``But we always had a sense of the importance of this position and not just a need to fill it immediately.''

Interim athletic director Janet Lucas formally interviewed for the job Tuesday, meeting separately with faculty, staff, coaches, student-athletes and the public.

Lucas was the second of three finalists to interview on campus. The third finalist, Rick Mazzuto, was added to the finalist pool Monday and will interview today. Last Wednesday, William Weidner, the deputy athletic director at Central Florida University, interviewed.

Lucas has held the position on an interim basis since Aug.1, after former athletic director Dick Dull resigned to take a fund-raising position elsewhere in the university.

The nationwide search officially began at the start of 2006, but it seemed to pick up steam after the university enlisted an executive search and management consulting firm, Carr Sports Associates, Inc., in late May to help it attract a deeper and broader applicant pool.

Each of the three finalists seems to have a track record of achievement at mid-major programs.

Lucas came to Northridge two years ago from James Madison University, where she was a senior associate athletic director. In her two years at Northridge, she has focused on beefing up the school's NCAA compliance program and updating its facilities, most notably the department's move from bungalows into a professional office building this past spring.

In her interview Tuesday, Lucas admitted she has refrained from making major changes in her role as interim AD, preferring to focus on internal changes that will be palatable to whomever is chosen as the permanent athletic director. If she is chosen to lead the department, Lucas said her first priority would be to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission, which devised a strategic plan for the athletic department's future this past spring.

``When I first got the job here two years ago, I was given a copy of three different strategic plans that had been done in the last five, seven years that had not been implemented,'' Lucas said. ``We need to implement the Blue Ribbon Commission's plan. There needs to be a living, breathing plan for implementing it.''

Lucas acknowledged the athletic department's weaknesses but also focused on its strengths and finding practical solutions.

For example, she acknowledged that there is dissatisfaction with the size and condition of the school's basketball arena, the Matadome. But rather than wait around for a new arena, which could take 10 years, the athletic department should focus on selling out the Matadome and demonstrating that there is a real need for an expanded facility, Lucas said. She also mentioned the soccer stadium, which has a high-level playing field but no lights.

``Adding lights would change the entire culture of that program,'' she said.

She also outlined plans to increase the athletic department's visibility on campus and in the community: booking public speaking opportunities for coaches, improving the school's Web site and developing marketing plans to involve the student body in athletics.

Weidner, who has been the athletic director at Weber State, Texas-Pan American and Ashland University, a Div. II school in Ohio, was recruited by Carr Sports Associates, Inc. after it researched his background and felt that his experiences matched well with the situation at Northridge.

``I'm someone who likes challenges,'' said Weidner, who also was brought in to help rebuild the athletic department at Southern Methodist University after the NCAA gave the school the ``death penalty'' in 1987 for numerous major violations by the football program.

``I see a wonderful opportunity at Northridge. I feel like the university is very open to athletics, that it really wants athletics to be a showcase for the rest of the university. If I were hired, I'd see my role as being the advocate, the lobbyist for the athletic department.''

He emphasized four principles: all-around athletic excellence, academic integrity, community outreach and businesslike accountability. Weidner then laid out specific plans for increasing corporate sponsorships, civic partnerships to build or upgrade facilities, and programs to make the university more visible in the community.

Weidner then explained how he helped Texas-Pan American go from being one of the most penalized schools in the NCAA to becoming fully certified and getting off probation. Texas-Pan American, he said, was a commuter school, much like Northridge, and he helped oversee programs that led to a 127 percent increase in men's basketball attendance.

Weidner has worked for one year at Central Florida as the No. 2 in charge in the athletic department. His position is expected to change in influence soon, however, as the school hired a new athletic director who plans on bringing in his own staff.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) LUCAS

(2) Interim CSUN athletic director Janet Lucas, left, speaks during a public forum Tuesday.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer