Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/717693
A D M I N I S T R A T I O N Barbour optimistic despite fiscal challenges Hired in July 2014 to oversee Penn State athletics, Sandy Barbour sees "a huge opportunity" to move the sprawl- ing 31-team department forward. But as she begins her third year as the univer- sity's athletic director, she also sees challenges ahead. With a facilities master plan, strategic plan and other business initiatives all under way, Barbour said she feels opti- mistic about where the program is headed. "I think we've got a huge opportunity here in the next couple of years, and my focus is on making sure that we're pre- pared to take advantage of that," she said. "I feel really, really good about where we are and the initiatives and the expertise to capture these opportunities I think we have in the next few years." Barbour said she is determined to cre- ate an environment in which opportuni- ties can be seized and challenges overcome, but there is a major hurdle ahead, as she explained during a 45- minute interview in July with a small group of reporters in her Bryce Jordan Center office. "It's resources," Barbour said. "Penn State has every- thing we need to create this incredible experience. Whether you're a fencer or a track kid or a swimmer or football or basketball player, we have the ability to provide anything a student- athlete needs. We just have to be able to afford to provide it. We have a lot of that. But some of it, we don't." Although Penn State is no longer bur- dened by the on-field football sanctions handed down by the NCAA in 2012 (and subsequently rolled back), the athletic department is still grappling with the effects of the $60 million fine that was part of the penalties. Barbour said the fine has deprived Penn State of "real dollars that we could be using toward funding student initiatives, toward the condi- NEWS & NOTES THE LONG VIEW Barbour is entering her third year as Penn State's athletic direc- tor. Photo by Steve Manuel |