Search winding down for new AD

After three months of searching, IU will soon have its new athletics director. IU Alumni Association President Ken Beckley, who is the leader of the search committee, said IU President Adam Herbert is focused on one candidate and an announcement will likely be made early next week. \nTerry Clapacs, vice president of administration and chief administrative officer for IU, has filled the role on an interim and then temporary basis since Nov. 2002. \nThe search committee, which was announced May 27, originally set a goal of making a decision and announcing the new athletics director by the end of the month.\n"The search committee and the president have been working hard throughout the process ," Beckley said. "If not for references being in Athens, Greece, we should have made an announcement or would be making one by the end of (today). There is no harm in the delay."\nThe search process throughout has gone smoothly for the committee and only recently ran into delays. Herbert is continuing to conduct the due diligence process, and is expected to talk with references regarding the candidate this week.\nHerbert did not return phone messages Monday. \nWhile the 16-member search committee has been involved throughout the process, the final phase will consist of Herbert, Beckley, Business and Economics Professor Bruce Jaffee, and former IU football coach Bill Mallory.\nThere are no meetings planned this week, Beckley said.\n"It is now in the President's hands and he and I still talk at least once a day," Beckley said. "The President seems upbeat about the names given to him and what we are learning about the primary candidate."\nHerbert will have final say over the choice, said Bill Stephan, vice president of university relations and corporate partnerships at IU. Stephan said Herbert is listening to all of the committee's recommendations. \n"The President believes it is helpful to finding the right candidate that the committee is entirely supportive of, and (the President) carefully listens to different issues, because that support will be critical over time," Stephan said. \nOnce the new athletics director is selected, he or she will not have time to relax as there are many issues plaguing the department, including a budget deficit and the possibility of a $65 million facility upgrade.\nThe search committee released an advertisement in June jointly with a Web site outlining qualifications, facts about the University and the athletics department.\nThe 12 qualifications the committee sought in a candidate included a commitment to academic and intercollegiate athletic excellence, high ethics and values and a commitment to diversity.\nThe position had a July 16 deadline and though the committee received a total of 100 applications by then, new candidates emerged in recent weeks after the final list was narrowed to three to five.\nOnce a decision is announced, Clapacs will resume his full-time duties as an IU administrator.\nThe next athletics director will be IU's fourth in five years.\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.