Jeff Compher Hometown: Baltimore, Md. Position: Associate V.P./Director of Athletics

Since taking over as associate vice president and director of athletics at Northern Illinois University on June 1, 2008, Jeff Compher has made strategic decisions to keep the athletics program moving forward while planning for the future and engaging with Huskie student-athletes.

On February 10, 2009, Compher unveiled the NIU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics' Strategic Plan. The plan defines the mission, vision and values of the department while setting strategic goals and objectives for each unit for the next three years. Developed by NIU head coaches and a team of administrators, the cornerstone of the plan is the one-sentence, comprehensive, mission statement -- "We develop champions in the classroom, in competition, and in life."

While Compher was laying out his plan for Huskie Athletics, NIU student-athletes continued to raise the bar academically. For the eighth consecutive semester, NIU student-athletes combined to post a cumulative grade point average above 3.0 as the spring term GPA came in at 3.025.

On the fields of play, Compher was instrumental in securing the Huskie football team's berth in the 2008 Independence Bowl on an at-large basis, while the NIU men's soccer team lost in overtime of the MAC Championship match after claiming a win over No. 2 ranked SMU earlier in the year. Northern Illinois sent two wrestlers and two gymnasts to NCAA Regional competition, and both the softball and baseball teams claimed wins over ranked teams in 2009.

In addition, in his first year, Compher oversaw the completion and opening of Northern Illinois' new Track &Field/Soccer Complex as well as the installation of a new FieldTurf surface at Huskie Stadium. He completed the negotiation of a 10-year contract with ISP Sports to manage NIU's multi-media rights and corporate partnerships, giving Northern Illinois a guaranteed income stream. He also oversaw the renegotiation of agreements with 670 AM WSCR The Score and Comcast SportsNet Chicago to broadcast Northern Illinois contests. Most recently, Compher hired Eric Luzzi to lead the Huskie men's soccer program.

A veteran collegiate athletics administrator, Compher came to DeKalb after nearly four years at the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash., where he served as executive associate athletic director and was responsible for the general management and daily operations of the athletic department at the Pac-10 school. The Baltimore, Md. native also brought previous experience as an athletic director to Northern Illinois as he led the athletics program at Western Carolina University from 2000 to 2004.

In each of his previous three stops, Compher has been involved in developing and implementing long-range planning and working closely with constituencies within and outside the university. He has emphasized the student-athlete experience.

At Washington, Compher had day-to-day responsibility for a 23-sport, 650 student-athlete department, including direct oversight of the football, men's basketball, baseball and crew teams, as well as facilities and game operations. He also managed the student-athlete welfare areas. During his tenure at Washington, it consistently ranked in the top 30 in the Director's Cup standings while surpassing NCAA Academic Progress Rate and Graduation Success Rate standards.

At both UW and Western Carolina, Compher was directly involved with capital projects and facility renovations, including construction of a new track/soccer and tennis complex and a significant expansion of the football stadium at Western Carolina, and the completion of the Football Legends Center at the University of Washington.

While at WCU, he also hired successful head coaches who have since been hired at BCS programs, and saw the operating budget increase by 42 percent and the total budget for athletic scholarships improve by 113 percent. During his tenure in Cullowhee, the Catamount teams improved their individual and conference records, and the baseball, women's golf and indoor track and field teams won Southern Conference titles.

As associate and then senior associate athletic director at Vanderbilt University for four years, Compher directed nearly every area of the department, including leading the external areas from 1998-2000. Prior to that, he oversaw the NCAA compliance, academic support, strength and conditioning, equipment and CHAMPS/Life Skills areas at Vanderbilt.

Compher spent 13 years in several different positions at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. As assistant athletic director at N.C. State from 1986-92, he managed the student-athlete support services units, established the first life skills program and handled scheduling and travel for the football and men's basketball teams. He was the assistant to the chancellor at N.C. State before moving on to Vanderbilt and back into athletics administration.

Throughout his career, the 50-year-old Compher has continued his education, participating in the NACDA Management Institute (1998), the Sports Management Institute Executive Program (1998-99) and the Division I-A Athletic Directors' Institute (2005 and 2006). He served on numerous university committees at each of his previous stops and spent time in the classroom as an instructor at Washington, Western Carolina and N.C. State.

Compher earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from James Madison University, where he was a football student-athlete, in 1980, and graduated with a master's degree in counseling and student personnel services from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania in 1982. His first position in collegiate administration was at North Carolina State, where he was the assistant director of Housing and Residence Life from 1982 to 1986.

He and his wife, the former Cathy Fatica, have two sons, C.J. (17) and David (14).