COLUMN: New SEMO president gets early challenge with AD search

Dr. Carlos Vargas officially became the 18th president of Southeast Missouri State University last Wednesday. On Thursday, director of athletics Mark Alnutt told Vargas he was resigning.

"In some ways it was an unfortunate situation for us because I had heard very good things about what has been happening with athletics at the university," Vargas said Monday afternoon after the public announcement of Alnutt's departure. "He has been instrumental in a number of different initiatives, including the hiring of some coaches. You know, something like this is bound to create some anxiety in the area. It doesn't have to be athletics. It can be every area. ... But of course at the same time I realized it was clearly a move that was going to be positive for his career goals."

Now Vargas, who's office prominently features empty bookshelves and other telltale signs of a man still in the process of moving in, will be tasked with leading the effort to find a replacement for Alnutt, who oversees the school's more than $9 million athletics budget.

Vargas faces a steep learning curve going into the process, and he knows it. He's never been a prominent figure in a coaching or athletic director search.

"I plan on really trying to get input from the coaches and from all of the department of athletics to understand what their interests, concerns and aspirations are to make sure that we continue to move in a direction that makes sense for the department," Vargas said. "And I want to get input from other members of the community, not only from inside but also outside the university."

Vargas said Brady Barke, his senior associate who will take over as the interim AD when Alnutt's resignation takes effect on July 31, will meet with Alnutt and others to help develop a plan for the search for the new athletic director. Among the decisions will be whether or not to hire a search firm to help with the process, as was done in the search that brought Vargas to Southeast, or to handle the process internally, as was the case while Alnutt led searches to hire football, men's basketball and women's basketball coaches with Barke's assistance. Once a plan has been established, a timeline will follow.

"I actually met with the whole department of athletics at noon today, or shortly after noon," Vargas said. "I had a conversation with them and attempted to reassure them that these things happen. We are going to continue to be committed to supporting athletics as effectively as we can to insure that the programs are supported and that the students are being able to participate as they were planning to do before this happened. I think they received the message well. They did express appreciation for my taking the time to go and talk to them so soon after this developed. These kinds of things, it's important to address them right away. If not, then people start having concerns or worry about things."

While he has less than a week of experience overseeing an athletic department, Vargas has spent decades as an administrator in higher education and been a part of countless hiring processes.

"When you're doing hiring for academic departments or units like that the individuals are more closely interested in that hiring," Vargas said. "The group is smaller. When you do it for athletics, particularly for a Division I school, the area of interest grows. The groups are not only internal but external to the university because athletics are so visible to the community, so I think we need to pay attention to those aspects."

Vargas called himself a sports fan and lit up when he had a chance to talk about his days as a soccer and basketball player growing up in Mexico. He earned his doctorate in physics and aerospace at Michigan and joked that he and his wife don't talk for a weekend each fall -- when the Wolverines meet her alma mater Notre Dame on the football field. He said student athletes and fans can expect to see him at games once the academic year starts and that he always enjoys an opportunity to watch sports.

"As we look at the whole universe of universities, there is no doubt that the community gets energized by institutions that have successful athletic programs," Vargas said. "From my perspective, it's not only the fact that it presents an opportunity for the community to participate and become engaged with an institution by attending events, by contributing to support athletics and all that. But it also -- a successful athletics program -- is an important element inside the institution to generate pride in the student body and the staff and the faculty and to provide the students with opportunities for development, leadership development."