The Online Reflector

Sue Willey, who is in her tenth year serving the University of Indianapolis as director of athletics, has been promoted to vice president for intercollegiate athletics.

Willey said that she asked UIndy President Robert Manuel for the promotion.

“It’s not common, but there are other vice presidents for intercollegiate athletics on some campuses,” Willey said.

Willey has been with the university since she was a freshman in college.  She has served as a teacher and a coach for many sports.  She also served as chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education, which is now the Department of Kinesiology.  She even started the tennis team as a sophomore, because UIndy previously did not have a tennis team.

Willey also said she has worked to try to improve the athletic experience for student athletes.

“One of the things I’m proud of for our student-athlete experience is that when I took over, we had a lot of part-time coaches,” Willey said. “[Having coaches] just as adjunct faculty is very difficult, because you just don’t have the same access to them, [and] you don’t have the same rapport. So I felt pretty strongly that the two things I did was work into more full-time coaches and bring soccer back on-campus, because it was off-campus and I hated it [the situation]. I hated it, [and] the student-athletes hated it. So I’ve made a lot of progress.”

Willey said that she believed these accomplishments were part of the reason  Manuel decided to promote her.

Manuel said that Willey’s dedication to the school, as well as her relationship with members of the athletic program, contributed to his decision to promote her.

“First, Sue has an incredible history with UIndy. From her days as a student-athlete to her current position, she has devoted her life to ensuring [that] we have the best athletic program in the country,” Manuel said. “Second, Sue has taken leadership positions with the NCAA and the GLVC. Her work with those organizations has raised the image of our university well outside of Indiana and has impacted the experiences of Division II athletes around the country. Sue has earned a Ph.D. and continually engages the conversation between athletics and education in ways that serve our population well.”

Willey said that one of the reasons she asked for the promotion was because she was the only member serving on the president’s cabinet that did not have the title of vice president.

“At one point in time, there were two of us on the cabinet who did not have VP titles. I never asked [for the promotion]. I thought, ‘OK, it’s not fair for me to ask when the other person doesn’t have that title.’ And now that person is no longer on the cabinet. So it came down to ‘OK, now I’m the only person on the cabinet not a VP,’” Willey said. “I’m not going to get all caught up in titles, but it’s just [that] everyone at the table is equal, so just make the titles equal.”

Willey considers her promotion to be a promotion for the department, not just for herself.

“I always put a lot of pressure on myself for us to do things in the right manner. I think it’s just what we do as a department. I don’t look at this necessarily just as a promotion for me, but a promotion for our whole athletic department and what it represents,” Willey said. “You know; we’re fifth in the country [Director’s Cup], we’re doing some things right. And the fact that the academic accolades are as many and as numerous as the athletic—that’s what it’s all about. If you look at the sport in some colleges, it’s not very positive, in my opinion. But I think many times we’ve got a lot of bright, intelligent student-athletes, and they go on to do great things.”

Willey has received regional and national awards throughout her time at UIndy, including 2010 Under Armour Division II Central Region Athletic Director of the Year and 2005 NACWAA Division II Administrator of the Year.

Manuel said that although the decision to promote Willey was ultimately his, it was informed by what he had learned when meeting with the leadership around UIndy during his transition to the presidency.

“Athletics has a very deep and rich tradition at UIndy. Our devotion to balancing the student/athlete life is not easy, but in her time here, Sue has provided a national example on how to do that,” Manuel said. “Our student athletes are performing on the field and in the classroom. Sue created that culture and was worthy of the title change.”

Willey said that although she has been promoted to a new position, her duties around campus will remain the same as the ones she carried as Director of Athletics.

“There are no additional responsibilities. However, in some respects, there are. We have a new president, so he has new ideas and a path where we want to go. So it will be some responsibilities just as we go forward with a new president and where our future’s going to take us,” Willey said. “You finish one strategic plan and then you move on to something else. But as far as ‘you’re going to be Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and here are the new things you have to do,’ I’m already doing them.”