Lisa Campos, the senior associate athletic director at the University of Texas at El Paso, has been selected as vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics by Northern Arizona University.
NAU announced the hiring today, pending approval by the Arizona Board of Regents.
“Lisa exemplifies NAU’s dual commitment to excellence in athletics and academics,” said NAU President John Haeger. “Elevating this position from athletic director to vice president is a first for NAU. As a vice president, she will literally be at the table with our academic and administrative vice presidents, all working to advance NAU’s performance goals on and off the field.”
Haeger recently outlined his goals for the athletic department in a public letter.
Campos earned a doctorate in educational leadership and administration from UTEP in 2009, where she has served nine years as a senior athletics administrator and two years as assistant dean of students.
Haeger cited Campos’s experience with student affairs and her participation in an NCAA leadership program as strong motivating factors in her selection.
“NAU is fortunate to have found someone with such deep ties to academics and with frontline experience in the inner workings of the NCAA,” Haeger said. “I’m confident that her big-picture vision of a successful athletics program will guide NAU for years to come.”
A starting date for Campos has not been set, but she said she is eager to get started.
“NAU has established a great tradition in athletics while emphasizing student success, and that’s a strong foundation to build on,” Campos said. “I look forward to building an even stronger bond between athletics and academics, and to answering President Haeger’s call for consistently competitive teams.”
At UTEP, Campos has a wide range of management responsibilities for up to 14 sports and oversees all compliance operations. She also serves as senior woman administrator in the athletics department. In 2009, she was selected to participate in the NCAA’s Fellows Leadership Program.
“Getting to know the alumni, boosters and Flagstaff community will be one of the benefits of this position,” Campos said. “Their ongoing support will play a major role in the success of the overall program.”
NAU hired Parker Executive Search and established an internal search committee to identify potential candidates through a national search.
MJ McMahon, NAU executive vice president and chair of the committee, commended the work of all involved. “Everyone made it a priority to evaluate a group of outstanding candidates from across the country, and I’m thrilled that we have had such a successful outcome,” McMahon said. “This opportunity at NAU drew a tremendous amount of interest, which demonstrates how well the university is perceived nationally.”
The same search firm and a separate committee are working to identify finalists for men’s basketball coach.