HawkeyeHypnosis
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Q&A with Gary Barta Hawkeye Sports
Here's one Q&A from article:
Q: What are some of your main goals as director of athletics at Iowa?
Barta: I want to be in a position to win a championship in every sport. That's a tall order and I understand that. I want to be poised and positioned to have every team competing for a championship.
I also want to be competitive in every area. We always get judged on how competitive we are athletically, but I'm extremely proud of last year's 74-percent graduation rate. That's the highest our student-athlete graduation rate has ever been and it was four-percent higher than the general student body. We don't have the final numbers yet, but I can say with great certainty that it will be higher than 74 percent this year, which means another record for us. I want to be competitive and at the top athletically and academically.
I know that we won't ever have the highest budget in the Big Ten. It isn't realistic; our population base is smaller and our university is smaller than most of the other Big Ten universities. But I want to be in a very sound financial position. I want our buildings to be built, our debt in a relatively low mode, our reserve built and our sports to have budgets that allow them to compete at a high level.
I also want to make a difference in young people's lives. I don't get the opportunity day-to-day to work with young people like our coaches. But I know we are making a difference. I came from a family where no one had gone to college and I had that opportunity through athletics. Even though I don't get to work with young people on a day-to-day basis as often as I'd like, I know we are making the same opportunity that I was given many years ago now available to our student-athletes who have earned it.
Here's one Q&A from article:
Q: What are some of your main goals as director of athletics at Iowa?
Barta: I want to be in a position to win a championship in every sport. That's a tall order and I understand that. I want to be poised and positioned to have every team competing for a championship.
I also want to be competitive in every area. We always get judged on how competitive we are athletically, but I'm extremely proud of last year's 74-percent graduation rate. That's the highest our student-athlete graduation rate has ever been and it was four-percent higher than the general student body. We don't have the final numbers yet, but I can say with great certainty that it will be higher than 74 percent this year, which means another record for us. I want to be competitive and at the top athletically and academically.
I know that we won't ever have the highest budget in the Big Ten. It isn't realistic; our population base is smaller and our university is smaller than most of the other Big Ten universities. But I want to be in a very sound financial position. I want our buildings to be built, our debt in a relatively low mode, our reserve built and our sports to have budgets that allow them to compete at a high level.
I also want to make a difference in young people's lives. I don't get the opportunity day-to-day to work with young people like our coaches. But I know we are making a difference. I came from a family where no one had gone to college and I had that opportunity through athletics. Even though I don't get to work with young people on a day-to-day basis as often as I'd like, I know we are making the same opportunity that I was given many years ago now available to our student-athletes who have earned it.
