Fresno State Athletics
Bulldog Business Report with Thomas Boeh- Oct. 7
10/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 18, 2005
- On this day, Betsy Mosher, Fresno State's Senior Associate A.D. for Administration and Program Integrity, drops by to answer a few questions.
DOG ZONE: What do you start looking for when you come to a program like Fresno State?
BM: "I think in the industry, people look at Fresno with a perspective of not necessarily everything that is wrong or what the media hypes up to be, but they look at all the possibilities of what is right here. With that vision, and talking with President Welty and Thomas, there is just a little fine line internally where we can juice things up and I think it doesn't take too much to get good people. There is just a wealth of vision and possibility here for excellence and that's what I'm all about- excellence and how we treat our student-athletes. It's a goal of mine."
DZ: Talk a little bit about the "integrity" component in your official title.
BM: "Great student-athlete experience, excellence in all things and when they hand us the trophy, there is no reason to take it back. That's where we are going with this. When I visited here and spoke with men's basketball head coach Steve Cleveland, I was truly impressed by his passion for revitalizing the program in the right way. That actually was a mitigating factor for me in coming here."
DZ: Where do you start as you enter your first few weeks at Fresno State?
BM: "Certainly there is so much good going on that the first thing I need to do is figure out how things are running right now. It's unfair to jump in and say everything is bad because it is not. I will spend some time learning the people and the programs and we will shift as we go."
DZ: Thomas, what do you know about Betsy that makes her the best person for this job?
Thomas Boeh: "Betsy has an impeccable reputation nationally and most people in the compliance circles around the country know who she is. I think what makes her a great fit for us here at Fresno State is that she has gone into a couple of programs, specifically Arizona State and Massachusetts, that had struggled a little with graduation rates, compliance issues and she has taken on that challenge and helped better their reputations. Those are exactly the same things that have to happen here so she fits the role very well."
DZ: Is it possible for Fresno State to compete at a high level athletically and be 100-percent clean in all areas?
BM: "It depends on what you consider 100-percent. With the rulebook being approximately 400 pages and there being over 500 student-athletes, you expect some violations. You are expecting your graduation rate to be up in the 60 to 70-percent range. So 100-percent, no. Can we be much better? Absolutely. And if I didn't believe that, I would not be here."
"It really comes down to an attitude change. I think Thomas said earlier, it's about our student-athletes and coaches saying `this is how we want to run our programs and we know we can win doing it this way.' So it is really a cultural change."
DZ: What is it about college sports that makes you keep coming back?"
BM: "I really like to help coaches and kids succeed. If I were just in the office working only with computers and rules, I wouldn't feel good about it. I like to help educate people on doing the right things and then be able to go out on Saturday or Sunday and watch them win and feel good that they are doing it the right way, they feel good about graduating and that they are excelling at their sport."
