GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast and started the conversation with an institutional profile of Grand Canyon University. Known as a large online university, too, Boggs shares the incredible enrollment growth and buildings that have been built at GCU’s physical campus as a strategic initiative. Smith asks Boggs what a senior-level administrator can do in their current role to become ready for the AD chair. In addition, Boggs talks about the transition from being in a position offering input to being the one making the decisions. Smith and Boggs also talk about what tasks were involved in reclassifying to NCAA Division 1 membership and accepting the invite to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Boggs also shares her thoughts on why those with compliance and/or legal backgrounds are prepared to become athletic directors now more than ever before.

• 0:15 Institutional Profile
• 2:41 Converting Online Students to GCU Fans & On-Campus Residential Growth
• 6:22 What She Learned During COVID-19 About GCU
• 8:58 Moving from Position of Advice to Decision Maker
• 10:38 How Administrators Make it Known They Want to be an AD
• 16:00 Changes Needed in Reclassification to D1
• 19:30 Building 10 Athletic Facilities in 2 Years
• 25:28 ADs with Compliance and Legal Backgrounds
• 30:20 The Need for Affordable & Christian Higher Education
• 34:14 Vision for GCU Athletics is to Catch Up w/ Institution