Basic HTML Version
1
Saluki Women’s Basketball
2013-14
ADMINISTRATION
Enhancing
student
success,
teaching and learning, the research environment,
and community service are among the priorities of
Chancellor Rita Cheng.
Dr. Cheng became chancellor on June 1, 2010, after
spending 22 years in teaching and administrative roles
at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, including
five years as provost and vice chancellor for academic
affairs. As chief executive and academic officer of the
Carbondale and School of Medicine campuses, she
oversees an operating budget of $768 million and
5,000 faculty and staff providing more than 200
undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree
programs to approximately 18,000 students.
Dr. Cheng serves on a variety of local and national
boards and in organizations that have a direct
impact on SIU, including the NCAA Division 1 Board
of Directors, the Complete College America Illinois
Team, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education and
its performance funding committee.
She also holds the academic rank of Professor of
Accounting at SIU and is internationally recognized for
her research in governmental and nonprofit accounting.
A certified public accountant and certified government
financial manager (inactive status), she earned her
doctorate in management from Temple University and
her MBA from the University of Rhode Island.
Among her accomplishments as chancellor:
• Led development of a new 10-year strategic plan.
• Established financial stability across the University
while addressing a budgetary shortfall in excess of
$30 million, caused by declining state appropriations
and tuition revenue shortfalls resulting from declining
enrollments.
• Instituted $500 million aggressive program to
address campus infrastructure needs, including housing,
deferred maintenance, new facilities and information
technology.
• Increased new freshmen enrollment for four
semesters in a row. The freshman class of fall 2013
is the largest in 20 years, and the University attracted
the largest number of new international students in
20 years. Undergraduate international enrollment
increased 20.5 percent, and total international
enrollment increased 10.7 percent, compared to fall
2012.
• Implemented the “Mobile Dawg” initiative, in
which all new, on-campus freshmen receive a tablet
pre-loaded with e-texts and materials needed for several
courses, as well as various applications designed to
better connect students to campus life.
• Established goals for improvements in retention
and graduation rates.
• Established a robust distance learning program
through the Office of Distance Education and Off
Campus Programs. Online course enrollments grew 36
percent from 2012 to 2013.
• Created the University College, centralizing and
coordinating all services, including advisement, to
support new freshman and transfer students.
D
r
.. R
ita
CHENG
CHANCELLOR
Under the leadership of Director of
Athletics Mario Moccia, Saluki Athletics has built state-
of-the art facilities that serve its football, basketball,
track & field and tennis programs, while a new baseball
stadium is under construction and scheduled to open
in 2014.
Shortly after Moccia arrived on campus in 2006,
he charted the course for Saluki Way -- an ambitious
$80 million facilities campaign featuring a new football
stadium, renovated arena and 50,000-square foot
team facility. The new facilities opened in 2010.
Moccia was named an UnderArmour AD of the
Year in 2013. In 2012, work was completed on a
$4 million track & field facility for the department’s
nationally ranked program. In June of 2013, the
department broke ground on a complete renovation of
its baseball facility.
Among Moccia’s fund-raising accomplishments at
SIU, the Saluki Athletic Scholarship Fund more than
doubled its annual donations, and the department
signed a seven-figure multimedia rights agreement with
Learfield Sports. Moccia also secured an exclusive all-
sport agreement with Under Armour for team footwear
and apparel, a rarity for a school of Southern’s size.
The Salukis have been successful across the board,
winning conference championships in football, men’s
and women’s basketball,women’s golf, men’s cross
country, men’s tennis, softball, women’s track and
women’s swimming & diving in his tenure at SIU.
Equally impressive are the marks Saluki student-
athletes have posted in the classroom. The cumulative
GPA of all student-athletes is above 3.0 and the
graduation rate exceeds the general student body.
The department has expanded its broadcast footprint
under Moccia’s leadership, creating the school’s first-
ever TV and radio networks, that extend throughout
southern Illinois and also reach St. Louis, Kentucky and
Indiana.
Moccia is an active member of numerous NCAA
and MVC committees. In 2011, he began serving a
four-year term on the NCAA Division I Championships/
Sports Management Cabinet as the men’s basketball
committee liaison. The cabinet oversees six committees
and reports directly to the Division I Leadership Council
regarding policy and legislative issues. He also served
two years on the NCAA’s Academic Enhancement
Committee for men’s basketball. Moccia was named
First Vice President of the Minority Opportunities
Athletic Association (MOAA) in 2012. He is also on the
MVC Legislative Review Committee.
Moccia was named a 2012-13 Under Armour AD of
the Year and was one of four Football Championship
Subdivision ADs to earn the award, which was
announced by NACDA.
M
ario
MOCCIA
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS