On August 15, 2007, Dr. Kevin T. McGinniss was named the University of Rhode Island's new associate director of athletics for development.

Highly respected in the field of intercollegiate athletics, McGinniss owns a strong educational and professional background which includes over 25 years of varied experience as an educator, author, coach, athletics administrator and athlete. He comes to Kingston after spending two years as the director of athletics and recreation at Mercy College, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

In his role at URI, McGinniss heads up all aspects of fundraising for the athletics department with a particular emphasis on the athletics component of URI's "Making a Difference" capital campaign; raising $5 million for the new Student-Athlete Development Center and other important athletics capital projects.

"I have worked with Kevin on several national projects in recent years, and know that he is well respected in our field" said Robert Beagle, URI's Vice-President for University Advancement. "He's an aggressive fundraiser, he knows athletics, and he has successful campaign experience. Kevin and our new AD, Thorr Bjorn, will complement each other very well."

"Kevin's distinguished track record in securing private gifts for athletic facilities has great appeal for us," Glen Kerkian, President of the URI Foundation, said. "It is experience he can utilize to immediately focus interest and charitable support for the new Student-Athlete Development Center."

"We are very excited about having Kevin join the URI Athletics team," Bjorn said. "He has a demonstrated passion for intercollegiate athletics and track record of success in raising funds - monies that are vital for our teams' abilities to succeed."

In the fall of 2005, McGinniss became only the second director of athletics in the history of Mercy College succeeding Neil Judge who retired after 34 years at the helm.

During his first six months at Mercy College, McGinniss executed a thoughtful restructuring of the athletics department, and without funding for additional employees he engineered the creation of three assistant athletics director positions. Since then, he also added graduate assistant positions for recruiting and communications. One of his first charges with these new pieces in place was to increase roster sizes for each sport, and in the first year under McGinniss, Mercy's number of recruited student-athletes increased by over 60 percent. New services were added in support of the student-athletes, including mandatory "Power Hours" (study halls), academic monitoring, and the development of Mercy's CHAMPS/Life Skills program. By the end of the 2006 fall semester, Mercy's student-athletes combined for a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

McGinniss also instituted other enhancement programs such as the department's first ever student-athlete orientation and he also assembled a network of top healthcare and strength and conditioning professionals in the area. He also created an intramurals and recreation program and a new fitness center for the entire Mercy College community.

Marketing and identity development were key components for McGinniss to generating awareness of Mercy College athletics. One of the first steps was to launch a new website in June of 2006 - www.mercyathletics.com/. The department has also ramped up its marketing through enhanced media guides, game programs, schedule cards, and regular e-newsletters. That awareness has reached far beyond the local area, with Mercy College athletics making headlines in the media that reach across the nation.

While the department had been building its programs up, during his tenure McGinniss saw a resurgence in the women's basketball team with a seven-game turnaround, and in his last year the men's tennis program made its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the round of 16 for the first time.

The excitement around all of Mercy's programs was evident in the increased attendance at events and successful promotions that reconnected Mercy Athletics with alumni, youth groups, the student body, and faculty and staff. A big part of this was the return of Mercy's basketball games to the historic Westchester County Center. Arguably the biggest event of all however, was Mercy's first ever Athletics Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner in November of 2006, which drew over 300 attendees. McGinniss also established the Mercy College Blue White Fund to support and further enhance Mercy College Athletics and to provide the student-athletes with opportunities to compete at the highest-level in NCAA Division II, both regionally and nationally.

McGinniss continued to generate awareness and enthusiasm for Mercy College athletics, and in the spring of 2007, the department unveiled "Mavericks" as its new mascot and nickname. He also negotiated a licensing agreement with Strategic Marketing Associates to market the new mascot/logo on clothing and specialty items in the Mercy College bookstore and other retail outlets.

For his efforts in transforming the Mercy College athletics program, in the spring of 2007 McGinniss was nominated by his colleagues to receive the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Athletics Administrators) NCAA Division II Athletics Director of the Year Award.

McGinniss arrived at Mercy College from Quinnipiac University where he served from 2001-2005 as its director of athletics development. At Quinnipiac he was responsible for implementing special events and coordinating all fundraising in support of their NCAA Division I athletics program. This included coordinating a comprehensive annual giving program for athletics targeting former student-athletes, parents of current student-athletes and friends of the university. He was also responsible for the planning and implementation of their athletics corporate partners program along with the cultivation and solicitation of major gifts. In addition, he coordinated efforts of the volunteer members of the athletics advisory board and established a support group for athletics - the Quinnipiac University Bobcat Club. "The Team That Supports the Teams" sponsored an athletics travel program, hosted special events and published a seasonal newsletter, The Bobcat Briefing. At Quinnipiac McGinniss focused most of his efforts on a key component of the University's New Millennium Campaign, $25 million for a state of the art athletic center and was instrumental in securing the campaign's $5 million lead gift/naming rights agreement.

McGinniss' experience in higher education administration also includes serving Southern Connecticut State University as its director of athletics development and director of alumni affairs. He has also served as the director of athletics and recreation at Lehman College, The City University of New York. In addition McGinniss was the director of athletics development and executive director of the Blue & Gray Club at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY. While at Kings Point he was responsible for individual and corporate giving to athletics, coordinated the Blue & Gray Club golf outings and directed a capital campaign, which included a new multi-purpose artificial turf field and overall improvements to the outdoor stadium.

A former men's basketball coach, McGinniss' most noteworthy coaching accomplishment came as the head coach at Lehman College where he was responsible for one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the history of college basketball. Having inherited a struggling program, and with a combined four year record of 8 wins and 95 losses, McGinniss in only his second season led the Lehman Lightning to seventeen wins, a first place finish in the CUNY Athletics Conference North Division and an ECAC post -season tournament bid. In addition, as the primary assistant at Southern Connecticut State University, he played a major role in the program's resurgence as one of the best in NCAA Division II helping lead the 1992 squad to 20 wins, an appearance in the Conference championship game and a post -season tournament bid. Also, as head coach of the South entry in the Open Division of the 1991 Nutmeg State Games, he guided the team to an undefeated run capturing the Gold Medal.

An authority on Sport and Physical Education Pedagogy and Sport Administration, the focus of McGinniss' scholarly research has been in the areas of Sport Management and Athletics Administration. He has authored numerous articles including "Cultivation & Stewardship - Key to Obtaining Enduring Support for Your Program" CoachStreet.com, April 2000; "Administrative Support: Key to the Success and Survival of the High School Athletics Director" Sport Supplement, Spring 1999; and "Fun on the Fairway - Golf outings are a staple of fund-raising. But are you getting the most out of yours? Athletic Management, June/July 2002.

Active in professional organizations both locally and on the national level, McGinniss has served as Vice-Chair for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District I Board of Directors, is a member of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, National Association of Basketball Coaches Research Committee, and serves on the ECAC Board of Directors and ECAC Marketing Committee.

McGinniss earned his bachelor's degree in health, master's degree in physical education/athletics administration and a sixth year professional diploma of advanced graduate studies in educational leadership all from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. He received his doctorate in education from the Teachers College Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Columbia University in New York City.

Kevin and his wife Amy have a son, Kyle, and daughter, Kelly.

updated: 9/18/07