University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Athletic Department Announces Staff Restructuring
July 23, 2010 | General
July 23, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass Director of Athletics John McCutcheon has announced a restructuring of staff within the department's external and development units. Tim Kenney has been promoted to the position of Executive Associate Athletic Director for External Relations after seven years as the Associate Athletic Director/Advancement. Rocko DeLuca has been hired as the Associate Athletic Director/Director of Development for Athletics, coming to UMass from the University of Colorado. Garrett Waller has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Executive Director of the UMass Athletic Association after six years as the Assistant Athletic Director/Advancement.
Kenney, now in his eighth year at UMass, will be responsible for all external relations efforts in the department. He will oversee all external revenue generating components including corporate sponsorship, marketing, promotion efforts, public relations, multimedia, sales and ticket campaign initiatives. He will be responsible for maximizing synergies between all external relations functions in order to capitalize on increasing the department's revenue streams.
DeLuca, will be responsible for designing and implementing a comprehensive development program for the athletics department. The program incorporates both campaign and annual fundraising, with particular emphasis on capital, major individual, corporate, foundation and planned gifts.
The newcomer to Amherst, DeLuca spent the last eight years at Colorado most recently as the Assistant Athletic Director for Major Gifts with the Buff Club. He also served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving and Buff Club Director from 2002-07. Most recently, he oversaw major gifts, capital projects and the annual fund, which generated approximately $6 million each year. He also implemented the Buff Club Cabinet giving program, in which donors made a three-year commitment of $25,000 annually. DeLuca was responsible for all aspects of annual giving to CU Athletics and its 16 intercollegiate sport programs. He returned to his alma mater after working with the Denver Broncos as a premium seat representative from 1999-2002. He earned his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado in 1999, where as a student, he worked all four years as a student athletic trainer, assigned mainly to football and basketball. He received his master's in Sports Administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 2001.
In hiring DeLuca, UMass would like to thank the executive search firm of Deerfield Associates and in particular Doug Cooney `73 for their assistance in conducting this important national search on behalf of the University.
Waller, who is in his seventh year at UMass, will now oversee a larger aspect within the development office with increased duties as the Executive Director of the UMAA. He will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive annual giving program for the Athletics Department and assisting the Associate Athletic Director/Director of Development for Athletics in campaign and capital fundraising. The program incorporates the UMass Athletic Association annual fund drive and booster groups for specific sports with an emphasis on lead annual fund gifts.
Additionally, UMass will be hiring an Associate Director of Development, a position that is currently being searched. The position will manage various components of a comprehensive annual giving program for the Athletics Department and assists the Assistant Athletic Director/Executive Director of UMAA in various aspects of campaign fundraising. The program incorporates the UMass Athletic Association annual giving program and booster groups for specific sports with an emphasis on lead annual fund gifts.