The Colorado State Rams athletic director Joe Parker has signed a five-year, $2 million contract extension with the university, a deal that will keep him with the school through 2022.
Hired to run the athletics department in March of 2015, Parker will see a salary bump of $50,000 per year from his previous contract, making him the third-highest paid athletic director in the Mountain West.
“Joe has done a terrific job of focusing on building an environment where our student athletes are able to compete and win the right way, while always remembering they are students first,” said Tony Frank, president of Colorado State University.
“At the same time, he has built a sense of shared commitment to excellence and to the university community among the coaches, staff and student athletes. The multiple successes in athletics have been driven by Joe’s thoughtful and focused leadership. The atmosphere Joe creates produces impressive results for the university to be proud of.”
Under Parker’s guidance, the school has achieved marks in many departments, including education, where CSU’s student athlete graduation rate of 65 percent matches the university’s overall graduation rate, and also sits three points higher than the average of athletes across the Mountain West Conference. CSU is a full nine percentage points higher than the average graduation rate of all students in the MWC.
“Colorado State University is a special place, and it is very gratifying to have the confidence of President Frank and the Board of Governors,” Parker said.
“We have a great team of professionals in our athletics department, and together we are setting an ambitious course to support our students in the classroom and in competition, and we are seeing great results,” Parker continued.
“As we look to the future, we have the right foundation, the right institutional support, the right coaches and a fantastic group of students competing on behalf of CSU. We’re excited about what is ahead, and are optimistic the future is bright.”
Success on the field, hardwood and court have also been on the upward trend under Parker. CSU’s three-year winning percentage of 74.63, among the four revenue sports ranks third in the nation, surpassing programs including Stanford, North Carolina, Duke and Ohio State.
Since 2015, the Rams have posted 250 wins and 85 losses when combining results of football, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball.
The Rams were represented in 10 NCAA postseason competitions in 2016-17, and 13 of the 16 CSU athletic programs wrapped up their year in postseason events.
Parker also oversaw the construction, completion and opening of CSU’s on-campus, 41,000-capacity football stadium, which opened this fall.