When you're the new kid on the block, the traditional advice is to keep your eyes and ears open and not ruffle too many feathers. But Jim Schaus believes in the opposite approach.

Three months after being named Director of Athletics at Ohio University in April, Schaus unveiled "Bobcat Renaissance," a five-year strategic plan for the athletic department. "I think that establishing a vision was our greatest need, and I didn't want to waste any time," he says. "The sooner we began the process of aligning our administrative structure and putting a long-term strategic plan in place, the sooner we'll be able to realize our end goal. It's difficult to make critical decisions without really knowing our priorities or what our vision is."

There are seven overall themes to his plan: long-term financial stability, building relationships, strategic planning, sports program development, administrative restructuring, supporting the student-athlete mission, and providing value to the university and community. A key component of the initiative is promoting Bobcat athletics to the 90,000 alumni in the state of Ohio in hopes the effort will increase support and game attendance.

"The biggest challenge for us is financial," says Schaus, who took Wichita State University from a six-figure budget deficit to a $1.5 million surplus in nine years as athletic director at the school. "If you have an interest in competing at the top of your league like our fans and alumni do, then you need to be financially prepared to invest in the personnel, facilities, and operational budgets to fulfill that goal. We hope our new strategic plan will help us achieve this."