Today's economic climate can make athletic directors feel like fundraising is a full-time job. For Dowling College's Rick Cole Jr., it actually is. Now entering his seventh year as Athletic Director at the NCAA Division II school, Cole is also Dowling's Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

Cole was asked to take over the school's development efforts in 2008 with the hope that he could replicate Dowling's athletic success. Under Cole's watch, the Golden Lions won the Division II men's soccer title in 2006 and reached the title game again in 2008. The men's lacrosse team also reached the national final in 2006, and the baseball and volleyball teams have made deep NCAA playoff runs.

Since coming on board in 2004, Cole has added three sports to Dowling's offerings--women's soccer, women's lacrosse, and men's cross country--and opened a $12.5 million outdoor athletic facility. He is currently a member of the Division II Management Council and serves as its liaison to the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Prior to his arrival on the Long Island campus, Cole served as an Associate Athletic Director at St. John's University and Stony Brook University. In this interview, he talks about filling two tough jobs, encouraging criticism, and the breakfast meeting that changed his professional life.

AM: How does an athletic director end up also becoming the Director of Institutional Advancement?
Cole: There are actually a lot of similarities in the two roles. Running an athletic department is about managing people, developing a plan, and then executing that plan. Fundraising is about managing relationships, developing a vision, and then executing that vision. In both cases, it really comes down to delivering on what you promise to do. In fact, we're applying the model we use to operate our athletic department to our development efforts.

How do you balance the two jobs?
It would be easy to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week doing just one of the jobs, so it's a challenge. First and foremost, I have the great fortune of working with exceptional professionals who are very capable. Second, I make sure to focus on the highest priorities and try to be as clear as I can with our vision and our plan.

In both advancement and athletics, it's important that I articulate beforehand who is responsible for what. I have a fabulous right-hand person in Associate Athletic Director Melody Cope, who has the confidence to make any decision on behalf of our institution as it pertains to athletics. And I think there's a good understanding with the rest of the administrators and coaches about what needs to be brought to whose attention and when.

What did you do to build that understanding within your department?
The key is making sure everyone knows your expectations. If people don't know the expectations of the organization, gray areas develop. But if we're clear about who we want to be and the expectations that come with being a part of our organization, then people usually make good decisions.

You helped Dowling land a corporate sponsorship with adidas and one of its local retailers. What does it take to bring in corporate sponsors at the Division II level?
No matter the size of your school, sponsors want a return on their investment--they need to see how their money is being used. We've been successful by showing sponsors how their money is helping student-athletes directly. We also take time to listen so that we know what matters most to them.

We never had corporate sponsors here before, so we looked for folks who enjoy being part of building something. We relayed our vision and found a lot of people who believe in what we're trying to do.

What do you do to show them the impact their money has?
We're constantly communicating with our sponsors and provide them a year-end summary of specifically what their money was used for. We also do all we can to bring sponsors to campus so they can meet our student-athletes and the athletes can acknowledge the sponsors' support.

How did you end up at Dowling?
While I was at St. John's, somebody who was helping Dowling with their search for a new athletic director asked me to have breakfast with their president to talk about possible candidates. As a courtesy to this person, I was happy to meet and offer suggestions. But as I talked with the president and learned more about the institution and the vision he had for the growth of the athletics program, I became intrigued about the job itself. I ended up spending the entire day with the president and soon thereafter I was offered the position.

When I went to breakfast that morning I had no intentions of looking for a new job, and I certainly did not think my next position would be as an athletic director at a Division II institution. But when I explored the opportunities Dowling presented, it became a no-brainer. The president was excited about building an athletic program the school could be proud of and it was clear he would be a supportive leader throughout the process.

Plus, it was the right fit for my family. I now live in the same community I work in, and my three children are in an elementary school near campus. It's been a wonderful experience, and I've really enjoyed it.

Are you doing anything to make the Division II Life in the Balance efforts meaningful to your student-athletes?
Our core mission at Dowling is to build champions in academics, athletics, community, and life. And we really try to represent those attributes in everything we do. We're creating a culture that asks not only, "Who do we want to be?" but also, "How do we want to get there? How do we collectively buy into the goals of building champions in these areas?"

How do you establish that kind of culture?
By being inclusive. Every step of the way, we have our athletes, coaches, and administrators help in the planning process. When people feel they are a valued part of the vision and a valued part of building something, there is ownership.

For example, our student-athlete code of conduct is reviewed by our student-athletes and voted on by our student-athletes. They feel ownership of it and therefore are more likely to want to follow it.

We also listen carefully to their thoughts and ideas on national issues. When the NCAA first started discussing new rules for non-championship segments, I had no idea how important an issue it would be to our student-athletes. They said they understood that some changes may need to be made, but under no circumstances should we take away their off-season practices or severely modify them. They told us that's when they develop as athletes--without the pressures of competing, they can work on mastering new skills. So now I'm a strong advocate for non-championship opportunities.

What do you do to continue to improve as an athletic department?
We are a very critical organization. We're okay with talking about our imperfections--saying, for example, maybe we could have done a certain piece of game operations better. We embrace the fact that even if we're doing something well, we can still do it better.

Just as important, we remember that doing a lot of things well doesn't necessarily mean we're always doing the right things. So we constantly take a look at every aspect of our department and promote a culture where our athletes and coaches can provide us feedback.

How do you get people to feel comfortable with sharing criticism?
When we meet with athletes, we tell them, "Our goal is to give you the best athletic and higher education experience you can have. My guess is we're not perfect, so your feedback is pivotal in making this a better organization. Please help us identify the things we should do better." When they realize we really mean that, they make suggestions. Two administrators meet with each team at the end of every season, and student-athletes can also fill out an anonymous survey.

I'm also totally okay with my staff telling me they don't agree with a policy or they've changed their view on an issue. My expectation is that they will give me that feedback if they feel what we are doing is not on point.

You recently went through a rebranding effort. How did that progress?
When I got here, our teams were wearing six different colors on their uniforms, and there was no unifying theme. Now everything we do reflects one thought with one brand: "Building Champions." We really work hard to say who we are and have uniformity throughout our colors, logo, and publications.

Our slogan is important because we're very process focused and it reflects that winning is a result. So "Building Champions" is something we preach all the time. It's displayed on our Web site, in the weightroom, and throughout our academic support rooms. It's part of who we are.

How do you reconcile wanting to win with only one team being able to win a championship?
It's how you define winning. Only 88 teams out of 1,000-plus institutions win NCAA titles each year. If capturing a national title is the only standard, there are a lot of people who do not have success.

So we need to establish better measures of success and celebrate them. If we're performing better academically and our graduation rates are stronger, that's success. If we raise more money for the community than last year, that's success. We like to view success as a pendulum. We want the pendulum to be moving in the direction of success. And if it isn't, we want to find out why and address it.

What are the biggest challenges you currently face?
We all face the challenge of funding college athletics, and we're certainly working hard on that. But one of the most difficult things is staying committed to your principles--even if doing so is not popular. We will not sacrifice doing the right thing for winning. None of us are bigger than the organization.

What do you like best about your job as athletic director?
I enjoy working with student-athletes who are committed to succeeding in their athletic, academic, community service, and life pursuits. When you can make a difference in the lives of student-athletes and the greater community, it's a productive and rewarding place to be. It's not always easy, but I don't know what job is.