After over a year of development, The Department of Athletics shaped its goals and its methods of achieving them in a new five-year strategic plan.
Zack Lassiter, vice president of athletics, said the department wanted to dive another level deeper into itself. The plan was developed with input from student-athletes, staff and coaches. Lassiter said there is ownership and a belief that everyone’s voice was heard.
“I feel really good that everyone in the athletic department played a role in developing where we want to go,” Lassiter said.
Athletics aims for every student-athlete to attain three goals during their experience at ACU: to grow in their faith, to reach their potential in the classroom and to compete for a championship. Lassiter said the strategic plan will not only exceed the student-athlete goal, but support the needs of coaches, athletics staff and university staff.
The plan is focused on five different pillars: on-field success, student-athlete and staff experience, gender equality and diversity, revenue generation and fiscal responsibility and brand and fan development.
“There’s not one that’s more important than the other. All five of these [pillars] kind of fit together like a puzzle piece,” Lassiter said.
Competing in a top 15 conference in all of D- I, the first pillar centers around on-field success, the ability to win championships and supporting coaches and staff with the resources they need to be able to compete in the Western Athletic Conference.
The athletics department wants student-athletes and staff to have a holistic experience in the program by helping them grow in their faith and reach their academic goals.
“We create an experience where all of us can grow professionally in our relationships,” Lassiter said.
Under the pillar of generating revenue, a goal for the department is to make ACU the “hometown team” for the Big Country.
Lassiter said sharing the story of bringing people to campus and creating community within the Big Country and the ACU campus is important to make visitors feel connected to be part of “this special place.”
The full plan and more information regarding its implementation can be found on the ACU Athletics webpage.
