Holding a full deck of responsibilities even before ascending to the role of athletic director at North Central College in 2005, Jim Miller ’86 saw a clear path to improving the culture and conditions of the athletic department to better support athletes and coaches alike. Informed by that vision, the resulting changes in the department have yielded a combination of athletic and academic success rivaled by very few in college sports.
Miller was selected as North Central’s athletic director after an 18-year tenure in the College’s office of admission (1987-1992) and as a full-time instructor in health and physical education (1993-2005), in addition to serving as the Cardinals’ head men’s wrestling coach (1989-2005) and an assistant football coach (1987-2001) in a combination of roles which was common at the time.
“I always wanted to be in a leadership role,” said Miller, who was a four-year starter in football and two-year starter in wrestling at North Central and served as a team captain in both sports. “That’s what I’ve enjoyed the most, but I had not been in that seat before and it’s different when you are responsible for the finality of it. It was humbling to get the support I got from our other coaches to pursue the position.”
With the goal of creating a positive experience in athletics for coaches and student-athletes alike, Miller implemented support in both areas by narrowing coaches’ scope of work and creating the Faculty Mentor and Athlete Mentor Programs to better integrate athletics and academics.
“We knew we needed to move away from asking our coaches to teach, even though the ones who were doing it did a great job,” he said. “Fortunately, those adjustments were made and coaches are able to focus on their sport year-round. It’s made the working environment much better in that respect.
“There weren’t a lot of other schools with (Faculty Mentor Programs) for us to reference, and we didn’t know how it would shake out. We wanted to make sure the student-athletes had an opportunity to connect with the faculty, and have the faculty understand what athletics is about.”
Miller sees a direct correlation between those efforts and the successful launch of six new sports during his tenure (including five in a four-year period) as well as the 21 NCAA Division III team national championships, 114 team conference championships, more than 600 All-America awards and more than 700 national academic awards won by North Central student-athletes.
“I think people recognize when you create a culture people can do well in,” he said. “Not just to survive, but to thrive. Ultimately, you have to have the right head coaches. That sounds obvious, but it’s true. We’ve had the right mix of coaches, support, and the ability to make adjustments along the way. Seeing our teams achieve at that level has just been a thrill and something I could never imagine.”
More recent innovations such as the appointment of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin’s (CCIW) first assistant athletic director for diversity, equity and inclusion, the ongoing renovation and updating of facilities and the creation of a Women’s Sports Legacy Fund are part of Miller’s ongoing effort to make the student-athlete experience at North Central one that everyone involved can be proud of.
“Our main priority is the student-athlete experience,” Miller said. “Our motivation is to make sure our student-athletes, and our students in general, not only have that sense of belonging but a true sense of the balance between academics and athletics. As people move on and graduate and go about their lives, we want their athletic experiences here to be positive, regardless of wins and losses.”
