By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier University is expected to name Dawn Rogers as its new athletic director today.

University officials said Rogers, 39, will become the school's first female athletic director. She's been a senior associate athletic director at Xavier since 1998.

Rogers declined to comment Thursday. Xavier has scheduled a press conference today at 10 a.m.

As the 10th athletic director in Xavier history, Rogers will take over for Mike Bobinski, who resigned April 28 to accept a position as Xavier's vice president for university development. Rogers has worked under Bobinski for 10 years, first at the University of Akron, and then at Xavier.

"From the get-go, she has been involved in every big decision I've made at our previous stop and down here at Xavier," Bobinski said. "And I've trusted her and given her tremendous responsibility along the way."

Bobinski had known since last fall that he would step down as athletic director. Rogers was already scheduled to represent Xavier at the end-of-the-month Atlantic 10 meetings in Boca Raton, Fla.

She was a considered a strong candidate because of her established relationship within the university and the athletic department. Rogers and three outside candidates were interviewed, sources said.

Rogers' interview further impressed the search committee, including Xavier president Michael Graham and vice president John Kucia, both of whom declined to comment Thursday.

According to the 2004 Acosta/Carpenter Longitudinal study of women in sports, women hold 8.7 percent of Division I athletic director jobs. Among all NCAA divisions, there are 187 female athletic directors at more than 1,000 schools, according to the study.

Rogers has worked in collegiate athletics since earning a master's degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts in 1987. Before becoming an assistant athletic director at Akron in 1989, she was the director of promotions at Temple University and the corporate and group sales coordinator at the University of Cincinnati.

"I grew up on the business side of athletics," Bobinski said. "So I come at the job with a different set of background experiences and skills. ... And Dawn comes at it from a different angle. She's had a tremendous amount of sports management experience and student program experience. She's way ahead of me in those kinds of things. But on the business side of things, she's got plenty of perspective and has been involved with many of the decisions we've made."

Rogers' primary duties as the senior associate athletic director at Xavier revolved around overseeing seven sports, including women's basketball, as well as compliance responsibilities. She also handled student-athlete initial eligibility and coordinated financial aid and housing.

Rogers has work to complete in those areas, and her transition to athletic director will not be immediate. It is expected to be a fluid situation, with her fully in place by mid-June. Bobinski plans to be out of the Cintas Center by the end of May. He is scheduled to begin duties as vice president of development on June 15.

Under Bobinski, Xavier's athletic department achieved unprecedented success, including Elite Eight runs by men's and women's basketball teams, the construction of the $46 million Cintas Center, and the renovation of the soccer complex. Rogers will inherit a department that recognized $5.7 million in revenue in 2002-03, including $5.4 million from men's basketball, according to its Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act report.

"We've come to think a lot alike," Bobinski said. "We have very similar thoughts and ideas about where the program needs to go and how it needs to develop as a total athletic program."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com