Georgia State Athletic Director Cheryl Levick announced Friday she is stepping down from her current role to become a special assistant to Georgia State President Dr. Mark Becker, according to the AJC.
Levick was not planning to continue as athletic director after her five-year contract extension signed in 2012 concluded, and conversations with Becker led to an agreement that the program needed someone who could commit for an additional five years to help progress the University’s recent proposal to develop Turner Field into a mix-used development.
“We both want what is best for the Department of Athletics, and this is the right time for me to transition to the next stage in my athletics career,” Levick said in Friday’s press release from Georgia State.
Levick has “non-threatning” health issues that she had put off, but need attention, according to multiple reports.
As a special assistant to Becker, Levick wants to teach what she has learned through her 30 years of experience in Athletics and create a modern curriculum to help train future athletic administrators.
Levick’s new role takes affect July 1, 2014. She is on salary through June 30, 2015, according to the AJC.
“Georgia State University has enjoyed considerable progress under Cheryl Levick’s leadership,” Becker said citing the progress the program has made.
Levick arrived at Georgia State in March 2009 and brought in current men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter and football coach Trent Miles. She helped transition Athletics out of the Colonial Athletic Association to the Sun Belt Conference, thus transitioning football from the FCS to FBS. Georgia State has won five conference titles since moving to the Sun Belt.
Levick faced significant struggles this past year with the football team going 0-12 last season, plus a scandal in the tennis department that led the dismissal of two men’s tennis coaches.
A national search will take place immediately to replace to replace Levick, and an interim athletic director will be announced by July, according to Georgia State.
Former Georgia State Bill Curry has no interest in the open position, according to the AJC. Curry, who was the interim athletic director before Levick, said he likes his life the way it currently is.
Levick declined to talk to The Signal Friday.
