Robinson Named Interim AD

NEW PALTZ — Associate Athletic Director Stuart Robinson has been named as the interim Athletic Director at SUNY New Paltz, replacing Jim Zalacca, who left September 13 after seven years to become the Director of Athletics at SUNY Potsdam.

Joe Kremer, who had been the university’s Assistant Athletic Director for NCAA Compliance, will serve as interim Associate Athletic Director.

The duo’s interim responsibilities will continue until a new Director of Athletics has been appointed. A national search for the position will occur in early spring 2001.

“Stu Robinson and Joe Kremer bring over nine years of combined experience in athletics administration at SUNY New Paltz and will provide continuity and stability for the department during this transition period,” Vice President for Student Affairs Barbara Geider said.

“I think the opportunity is a tremendous opportunity, and it’s important to me to do a good job and promote and protect the interests of the athletic department,” Robinson said.

“In accepting the position, I’m not a house sitter,” he noted, alluding to a number of projects that are in the works, including ongoing planning for New Paltz’s new performance gymnasium and its impending self-study, a process required by the NCAA every five years.

Robinson continued, “I think there are a lot of little things we can do on the short term to make the staff feel good about coming to work. Also, a lot of our students are not going to be here for the new facility, so we want them to feel good now.”

Kremer shared Robinson’s philosophy. “We don’t want to merely hold the fort,” he said. “We’re looking to continue moving forward, and implement some new plans and ideas.”

A 1983 Williams College graduate, who holds a master’s degree from Middlebury College, Robinson is in his ninth year as men’s soccer coach at New Paltz. He spent the last five years (1997-2000) as New Paltz’s Associate Athletic Director, with a particular emphasis on academic support services for student-athletes and scheduling of athletic contests. In addition, he has been an adjunct English professor at the university since 1994.

Last September, Robinson was named to a four-year term on the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Rules Committee, and he is the Northeast Chairman for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Men’s Division III Soccer Rankings Committee.

On the soccer field, he led the Hawks to a 11-8-1 record and an appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro New York/New Jersey Men’s Soccer Tournament in 1997, and was New Paltz’s first SUNYAC Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year in 1996 after leading New Paltz to a 6-4 conference mark, which tied the 1965 school record for most SUNYAC wins in a season.

Kremer, meanwhile, is a 1990 Hamilton College graduate who completed his master’s degree at Florida State University.

Entering his fifth year at New Paltz, Kremer recently completed his first year as Assistant Athletic Director. He has been the Hawks’ men’s basketball coach since 1996, and guided New Paltz to a school-record 18 wins and the ECAC Division III Men’s Upstate New York Basketball Championship in 1999. He also served one year (1997-98) as New Paltz Athletic Facility Manager.

Both will continue to coach their respective sports during this transition period.

Note to editors: Photos of Stuart Robinson and Joe Kremer can be downloaded from the SUNY New Paltz web site at http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/interimad.html.