By Anna Kayser
At the beginning of the new year, the University of Iowa Athletics Department will lose three of its longtime senior staff members who have 100 combined years of service in the school.
Paula Jantz, senior associate athletics director, Mark Jennings, associate athletics director, and Chief Financial Officer Mick Walker will retire in the opening months of 2017.
Hawkeye Athletics Director Gary Barta said in an email to The Daily Iowan that the department has anticipated the change for about five years, and officials put together a restructuring plan that would help make the transition smooth.
In the past year, Barta said, five people were either shifted or hired in the transition. More than two years ago, three people were hired to fill voids made by the start of a series of retirements, he said in the email.
Jantz will retire in February and be replaced by Barbara Burke, senior associate athletics director.
Jantz, who started working at the UI in 1980 in the women’s Athletics Department, was promoted to senior associate athletics director in 2015. When the men and women departments were merged in 2000, she became the associate athletics director.
Jantz was responsible for event management for all 24 sports at the UI, hosting 200-220 athletics events each year.
“I just really feel like I’ve been one of the luckiest people in the whole world,” she said. “I will definitely miss the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with.”
Burke has been on staff since August, and Jantz said this is a great opportunity for a transition.
After retiring, Jantz said, she is excited about supporting the Hawkeyes. In her job, she said, she was never able to watch the athletic events because of overseeing other concerns, and now she will get the opportunity to watch the teams and not worry about anything other than cheering.
Jennings started working at the UI in 1987. He will retire on Jan. 5, 2017, and his position will be filled by the shifting of jobs in the five-year restructuring plan.
“I think we’ve got the right people in place so that we won’t skip a beat,” Jennings said. “Gary has hired very capable replacements for us.”
Combined, the trio has helped shape the Hawkeye culture in their time working together. They have made the department greater with their work, Barta said.
“It’s impossible to replace that type of experience and institutional knowledge,” he said. “We’ll miss their great passion and tireless hours on behalf of the Hawkeyes.”
