New UA athletic director starts her tenure soon. What to know about Desireé Reed-Francois

Desireé Reed-Francois will begin her five-year contract at the University of Arizona on Sunday, starting as the university’s athletic director as it faces a $177 million budget shortfall and conference transition.

Reed-Francois has already received feedback from university leaders, who said they’re optimistic her experience at universities across the country will provide the Wildcat program with needed mobility. She said in an introductory press conference she plans to focus on student-athletes and tackle the financial challenges the program faces.

“She’s a national leader in athletics,” UA President Robert Robbins said in a Board of Regents meeting last week, saying her previous work “turned around” other athletic departments for the better.

How much will Reed-Francois be paid?

Last week, the Arizona Board of Regents approved Reed-Francois’ contract for $1 million with $50,000 increases each year ending with $1.2 million. The University of Arizona Foundation is also contributing $250,000 per year to her salary. More money will be added based on performance, with $125,000 for NCAA National Championship appearances and $50,000 for football bowl game appearances.

While the university is in a hiring freeze until June 30, the fiscal plan grants exceptions to “key administrators” and other positions “to address health, safety or legal risks.”

As athletic director, UA has promised Reed-Francois with access to private plane rides and a country club membership. She is one of several recent hires for Wildcat Athletics after bringing on new football coach Brent Brennan last month.

What are Reed-Francois' priorities? Will she cut UA sports programs?

In last week's press conference, Reed-Francois said the athletics department will not cut any programs to save money. She emphasized her push for more donor funding as the university is two-thirds of the way toward its $3 billion fundraising campaign called Fuel Wonder.

"This is not a problem that's incredibly unique," Reed-Francois said of the program's financial struggles. "But what we have to do is just be very diligent in our approach and very thoughtful."

Initially, Reed-Francois said she’ll work with the department to analyze its budget and look for more revenue opportunities. President Robbins hinted the new AD might see a faster turnaround for the athletics budget than the 18 to 26 month estimate he has given the school to recover.

“I absolutely am confident she’ll get this turned around and she’ll beat the 18- to 36-month timeframe,” he said in the press conference.

What have UA leaders said about Reed-Francois?

Before moving to UA, Reed-Francois was the athletic director at the University of Missouri and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before that. Her tenure at both schools received praise from Robbins, particularly for boosting revenue and donations.

“We are very, very excited about her coming,” Robbins said. “We are confident that she will help get our athletic department not only back to financial sustainability, but also change the whole culture.”

Robbins said he sees the school’s athletics moving in a positive direction even as officials subsidized the department’s expenses over the last several years with multimillion-dollar loans the department has yet to pay back.

“Let me be very clear, we will not shy away from tackling our challenges head-on,” Robbins said. “We will modernize. We will be fiscally responsible.”

In a faculty senate meeting earlier this month, Professor Gary Rhoades said he was hopeful Reed-Francois could continue to be “creative” with the budget but noted that last year UA received the largest subsidy of any other Power Five school — over 25%.

The new athletic director noted her commitment to academics as a whole and how collegiate sports serve an "altruistic purpose."

"We need to make sure that we continue to tether athletics to the academy," Reed-Francois said.

Helen Rummel covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What to know about Desireé Reed-Francois, UA's new athletic director