UTEP MINERS
UTEP Director Of Athletics
Jim SENTER
Jim Senter was named UTEP’s Director of Athletics on Nov. 22, 2017. To say that Senter has been busy since arriving in the Sun City would be quite the understatement. He has hired head coaches for football (Dana Dimel), men’s basketball (Joe Golding), rifle (Austin Litherland), soccer (Kathryn Balogun), volleyball (Ben Wallis) and softball (T.J. Hubbard) and men’s golf (Aaron Puetz). With a firm belief that “Every Person Makes a Difference,” Senter has engaged Miner supporters far and wide. He organized a series of Town Hall meetings across El Paso, and established UTEP’s first-ever Fan Council. He also ushered in sweeping changes to the iconic Sun Bowl Stadium, with the addition of indoor and outdoor club seating, loge boxes, suites, the GECU Terrace, Hunt Family Sky Lounge and Paul and Alejandra Foster Tower. On the field, highlights from the Senter era have included the women’s cross country team capturing its first conference championship, women’s track and field winning the Conference USA Indoor title, and women’s golf posting three consecutive tournament victories for the first time in school history. The men’s and women’s basketball, football, soccer and volleyball squads have all exhibited significant improvement under his leadership. In 2021, a school-record 202 UTEP studentathletes made the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll (minimum 3.0 GPA), 32
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and 71 Miners -- also a school record -- were recipients of C-USA Academic Medals (minimum 3.75 GPA). Senter served as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, from 201417. During that time he hired head coaches in football, men’s basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball. Senter’s fundraising efforts resulted in significant improvements being made to the football, basketball and baseball facilities. He grew scholarship endowment by nearly $6 million in cash and pledges over three years. His total fundraising numbers set school records. Senter grew football attendance by more than 3,000 spectators per game, and the Bulldogs led the Southern Conference in attendance. They posted a 10-win season in 2016 and a nine-victory campaign in 2015. Academically, 174 Bulldog student-athletes garnered
placement on the Southern Conference Honor Roll in 2017. The year prior, The Citadel produced two CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-Americans. Senter went to The Citadel after spending seven years (200613) at the University of Colorado, where he worked his way up to Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations. Senter was the sport supervisor for the Colorado football, skiing, men’s and women’s golf programs. He also had supervision over the Chief Marketing Officer and numerous other areas including facilities, sports medicine, sports performance, game and event management and equipment services. He began his tenure at Colorado as Associate AD for Development. In that role, his responsibilities included all fundraising efforts, including the annual fund (student-athlete scholarships), major gifts and coordinating all donation-related activities and staff. He was later
