"Everything I like about Williams is here, and a few things I didn't have at Williams are here," Sheehy said.
Sheehy's main goal is to maintain high athletic and academic standards for student athletes at the College, he said in an interview following the press conference. Sheehy said he expects his job at the College to be more challenging than his current position at Williams, although he said Dartmouth appealed to him because of its strong alumni body, facilities and "bright and articulate students."
"Running a Division 1 program obviously has some differences than running a Division 3 program," Sheehy said. "There are budget issues and constraints of course as always, but I think we have a bigger budget here."
During the final three years of his tenure as athletic director at Williams, Sheehy was able to cut 25 percent of the athletic department's budget.
If further cuts need to be made to the College's athletic budget, Sheehy said that he will heavily include coaches in the process so that he can make the best decisions regarding the budget.
"What we did [at Williams] is we made a list of the major things in each little area we just would not cut, so we set some criteria," Sheehy said. "Then we went to a list of things that if we took them out, wouldn't be as important. We also used our coaches extensively in the process. So I may have a list of things that I think are important, but the coaches may have a whole other list of priorities."
As new athletic director, Sheehy will report directly to Kim, restoring a historical relationship that is consistent with other Ivy League institutions, Kim said in the press conference.
"I think, if you want to do the things that President Kim wants to do in terms of setting the bar for excellence, then the new athletic director needs to have a direct line to the president," Sheehy said in the interview. "I'm confident that that direct line exists. The most important thing to me is, when I want it or need it, I will have direct access to President Kim."
Sheehy said he will also maintain a close working relationship with Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears on student issues, and David Spalding, chief of staff in the President's Office.
Sheehy will replace Acting Athletic Director Bob Ceplikas '78, who took the position after Josie Harper stepped down in January 2009. Ceplikas will return to his former role as deputy athletic director, Kim said.
While the search for Harper's replacement was slated to begin in January, Spears and Kim opted to forestall the search due to the recent budget cuts and in hopes of building a stronger applicant pool. The search committee enlisted the help of Parker Executive Search, which also recently assisted with finding the new president for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Additionally, Sheehy said he will work to improve fundraising efforts at Dartmouth to further support the athletic department.
Although Sheehy said he plans to "hit the ground running" once he arrives at the College, he said his first year will be a learning process as he assesses the operational strengths and weaknesses of the College's athletic program.
"Just sitting down with [Sheehy], you get the sense of the energy, the excitement, the extraordinary vision [he has] for how to integrate athletics and academics in a way that will benefit every single student on campus," Kim said.
During his first year, Sheehy said he will also forge close relationships with students. Sheehy said he knows "virtually every student-athlete at Williams," adding that he hopes to do the same at the College.
"Every captain will sit in my office and I'll talk to him or her about goals for the year, what they want to see happen, how the year's going," Sheehy said. "I do a lot of management by walking around really that's the fun part. Cutting the budget isn't fun, going to meetings with student-athletes is great fun."
Sheehy was nominated to the committee by an external source when the search began, he said in the interview. Although the search process began two months ago, Sheehy said he was only first contacted by Dartmouth approximately two weeks ago, and signed his letter of intent on Saturday morning.
During his 10-year tenure as athletic director at Williams, the school won 12 straight Director's Cups for excellence in Division 3 sports, according to a Dartmouth press release. Under Sheehy's direction, Williams was named the Jostens Institution of the Year four times, which is an award given annually to the institution that best exemplifies the highest standards of athletic and academic performance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
President Kim acknowledged the success of Williams athletics department under Sheehy's reign and expressed his hope that he will continue to find success at Dartmouth.
"I think that if you were to sit down and try to write on a sheet of paper all of the qualities you want in the next Dartmouth athletic director, you would be hard pressed to come up with a list of accomplishments that are as long or distinguished as those of [Sheehy]," Kim said.
Before his stint as athletic director, Sheehy was the head coach of the Williams men's basketball team for 17 years and maintained a .757 win percentage, according to the press release. Sheehy also played varsity basketball as an undergraduate at Williams, and was named an All-American twice. After graduation, he chose to play basketball for Athletes in Action, a basketball league with religious ties according to the release.
