Values-Based Hiring With Jacksonville University’s Alex Ricker-Gilbert

Guest Alex Ricker-Gilbert, Jacksonville University

16:03 min watch

Summary

Jacksonville University Senior Vice President and Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert sits down with ADU’s Tai M. Brown at the 2023 NACDA Convention to discuss the importance of fit in the hiring process and how to assemble a team to ultimately enhance the student-athlete experience. Ricker-Gilbert reflects on his seven years in the big chair through the lens of hiring and retaining staff, including how his definition of institutional fit has evolved, how he addresses melt in administrators and how he instills energy and attitude into his team.

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

- During your seven years as AD, how have you tried to be a value-add to the people you hire? How do you leave them better than when you found them when they arrived?
- Can you instill energy and attitude into a new hire?
- Has your approach to hiring evolved during your seven years at Jacksonville?
- How do you address issues of fit - specifically, when a great hire is just not the right fit for your department?
- We're seeing more administrators get out of college athletics or fail to get in in the first place - how do you address that issue in terms of the environment you create for your department?
- Are there challenges you've experienced throughout your tenure that have still proven difficult to address?
- How do you creatively address the challenge of enhancing the student-athlete experience as the pressure to do so has grown over the last few years?

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