New UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois since starting June 1 has been living in a dormitory on campus "rather than a hotel or apartment before she moves into a permanent residence," a move that "speaks to how seriously Reed-Francois is taking her first few months on the job," according to Dan Wolken of USA TODAY. Reed-Francois said, "When I first set out to do this I wanted to be a part of campus and get to know our student-athletes and get to know my campus colleagues, so what better way to do that than live in a dorm? It’s been a great experience." Reed-Francois has been "putting in 16-hour days and trying to meet individually with all 246 staff members she inherited to assess how UNLV’s beleaguered athletic department can improve." UNLV athletics was projected to face a nearly $5M budget deficit at the end of this fiscal year until the university and Thomas & Mack Center "stepped in to contribute" $3.7M, essentially giving Reed-Francois a "clean slate financially." Still, with the UNLV basketball program "struggling in recent years and its football team trying to make incremental improvement" under coach Tony Sanchez, a "key part of the job will be trying to find ways to grow revenue." Reed-Francois said that her "top priority over the first month has been learning about the department so she can assess the infrastructure needed to extract UNLV’s tantalizing potential" (USA TODAY, 6/21).
