Having chosen a course and a schedule for its athletic endeavors, CSU Channel Islands has started its search for a captain.

Ventura County's first public four-year school, which is scheduled to begin NCAA Division II competition in the fall of 2008, is accepting applications for its first athletic director.

"We've got it on a fast track," said Wm. Gregory Sawyer, the school's vice president for student affairs, who will oversee the department.

CSUCI is advertising both locally and nationally. The search committee will meet June 29 to review all applications in hopes of completing the process by the beginning of the fall semester.

"That's our goal," said Sawyer.

"Obviously, we're looking for somebody that has the experience to be able to lead us, an individual who is committed to the student-athlete."

The process of putting the Dolphins on the field of play began in 2005, three years after the school was established in Camarillo, when CSUCI hired former NCAA executive director Cedric Dempsey as a consultant.

"That was huge for us because we certainly wanted to bring in the right person to help us," said Sawyer.

Dempsey has since headed an athletic advisory committee made up of faculty, students, administrators and members of the community, including Star publisher Tim Gallagher.

Guided by Dempsey, the committee looked at the costs and benefits associated with the various membership associations and levels.

"We determined that, for numerous reasons, the best division for us initially would be NCAA Division II," said Sawyer.

It visited with commissioners of two conferences, including the head of the 68-year-old California Collegiate Athletic Association, which includes 11 of CSUCI's Cal State brethren, including CSUs Bakersfield, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Pomona, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Sonoma and Stanislaus.

The committee presented its findings to CSUCI president Richard Rush, who approved the hire of an athletic director.

With 15 months until the first Dolphins take the field, perhaps a bigger hurdle to clear is the lack of on-campus facilities.

"That's the problem," said Sawyer. "What will probably be discussed initially with the new athletic director are the sports that we can start initially without major facilities."

Preliminary discussions of potential sports have centered on sports that can be easily played off campus, including golf and cross country. Sawyer spoke of an area off Portrero Road that could be converted into a temporary soccer facility.

"It would take a little time to get that up to speed," said Sawyer.

Also, in Camarillo, there should be little difficulty finding fields for baseball and softball, two other sports CSUCI is interested in starting immediately.

With an undergraduate population that is nearly 65 percent female, CSUCI expects to have a strong presence in women's athletics.

"There's a strong desire for us to have a strong (women's) athletic program," said Sawyer.

But first, the school must find a leader who can shepherd the program through the three-to-five-year process of joining an NCAA conference and help raise the money for on-campus facilities.

"It is a process," said Sawyer, who understands a startup program need only be a long not lengthy process.

Sawyer came to CSUCI from Florida Gulf Coast University, which reached the NCAA Division II women's basketball final this past season, just 10 years after opening its doors and eight years after tipping off its basketball program.