MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee Associate Athletics Director Mike Moleta has announced his resignation and has accepted a position with the NCAA.

Moleta, who has served as Middle Tennessee's Associate athletic director for compliance for six years, has accepted the position of Associate Director of Membership Services with the NCAA in Indianapolis, Ind.

"We will definitely miss Mike Moleta in the athletic department at Middle Tennessee because he was a difference-maker," Director of Athletics Chris Massaro said. "The NCAA came after (Moleta) and this was a great opportunity for him. They sought him and it was a situation where he had to listen to what they had to offer. They made a well-deserved offer and it was something (Moleta) couldn't turn down. We certainly wish Mike and his family the best in all their future endeavors and we appreciate the difference he has made at Middle Tennessee."

As part of his duties with the NCAA, Moleta will work with the Academic Performance Program, as well as the committee on academic performance. At Middle Tennessee, Moleta was instrumental in setting up the athletic department's new academic game plan while keeping daily tabs on Middle Tennessee's Academic Progress Rate (APR).

Middle Tennessee has improved its APR numbers across the board, including having 15 of its 17 sports score in excess of 950 (925 is considered a passing mark on a 1,000-point scale) on the most recent NCAA Report.

"When the APR first came out we had to put some systems and processes in place and we made that happen," Moleta said. "In doing so I was able to work with individuals at the NCAA who not only saw my potential, but also what we were doing at Middle Tennessee and we became the model of how to do things in this regard.

"I'm proud of the fact the NCAA contacted (Massaro) wanting to talk about me going to the NCAA but I'm more proud that they were interested because of some of the great things we do, and will continue to do, at Middle Tennessee."

Moleta said the decision was not an easy one after six years at Middle Tennessee and more than 12 years in the college campus setting (including stops at Middle Tennessee, Northern Arizona, and Southern Miss).

"The toughest thing after spending 12 years on campus and working with student-athletes and coaches is not seeing those smiling faces when they are successful in the field, on the court or in the classroom," Moleta said. "That always excited me. Trevor Jenkins (a junior on the Blue Raider football team) just came by the office to see me before I left. I remember him coming in as a young kid and now he's a young man. There are a number of young people I have experienced that with. The toughest part of making this decision is not working with student-athletes and watching the successes, as well as their individual success stories because when you go in the National office there is not a sporting team there. It's more of a corporate environment."

A native of Biloxi, Miss., Mike and his wife, Pam, are the parents of two children, Kirsten and Chandler.

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