Spartans Enhance Athletics Compliance Unit With Hire & Promotion

            David Rasmussen, who has 10 years of NCAA Division I experience in college athletics compliance, accepted the position of senior associate athletics director for compliance at San José State University. Marie Tuite, the Spartans' director of athletics, made the announcement.
 
            Further strengthening the department's commitment to its core value of following NCAA and conference rules and regulations, Ryan Merz was promoted from interim assistant athletics director for compliance to assistant athletics director for compliance.
 
            Rasmussen comes to San Jose State from Penn State where he was the director of compliance since July 2017. He held a similar position at Brigham Young University from June 2014 until moving east in 2017.
 
            The 2007 Brigham Young University graduate graduated magna cum laude. He received his J.D., from Penn State Law in 2010.
 
            "We are thrilled to announce David's hire. He comes to us with a wealth of relevant compliance experience and a genuine passion for our institution and our student-athlete population. I am confident he will lead our department's compliance efforts in a manner that builds upon the unit's recent growth and demonstrates an unwavering commitment to NCAA, conference and university guidelines," said Tuite.
 
            While he was earning his J.D. degree, Rasmussen began his career in intercollegiate athletics compliance at Penn State as a graduate assistant. After an internship in academic and membership affairs at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, his first full-time position was at the University of Utah as a compliance coordinator.
 
            Rasmussen returned to his alma mater in August 2011 as a manager of athletics eligibility and was promoted to the position of director of compliance three years later.
 
            "I'm grateful to Marie Tuite for the opportunity to be a part of San Jose State Athletics. I am also especially grateful to my wife, Maida, and for the support of my family that makes everything possible. It is an exciting time to be a Spartan, and I am thrilled to be 'All In,'" said Rasmussen, who is certified by the National Association for Athletics Compliance.
 
            "It is my goal to make sure we are in a position to be competitive both on and off the field, all while maintaining the high standards of compliance and ethical conduct that San Jose State holds dear."
 
            He will be working closely with Merz who first joined the Spartans in January 2017 as a director of athletics compliance. Merz was appointed to an interim assistant athletics director for compliance position in July 2018.
 
            "Ryan has played an instrumental role in our Compliance Unit's resurgence over the past few years.  I am particularly grateful for the job he did leading the unit on an interim basis.  His promotion to Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance is well deserved."
 
             Merz has held positions in athletics compliance at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego in 2011, UC Irvine from 2011 to 2013 and at the University of San Francisco from 2013 through 2016.