With the ath­letic direc­tor posi­tion vacant after for­mer AD Tom Kirinovic fin­ished his 27-year run in June, Ferris has nar­rowed its search to three final­ists to fill the vacant position.

Ferris Vice President for Administration and Finance Jerry Scoby announced on Aug. 10 that after screen­ing more than 75 appli­cants across the coun­try, the search has been dwin­dled down to three final­ists with var­i­ous back­grounds in ath­letic depart­ment employment.

The can­di­dates include Glen Krupica, the cur­rent Deputy Director of Athletics at Northern Illinois University; Derek van der Merwe, who is the Senior Associate Athletics Director at Central Michigan University; and Perk Weisenburger, who holds the Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations posi­tion at the University of Nevada.

With the final­ists nar­rowed down to three, each can­di­date took part in final indi­vid­ual inter­views dur­ing the week of Aug. 11. Each can­di­date took part in indi­vid­ual cam­pus forums to answer ques­tions from cam­pus mem­bers about their plans for Ferris State athletics.

Though no time table has been set for a final deci­sion on which can­di­date will secure the ath­letic direc­tor job, whomever secures the posi­tion will take over for Ferris soft­ball coach Keri Becker, who is serv­ing as the Interim Athletic Director until a suc­ces­sor to Kirinovic is named.

Kirinovic announced his retire­ment at a June 2 press con­fer­ence after serv­ing as a mem­ber of the Ferris ath­letic depart­ment for more than 27 years and after becom­ing the ath­letic direc­tor in November of 1999. n

Glen Krupica

Krupica joined the Northern Illinois staff as an Associate Athletics Director in July of 2005 and was pro­moted to Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs in August of 2006.  Prior to his return to DeKalb, Krupica spent the pre­vi­ous 11 years (1994−2005) as the Executive Director of the Independence Bowl Foundation in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Perk Weisenburger

Weisenburger has served as the Associate Athletics Director for External Operations at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas since 2005.  He presently over­sees the coor­di­na­tion and oper­a­tion of ath­letic mar­ket­ing and pro­mo­tions, licens­ing and ath­letic tick­et­ing, and serves as the department’s liai­son to multi-media rights part­ner International Sports Properties (ISP).

Derek van der Merwe

A for­mer Central Michigan University foot­ball letter-winner, van der Merwe has been an admin­is­tra­tor in the CMU Athletics Department since 1997, serv­ing as Senior Associate Athletics Director since 2005. He is cur­rently respon­si­ble for the over­sight of the department’s busi­ness, com­pli­ance, facil­i­ties and event man­age­ment areas.