OCEANPORT -- Since she arrived at Rutgers in December 2013, Sarah Baumgartner has held the title of senior associate athletic director/chief development officer. In other words, she oversaw all aspects of fundraising for the Rutgers athletics program.

On Tuesday, Baumgartner was officially promoted to Deputy Director of Athletics.

"This is a critically important time for Rutgers Athletics,'' Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs said in a statement announcing Baumgartner's new title. "We need to build on the excitement around our program, to continue the positive momentum, and to execute on a plan to reach new heights. Sarah has already demonstrated tremendous leadership and I have the utmost trust and confidence in her. She is a skilled leader and we will all benefit from her efforts in the years ahead.''

In her new role, Baumgartner will have oversight of the marketing, ticketing and communications departments, with a continued role in development and sport administration.

"For me, it's an opportunity to serve more areas in the department and make an impact,'' Baumgartner told NJ Advance Media on Saturday during the Rutgers Day event at Monmouth Park. "We're doing a lot of great things, but there's areas that need to be a lot more aligned and more collaborative and Pat and I both saw that. So it's an opportunity to help, and to serve, and just make a broader impact. I'm humbled, I'm honored, but I'm just so elated.

While Rutgers currently has five senior associate ADs in charge of various aspects such as communications, marketing, compliance and women's administration, the athletics department hasn't had a clearly defined No. 2 behind the Athletics Director since Kevin MacConnell held the title of Deputy AD from 2005 through February 2012. MacConnell was highly respected in that capacity before leaving to serve as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers chief of staff under ex-Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano.

Baumgartner understands the question Rutgers fans will invariably ask is whether she will still oversee the department's fundraising operation.

"In terms of percentage time, it'll shift so we'll appoint a new leader in terms of day-to-day fundraising,'' she said. "But I'll still be working with Pat in terms of overseeing that. So it'll be a different percentage of time dealing with that, but fundraising is still our A-1 priority and that will never stop. That will still be part of my job description, but it won't be quite as much.''

A native of Wheaton, Ill., Baumgartner will continue to serve as the sport administrator for women's basketball, women's golf and softball.

"To earn Pat's respect, trust and confidence to lead our external teams is humbling,'' Baumgartner said. "I have the utmost respect for Pat -- he is a fantastic leader and even better person. He has a clear vision and culture that he wants to implement. I will work with urgency, passion and a relentless effort to execute on his vision with the goal to build a championship culture, both internally and externally.''

Hired by former Rutgers AD Julie Hermann in December 2013 after spending the previous seven years as a top fundraiser for the Missouri athletics program, Baumgartner has been credited with building relationships with a growing donor base while developing a fundraising strategy that has resulted in record-breaking gifts this year.

The R FUND, which Baumgartner helped implement along with her 10-person fundraising team, surpassed 9,000 members in 2015, which included an increase of 2,200 new donors, the most in Rutgers' history.

As a result, Rutgers athletics raised $14.7 million in gifts and pledges -- a total that school officials say was the second-highest in the department history.

Rutgers has already doubled that total through the first four months this year. In May, Rutgers Athletic Director Pat Hobbs announced the $100 million R B1G Build fundraising campaign had generated nearly $30 million in private donations.

"As an external team, our goal is to increase resources for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff,'' Baumgartner said. "To achieve that goal, we will focus on four areas -- collaborate and align communication from our external team, focus on enhancing the game day experience for all of our athletic events, develop and implement a customer service model that rivals and surpasses our peers, and work diligently to strengthen our brand.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.