ORONO – A pair of University of Maine athletic department staff members will undertake new responsibilities, interim Director of Athletics Paul Bubb announced Monday.

Joe Roberts, who has served as assistant athletic director for media relations, will become the department’s athletic development director. In his new capacity, Roberts will oversee the Black Bear Club annual fund drive and report to assistant athletic director for external affairs Rick Sanders.

Pete Lefresne, who is currently serving as the associate manager for athletic media relations, will fill Roberts’ old post on an interim basis during the 2002-2003 school year, with a search for a permanent media relations director to take place next summer, after UMaine concludes its search for an athletic director.

Both Roberts and Lefresne will begin their new duties immediately.

“I am very pleased to have Joe accept this vital position on our external staff,” Bubb said. “I believe his familiarity with the university, our coaches, our alumni and our boosters make him a great fit with these new responsibilities.”

Roberts, 35, is a 1989 graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He joined the UMaine media relations office in 1990 and earned his masters degree in business administration from the school in 1995. Roberts and his wife, Nancy, have a 3-year old daughter, Cassie, and an 11-month-old son, Brent.

Lefresne, 33, arrived in Orono in 1999 following a two-year stint as assistant sports information director at the Virginia Military Institute. Lefresne, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, is a 1993 graduate of Old Dominion University. He and his wife, Sheila, have a 5-year-old daughter, Fiona, and a 3-year-old son, Brandon.