Joe Parker’s stay in Fort Collins just got extended.

The Colorado State athletic director signed a five-year, $2.196 million extension to remain as the school’s top athletic administrator through 2027, CSU interim president Rick Miranda announced Thursday morning.

The decision to extend Parker comes despite CSU not having a permanent president in place in the wake of Joyce McConnell and the school’s governing board deciding “to part ways” in June.

According to Parker, discussions about an extension started last fall, and picked up again around March.

“There was an interest, on Joyce’s part and out of institutional leadership to renew and extend our employment. And it was nice to see that they followed through with that commitment,” Parker said in a phone interview with The Post.

“I appreciate Joyce’s leadership and making that happen. And we got it signed — I think it was first week of June. So it was gratifying to be, you know, extended and be recognized and asked to continue to serve.”

Parker will soon begin his eighth season leading the CSU athletic department in 2022-23 — a tenure that’s been marked by 21 Mountain West championships, including a conference-best 15 for the women’s programs, and academic excellence. It’s also seen multiple allegations of abuse made against former staffers, most notably former football coach Steve Addazio, who was fired last December.

The extension begins in January and pays him $439,192 annually over the term of the contract, which was provided to The Post by the school. The university can buy out his contract at any time in 2023 for $1 million, with the buyout dropping to $750,000 in 2024, $500,000 in 2025, $250,000 in 2026 and as much as $150,000 in 2027.

“I love what I do and feel like there’s a lot that we can continue to accomplish here at Colorado State and just feel so privileged to be a part of the institution and asked to serve students in this capacity,” Parker said.

“… There’s (new leadership) and that just obviously can create concern and anxiety for anyone. So, it’s nice to know that I’ve been affirmed and there’s a desire to have me serve another five years.”

Colorado State finds itself in an uncertain time in the college sports world with athletes now allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness, and conference realignment shaking up the landscape.

The Rams have made no secret of their desire to move up the conference ladder, with the construction of Canvas Stadium, at a $220 million price tag, near the top of their pitch.

Yet while CSU has claimed the second-most Mountain West conference titles during Parker’s time as AD, none of those have come in football or men’s basketball.

The latter ended a nine-year NCAA Tournament drought last March as part of a 25-6 season, but the former has gone through two coaching changes in the past three years. The first was the hiring of Addazio in December 2019 following a search that saw Addazio’s former boss Urban Meyer serve as a consultant. The second came when CSU hired Jay Norvell last December to replace Addazio after back-to-back losing seasons (4-12 overall) led to his dismissal and a $3 million buyout.

In addition to head-scratching losses, Addazio’s brief stint as CSU football coach was tainted by allegations of coronavirus protocol violations, as well as abusive and racist behavior from staff.

The Kansas City law firm of Husch Blackwell investigated those allegations, which stemmed from mostly anonymous sources in stories from ESPN and the Fort Collins Coloradoan, and issued a report that largely absolved Addazio of most of the accusations.

This was not the only controversy to arise during Parker’s time as head of athletics.

Larry Eustachy’s six years as Rams men’s basketball coach also included accusations of abusive behavior toward players and staff, culminating with his resignation in February 2018. Eustachy was paid $750,000 in three installments as part of a settlement with the school and replaced by current coach Niko Medved, who’s posted three consecutive 20-plus-win seasons and guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament last year.

There have been numerous success stories under Parker’s watch as well.

Medved agreed this past March agreed to an extension that runs through 2029. CSU athletes’ academic performance included the highest four-class average graduation rate in the Mountain West in the most recently released report. The 87% graduation rate, the highest in program history since those numbers started being reported in 1998, was 17 percentage points higher than the general student body.

Parker also helped secure a $37.7 million naming rights agreement with Canvas Credit Union for the school’s new on-campus football stadium. Inside Canvas Stadium, an anonymous $20 million donation led to the naming of the field after former coach Sonny Lubick, while New Belgium Brewing donated another $4.3 million to name the New Belgium Porch.

In addition, numerous facility improvements have been either been completed or started under his watch, including a $7 million renovation of the Moby Arena locker rooms and athlete wellness center.

Post reporter Sean Keeler contributed to this story.