Athletic Committee
Membership: 6 Faculty, 3 Administrative/Professional staff outside athletics, 2 ex officio (director of athletics and senior woman administrator in athletics), Director of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action ADA Coordinator and Deputy Title IX Coordinator, 4 students recommended by the Vice President and Athletic Director, Faculty Athletics Representative.
Description: The committee will regularly review issues associated with the welfare of student athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics in OVC and NCAA sports to ensure that the University and the Athletics Department maintain the proper balance between participation in athletics and academic achievement. The committee will prepare an annual report and other reports as needed, advising the president and the faculty senate of the athletic department’s performance with respect to its academic and athletic goals and with respect to the welfare of the student-athletes participating in OVC and NCAA sports. The committee will communicate the concerns of student-athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics to the faculty senate and the university community, including the athletics department, the university administration, academic departments, the faculty as a whole, and other groups as warranted.
NCAA Division I Manual 6.1.2.1 Composition. Administration and/or faculty staff members shall constitute at least a majority of the board in control of athletics or an athletics advisory board, irrespective of the president or chancellor’s responsibility and authority or whether the athletics department is financed in whole or in part by student fees. If the board has a parliamentary requirement necessitating more than a simple majority in order to transact some or all of its business, then the administrative and faculty members shall be of sufficient number to constitute at least that majority. (Revised: 3/8/06).
(Approver: Athletics Director)
2023-2024 Membership
Name | Area | Department | Service Term |
Jennifer Thayer, Chair | Faculty, Athletics Representative | Accounting, Finance, and Economics | Permanent |
Don Dailey | Faculty, CoSTEM | Biology | 2021-2024 |
Christopher Wright | Faculty, CoBHS | Criminal Justice | 2022-2025 |
Kathy Heuston | Faculty, CoAL | Communication | 2022-2025 |
John McConnell | Faculty, CoE | Educational Specialties | 2023-2026 |
Susan Cockrell | Faculty, CoB | Accounting and Finance | 2022-2025 |
John Schnettler | Faculty at Large, Director of Athletic Band | Music | ex officio |
Walt Lord | Staff | Newton Military Family Resource Center | 2023-2024 |
Brad Averitt | Assistant VP of Alumni and Annual Giving | Alumni | 2023-2024 |
Lenora Jackson | Staff | President's Office | 2023-2024 |
Gerald Harrison | Staff, Athletic Director | Athletics | ex officio |
Neisha Campbell | Senior Woman Administrator | Athletics | ex officio |
Sheila Bryant | Staff, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action | Office of Institutional Culture | 2019-2023 |
Kelsey Mead | Student by Dir AAS | Student Representative | 2023-2024 |
Mike Diliello | Student by Dir AAS | Student Representative | 2023-2024 |
Skylar Sheridan | Student by Dir AAS | Student Representative | 2023-2024 |
Anala Nelson | Student by Dir AAS | Student Representative | 2023-2024 |
If you have questions, concerns, or would like more information about the Athletic
Committee, please contact: Jennifer Thayer
Email: thayerj@apsu.edu