Assistant Director of Athletics for Internal Operations & Student Athlete Services

Founded by abolitionists in 1855, Bates has been coeducational and has welcomed students regardless of race and ethnicity since its founding. The college’s commitment to academic excellence, intellectual exploration, inclusivity, and engaged citizenship defines its character.

Bates offers a rigorous and highly personalized education that centers on deep and sustained interactions among students, faculty, and community. Bates engages the forces — intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology — that are transforming higher education and the world into which our students graduate.

Bates has about 2,000 students from a wide variety of backgrounds. The student body represents 44 states and 53 countries; approximately 23 percent are domestic students of color, 7 percent of students are international, and 13 percent of all students are first generation to college.

The College has 210 faculty members and 750 staff and administrative employees. As one of the top employers in the state, Bates recruits its faculty and staff nationally, regionally, and locally. They consist of diverse individuals with a broad range of intellectual, professional, and personal experience.

Bates is proud of its deep roots in the Lewiston/Auburn community, an urban center with a demographically diverse population of approximately 65,000 people. With a rich industrial past, Lewiston/ Auburn has seen great transition in the last 30 years and offers opportunities for cultural enrichment and meaningful community-engaged learning and leadership. Bates is located on a beautiful, 109-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, a small city enjoying an exciting economic and cultural revitalization. Bates is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 340 miles north of New York City.

The Position

The Assistant Director of Athletics for Internal Operations & Student Athlete Services is a member of the senior athletics administration within the Department of Athletics. This position provides strategic leadership and vision in the oversight of athletics involvement in campus community initiatives, the student athlete code of ethics, team transportation, game management, and student-athlete evaluations of coaches. With over 60% of the student body participating in varsity, club or intramural sports, this position is integral to the Department of Athletics and student experience. The Assistant Director of Athletics for Student Athlete Services provides significant contributions to the development of varsity and club student athletes through mentorship, guidance, leadership opportunities, community building, and a commitment to social justice. The Assistant Director of Athletics serves as an active and visible presence on campus by partnering with many campus constituents and serving on committees. This position also provides supervision to assigned athletics coaches/personnel and represents the Department of Athletics both on and off campus.

Athletics

Bates is a member of NCAA Division III and one of 11 institutions in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). NESCAC consistently performs as the top conference in Division III, as well as leading virtually all rankings that measure the quality of liberal arts colleges.

Bates features 31 varsity sports and claims a long and proud history of athletic achievement. Recent successes include an NCAA National Championship in Women’s Rowing (2015, 2017), a National College Squash Association Individual Men’s National Champion (2015 and 2016), and an NCAA Indoor Shot Put National Champion (2011-2013). Multiple teams and individual student-athletes have achieved NCAA post-season appearances in recent years, and Bates reached its highest finish in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings, ranking 20th out of 451 NCAA Division III institutions. Additionally, Bates student-athletes routinely receive All-NESCAC and All-American recognition for both athletic and academic achievements.

Experienced and dedicated coaches, many of whom have won NESCAC coach of the year honors, lead Bates’ varsity teams. They also care deeply for the well-being and development of their student-athletes. Just as a hallmark of a Bates education is the deep and personal engagement between students and faculty, Bates coaches and student-athletes enjoy strong relationships that epitomize the college’s aim to “educate the whole person.”

The college also hosts 24 club sports and, typically, 10 intramural leagues. More than 63% of Bates students participate in some form of formal athletic competition every year, with approximately 40% of the student body competing as varsity athletes. The Department of Athletics oversees physical education requirements for all Bates students as well as general fitness and recreation for the entire Bates community.

Bates has made significant improvements to athletics infrastructure in recent years, including a major renovation to its historic Garcelon Field, a new rowing boathouse, a new field hockey turf, a new batting facility, and investments in women’s basketball, Nordic skiing, softball, squash, and volleyball facilities.

Bates benefits from a strong base of loyal fans, alumni, and parents. Consistent with the college’s recent overall fundraising success, annual donations to Athletics have increased by 58% in the past five years.