Christian Spears Position: Senior Associate Athletics Director

Christian Spears has served as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration since April 2009. In July, he was named to the Board of Directors for the National Association for Athletic Compliance. He will serve as the organization's third vice president during the 2009-10 calendar year.

Spears supervises a unit that includes the Huskie Athletic Compliance Office, Student-Athlete Academic Support Services, and is the administrator of the women's soccer, women's track and field, and women's cross-country programs.

Spears' responsibilities at NIU include serving as the primary liaison between several campus units and Intercollegiate Athletics, including Academic and Student Affairs. In his role, Spears manages the admission process of student-athletes, and coordinates interactions between Registration and Records and Student Financial Aid. Additionally, he coordinates the department's Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR).

Prior to joining NIU, Spears served for six years at Southern Illinois University, where he was the Assistant Athletic Director. During his time at SIU, Spears managed the Saluki Athletic Compliance Office and the Athletic Financial Aid Office. He was also the sport administrative liaison for men's and women's track and field and cross-country.

While at Southern Illinois, Spears initiated and developed the "Become a Saluki" website for prospective student-athlete recruitment; a website designed to provide all-inclusive view of SIU athletics, the university community, relevant NCAA regulations and the SIU admission process. Additionally, Spears implemented the "Sports Studies Intercollegiate Athletic Graduate Internship Program" in coordination with the Department of Kinesiology and the "Law School Externship in Athletics" in coordination with the SIU College of Law.

Spears came to SIU in fall of 2003 from Harvard University, where he was Assistant Director for Athletic Compliance. In that role, he assessed initial and continuing eligibility for 2,000 prospective and enrolled student-athletes and he monitored the academic progress of student-athletes and participated as a non-resident academic advisor. Moreover, he worked with Director of Athletics managing the academic/admission index for all entering student-athletes.

Spears began his career as a graduate student working in the athletic marketing office at Long Beach State University; he then served as the Big Ten intern for Ohio State University working in their athletic compliance office while he matriculated through the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State.

Spears is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he majored in political science. He obtained a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Long Beach State University in 1998 and he received his Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law in 2002.

In the spring of 2009, Spears began a four-year term on the National Association of Athletics Compliance (NAAC) Board of Directors and he serves as Third Vice-President and Chair of the Education and Professional Standards committee.

Christian and his wife, Julia, reside in Sycamore with their sons, Rainier and Kai, and their daughter Skyla.