Nance Reed has been a member of the Towson University staff since August, 1982. She came to Towson as the Head Field Hockey Coach, Assistant Women's Lacrosse Coach and Assistant to the Assistant Athletic Director. In 1986, she retired from coaching to be the Assistant Director of Athletics.
Until 2001, Nance's role was to develop and oversee the student centered activities (compliance, academic services, financial aid, student services / life skills and eligibility) of the department. In this role, she forged positive relationships as the campus liaison with Admissions, Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, Counseling Center, Residence Life, Judicial Affairs, Tutorial Services, Academic Advising, and Provost's Office.
She was instrumental in developing processes and procedures for determining student-athlete eligibility, awarding athletic grants in aid, and creating the initial academic advising system for student-athletes. In addition, she initiated and served as the administrative liaison for CATS (Caring Athletes of Towson State), the student athlete advisory council that was the pre-cursor to PAWS (Proud Athletes Who Serve).
Competitively, Nance provided oversight for many of Towson's sports teams. At one point or another, she directly supervised baseball, women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's golf, women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and women's volleyball. Many of the head coaches hired during these years were as a result of searches that Nance chaired. She also was involved in the initiation and oversight of the women's soccer program in 1992.
In 2001, Nance shifted her oversight responsibilities to Internal Operations overseeing budgets, facilities, team support services, and equipment. In this role, she had primary oversight for the completion of the $32 million Unitas Stadium renovation project in the spring 2003. She oversaw the business staff as the operating budget grew more than 100% (from $7 to $15 million). At the same time, she helped coordinate consistent policies and practices for scheduling (competition and practice), travel, equipment requests and approval, and video services.
In 2005, Nance assisted in the creation of a separate video services area that serves all sports. She assisted or actually ran post season (CAA, WNIT, or NCAA) events in cross country, men's soccer, volleyball, track and field, men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse. Towson University has been the successful host of a number of NCAA National Championship events. Towson has worked with Loyola, UMBC, and Johns Hopkins to successfully co- host the Men's Lacrosse NCAA Championship at M&T Stadium in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2011. In addition, Towson hosted the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship in 2008, 2009, and 2010, attracting record breaking crowds to Unitas Stadium.
Over time, Internal Operations grew to include Compliance, Academic Support and Student Services. The inclusion of these areas was primarily due to Nance's previous experience in these areas. She eventually hired a new Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance who has been instrumental in the creation of a paperless office and providing outstanding service in this area.
The Academic area has successfully supported student-athletes and provided support services in a manner that assists all sports. The semester GPA of student-athletes is consistently around 3.00 and is buoyed by the recruitment of many outstanding student-athletes.
In 2010 with the arrival of a new Athletic Director, Nance was asked to take on a very different role. Recognizing her former coaching experience and years of bridge building in the University, she was asked to become the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Team Administration. In this role, Nance is responsible to coordinate the administrative oversight for all intercollegiate sport programs.
Providing consistent messages regarding team vision and management is the primary focus in this area. She is the primary trouble shooter and problem solver for coaches and sport administrators regarding University issues. In addition, she is the co-creator of a mentor / leadership program that will support all coaches, staff and student-athletes.
Nance services as the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) and Chief Equity Officer for the Department of Athletics. She has served on the Intercollegiate Athletics sub-Committee for Gender Equity since 1998. She is an advocate for all student-athletes with a careful eye on individuals and teams being treated equitably. She has been a member of or chaired a number conference committees, including (but not limited to) various sport committees; Competition Committees in both America East and CAA; Gender Equity Committees in the Big South and America East; and the ECAC Eligibility and Infractions Committee. In each conference, Nance has been part of the Board of Directors, participating in conference leadership activities.
She has also served on various NCAA committees and in other roles. From 1999-2004, she served on the NCAA Field Hockey Committee. She was a member of the NCAA Championship / Game Management Cabinet from 2005-2011.
Nance has also been a peer reviewer in the NCAA Athletics Certification program having reviewed institutions in each of the first three cycles. This experience has helped her be a key contributor as Towson goes through the Certification Process. In addition, she served on the NACWAA Nomination Committee.
Nance has been involved in a number of leadership programs. In 1998, she participated in the initial Towson University Staff Leadership Institute. In 1995, she participated in the initial NACWAA / HERS Institute for Administrative Advancement. In 2008, she was invited to participate in the NACWAA Institute for Athletics Executives.
Her work has been recognized by her peers with the following honors: the NAGWS (National Association for Girls and Women in Sports) Pathfinder Award in 2000; the NACWAA I-AA Administrator of the Year in 2003; and the All American Football Foundation - Outstanding Senior Associate Athletics Director Award in 2005.
Prior to her arrival at Towson, Nance was the Head Field Hockey Coach at her alma mater, Michigan State University. She has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Coaching (1979) and a Master's of Arts degree in Sports Psychology (1981).
She coached the Spartans as an Assistant Coach in 1979 and as Head Coach for the 1980 and 1981 seasons. She left Michigan State with a 24-17-2 record and having coached in the AIAW National Championship.
