Texas A&M University-Commerce athletic director Carlton Cooper announced today the hiring of Judy Sackfield as the associate athletic director for academic affairs.

Sackfield comes to A&M-Commerce after spending the last nine years as an associate athletic director for academic services for student-athletes at UAB. She has handled the development supervision of the an academic support service program that consists of over 300 student-athletes, seven full-time academic support staff, five graduate students and 20-30 part-time tutorial staff. She has also been involved with the development and implementation of a student development program designed to meet the needs of the student-athletes at the NCAA Division I institution.

Also, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she has developed a plan with administrators and compliance staff to ensure that all student-athletes are meeting the necessary academic criteria in order to remain academically eligible and graduate. She has also implemented initiatives to assist student-athletes in maximizing their overall academic potential through advisors, study tables, tutors and learning specialists. In addition, she has been responsible for the organization and implementation of a year-round sports clinic consisting over 600 children from the Birmingham city and county schools each summer.

Prior to entering athletic administration in 1999, she was the head volleyball coach at UAB from 1992-1999 and at Georgia Tech from 1985 to 1991. She is an active member of many professional organizations, including N4A, NACADA and has also served on numerous committees and groups.

"I am very excited to have Judy Sackfield as a part of this athletic department. She will provide both the knowledge and experience to help lead us into becoming a national leader in college athletics," said Cooper.