2013 to 2014 – National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators

President Chris Plonsky led NACWAA through a breakthrough year in 2014, highlighted by successfully securing a seat on the newly restructured NCAA Dl Board of Directors, launching the Women of Color Initiative, and celebrating the organization’s 35th anniversary.

NACWAA worked in collaboration with the NCAA to ensure the SWA voice was being heard in the new governance structure. As a result, a NACWAA appointed board seat with full voting rights was added for a senior woman administrator or senior ranking woman on the NCAA Dl Board of Directors. This was a major breakthrough milestone for women’s leadership in intercollegiate athletics. The first appointee to this prestigious position was Jane Miller, SWA at the University of Virginia.

In partnership with the Office of Inclusion at the NCAA, NACWAA created the Women of Color Initiative to address the needs and barriers women of color experience in relation to access, advancement, and retention in college athletics. This initiative provides a platform for members to connect, address issues specific to women of color, and advocate for one another.

“The beauty of serving this organization as a member and officer is that leadership and development are shared by all. There is no tiering or hierarchy. Diversity and inclusion matter. Programming, networking, and conventions are all geared to the advancement of women to leadership levels within higher education and intercollegiate athletics,” Chris said.

As the organization celebrated its 35th anniversary, NACWAA launched the 5n5 Campaign, a circle of donors who pledged a gift of $5,000 over five years to support the Opportunity Fund. This program was designed to enhance the organization’s infrastructure and to build and grow membership services.

“The collegiate experience for student-athletes depends upon visionary, bold, highly-trained, ethical and devoted leaders. Those adjectives define members of our organization, and we all stand upon the shoulders and work of those who founded and developed NACWAA 35 years ago,” Chris said. 

Other major accomplishments from NACWAA during this time:

• Began engaging search firms to attend and participate in the National Convention through the “Access to Experts” session
• Hosted the first NACWAA Happy Hour
• Launched the Rising Stars initiative to assist emerging professionals in developing, connecting, and advancing in their careers

NACWAA continued to be committed to recognizing the achievements and successes of administrators working in athletics. Click here to view all NACWAA/ Women Leaders in College Sports award winners.

Chris Plonsky has worked in college athletics since 1976 and is currently at The University of Texas where she serves as the executive senior associate athletics director/chief of staff/SWA. Chris supervises three staff leaders in academics, career/leadership development, compliance/risk management and sports medicine/wellness/performance. 

Chris is a USA Basketball board member, a USOC Collegiate Advisory Council member and an emeritus board member of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame.

At Texas, she was the women’s athletics director from 2001-2018. From 1993-2017, she also supervised revenue areas in sponsorship, licensing and television. She worked in communications/media relations at Iowa State University (1979-81), Texas (1982-86) and The BIG EAST Conference (1986-90). After three years in administration at The BIG EAST as associate commissioner (1990-93), she returned to Texas in October 1993.

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Greensburg, Pa., and northeast Ohio, Chris earned a B.S. Journalism degree in 1979 at Kent State University, where she was a three-year basketball student-athlete, undergraduate KSU athletics media relations assistant, and editor of The Daily Kent Stater.

Learn more about Chris in her Women Leaders Podcast episode.