2011 to 2012 – National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators

Under the direction of President Julie Hermann, the organization continued to restructure, revamp, and grow both internally and externally. Julie’s presidency was highlighted by hosting the organization’s first NACWAA NEXT event and the Women’s Leadership Symposium in partnership with the NCAA.

In the summer of 2012, the organization held its first-ever NACWAA NEXT (Network of Extraordinary Talent) for Division l women athletic directors and commissioners. The three day event provided a platform and space for Dl women leaders to connect, share ideas and resources, and build a strong community of powerful relationships.  

In the words of Julie: “We honestly weren’t sure if our senior administrators would respond to the invitation to gather, but they did. The rigorous dialogue and their key input helped direct many of our next steps as an organization. Having the NACWAA NEXT leadership group was an important step in accelerating NACWAA’s growth and relevance as an organization.”

The Women’s Leadership Symposium (WLS) was originally created in 2001 by past president Alfreeda Goff, and in 2012, NACWAA created a partnership with the NCAA to officially take lead on the annual planning and execution of WLS under the NACWAA brand. The purpose of the collaboration was to streamline the women’s leadership programs connected with NACWAA. The program was refocused to include a participant pool of entry level administrators interested in careers in athletics and to promote the recruitment and retention of these women in athletics.

The first NCAA/NACWAA Women’s Leadership Symposium was held in Kansas City in 2012.

“NACWAA became the go-to organization for women in our industry. Under Patti’s direction, we focused on best-in-class opportunities to collaborate and learn from our peers. By meeting our members right where they were geographically and hosting opportunities to collaborate and connect with their peer groups, NACWAA empowered women in administration. They knew they weren’t alone, and they knew they had a network of women to help navigate the business of athletics,” Julie said.

Other major accomplishments from NACWAA during this time:

• Created the Advancement Initiative, to proactively help women in searches at all levels. As part of the initiative NACWAA developed relationships with several search firms and became a resource for women in searches at all levels.
• Hosted a first-ever “candidate preview” at the National Convention that connected members with key hirers and influencer face to face.
• Worked closely and provided feedback to the NCAA during the Certification Process revamp
• Celebrated the 40th anniversary of Title IX with a Title IX Trailblazer Tribute video contest and fundraising campaign
• Added DII and DIII NEXT programming directly following the National Convention, targeting women in those divisions that have the intention to advance into leadership positions
• Surpassed all revenue projections for 2012 and doubled the number of convention sponsors

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.

Julie Hermann most recently served as the Director of Athletics at Rutgers University from 2013 to 2015. Under her leadership, Rutgers transitioned into the Big Ten Conference, negotiated their exit from the AAC, launched a corporate sponsorship with IMG College and developed programming that generated the highest fundraising revenue in program history. Rutgers football season tickets soared under her leadership and recorded several attendance records.

Prior to arriving to Rutgers, Julie served as the Executive Senior Athletic Director at the University of Louisville for 15 years where she supervised 21 sports, Sports Marketing, Development, Academics, Sports Performance, Sports Medicine and Student Development. Julie assisted in facility design and supervised one of the nation’s largest and most aggressive facility developments on a college campus worth over $250 million. Before getting involved in the administrative realm, Julie served as the head volleyball coach for the University of Tennessee and an assistant coach for USA Volleyball.

Julie lives Louisville, KY, where she works as a consultant and serves on the Board of Directors for WeCOACH, an organization dedicated to advancing women coaches in all levels of sports.