Southern Vermont College Director of Athletics Michael McDonough announced on June 1 the naming of Ashley Hodges as the new Assistant Director of Athletics for SVC, as the Bennington college was one of 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III members to be awarded with the Association’s diversity grants for the 2016-17 academic year. Hodges has been the head athletic trainer for Southern Vermont athletics since the fall of 2009, and she assumed the Senior Woman Administrator role in the fall of 2010. She has been a part of numerous committees both at the College and at the NCAA level, including serving on SVC’s recent presidential search advisory committee which resulted in the hire of David Rees Evans, PhD, as the College’s ninth president. She also chaired the College’s search for its new Vice President and Dean of Admissions which landed Daniel Summers II in the position back in November.
Ashley Hodges
Hodges will continue to oversee athletic training at Southern Vermont as the head athletic trainer.
“Ashley has played an increasingly important role at SVC and is respected throughout the New England Collegiate Conference as our Senior Woman Administrator,” said McDonough. “We are grateful for this opportunity to extend her impact as Assistant Director of Athletics. The growing success of our athletic program is in no small measure a reflection of the team we have assembled to coach, serve, and mentor our student-athletes.”
The announcement comes on the heels of Southern Vermont being awarded one of the six DIII Strategic Alliance Matching Grants given out for 2016-17 in conjunction with 20 DIII Ethnic Minority and Women’s Internship Grants. Both programs are in their 15th year, with the upcoming academic cycle set to see the NCAA award more than $800,000 to those 26 member institutions, collectively. The two grants aim at encouraging access, recruitment, selection, and the long-term success of ethnic minorities and women in athletics administration and assistant coaching.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to grow professionally at Southern Vermont College,” Hodges said. “I am looking forward to helping our student-athletes in other ways besides medically.”
Hodges is a 2006 graduate from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Science with an emphasis in athletic training. She then received her Master of Science degree in Adult Learning and Organizational Performance, with a concentration in human resources, from Drake University in 2009. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Education at Northcentral University.
Hodges is licensed by the State of Vermont, is certified by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification, is a member of the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, and is a certified professional rescuer.
The NCAA DIII Strategic Alliance Matching Grant helps colleges and universities with funding for the recipients’ proposed salaries and benefits for the first three years of a new full-time senior-level administrative position or the enhancement of current positions. The grant also provides selected institutions with professional development and technology funding for those first three years.
Founded in 1926, Southern Vermont College(link is external) offers a career-launching, liberal arts education with a number of majors from five divisions for approximately 460 students. SVC recognizes the importance of educating students for the workplace of the twenty-first century and as successful leaders in their communities. SVC’s athletic teams are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). The College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and has been designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Community-Engagement Classification institution.
For more information on the grants, visit http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/ncaa-scholarships-and-grants