BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced on Wednesday that Jax Collins has been hired as the conference's next Assistant Director.
Collins' tenure with the conference office will officially begin on August 1, 2023 and has been made possible through the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minority & Women's Internship Grant. The program is intended to provide opportunities for women and ethnic minorities to gain experience in college athletics. As part of the internship, Collins will also have a mentorship with Macalester College Director of Athletics Donnie Brooks to provide additional guidance and perspective as she shapes her career in athletic administration.
Collins is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she earned her bachelor's degree in Sociology. She went on to pursue a Master's of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University Divinity School and began working with Vanderbilt Athletics shortly after graduating. Collins served as the Assistant and then Director of Student-Athlete Development for the Commodores, overseeing Vanderbilt's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), spearheading Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) efforts, and enhancing leadership development within the department.
"Joining the MIAC presents an exciting opportunity for this stage of my professional career," Collins said. "I have learned so much working in a very student-facing role and am energized to understand and support the student-athlete experience from a conference and policy level. I look forward to creating roots in the Minnesota community and strategizing about the future of Division III athletics."
Collins now joins a three-person MIAC staff which includes Commissioner Dan McKane and Associate Commissioner BJ Pickard. As Assistant Director, Jax will assist the MIAC office in a number of areas over the next year, including strategic planning; diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; membership educational initiatives; championships, playoffs, and special events; student-athlete advisory committee oversight; live event streaming; and general athletics administration.
"We are looking forward to welcoming Jax to the MIAC," McKane said. "She brings great experience in college athletics and her talents and perspective will serve our membership well over the next year."
Collins takes over in the second year of the two-year NCAA grant, occupying the position previously held by Emma Nelson, who earned a full-time position as an assistant volleyball coach at Division II Augustana University (S.D.) in May.
Previous MIAC Assistant Directors who served as interns as part of the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship grant include Kelly Anderson Diercks, Brittany Feser Heinz, Natalie Arians, Afton Goebel, Megan Gaard Gunderson, Sheridan Blanford, Lindsay Madryga, Emily Carr, and Emma Nelson. Anderson Diercks, Gaard Gunderson, and Madryga parlayed their internships into current positions at MIAC member institutions. Diercks is the Director of Athletics at the College of Saint Benedict, while Gaard and Madryga are at St. Catherine University as the Head Tennis Coach and Director of Athletic Communications, respectively. Heinz previously worked in athletics at MIAC member Macalester College and most recently served as the Associate Director for Athletic Facilities and Operations at Florida Gulf Coast University. Arians was the Assistant Commissioner at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Goebel works in runDisney Endurance Operations and Event Communications at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. Blanford is currently serving as the Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Washington. Carr served as Athletics Operations Manager at Saint Benedict before moving on to Senior Program Manager at Special Olympics Minnesota in 2022.
About the MIAC
Founded in 1920, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is home to 13 private institutions, all housed within the state of Minnesota's borders. The MIAC sponsors championships in 22 sports, and is committed to its four core values of Quality Athletics, Academics, Student-Athlete Well-Being and Integrity.