UMass Boston

Dr. Jacqueline Schuman was named the Director of Athletics and Recreation at UMass Boston in the summer of 2021. She was named the Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation in August of 2022 and serves on the Chancellor’s Cabinet and University Senior Leadership Team.  

The first appointed female Director of Athletics in UMass Boston history, Schuman is charged with building on the success of her predecessors in guiding a collegiate athletics and intramural sports program that includes a highly diverse body of student-athletes in a manner that promotes academic achievement as well as excellence in athletics.  

UMass Boston Athletics and Recreation has experienced unprecedented growth and innovation under Schuman’s leadership. In less than four years, Dr. Schuman and the department’s achievements include:  

• Led a strategic planning process that defined the future of Athletics and Recreation at UMass Boston. Advancing the Legacy of Excellence is the five-year strategic plan (2022-2027) that focuses on five key areas: Wellness, Stakeholder Engagement, Gender Equity, Capital Investment, and Advancement. This plan aligns with and builds upon several core priorities highlighted in For the Times, the University-wide strategic plan.  

• Secured New Balance as the first official apparel contract for UMass Boston Athletics and Recreation. 

• Led over $13 million in major capital projects, including an over $8 million renovation to the Clark Athletic Center and over $5 million plan for a new turf softball field.
• Has overseen just shy of $1.2 million in capital improvements in her tenure, tripling the yearly capital budget.

• Increased the department's overall budget resources by 14.6%  

• Launched the first ever Beacons Day of Giving in UMass Boston Athletics and University history, exceeding the goal of 1,000 donors 

• Established the first-ever endowment (and only 2nd endowment in the Athletic Department’s history) to support women’s athletics with the creation of the Mac Singleton Fund 

• Completed the project for and launched the opening of the new Dan Rea ‘70 Boston State College Varsity Training Room, a 3,300 square foot training space for student-athletes  

• Added an additional women’s program, Women’s Lacrosse, in 2023-2024 with plans to add a second women’s team in 2025-2026 

• Developed the first ever Director of Community Engagement and Inclusive Excellence position for the department. 

• Added over 5,000 unique members to the campus’ Recreation programs 

2023-2024 was one of the best academically and athletically in UMass Boston Athletics history, highlighted by:  

• 1 Little East Conference Tournament Champion – Women's Tennis 

• 5 Regular Season Little East Conference Champions – Men's Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Baseball, Softball, and Men’s Lacrosse 

• 4 Little East/New England Hockey Conference Coaches of the Year - Women’s Tennis, Women’s Ice Hockey, Men’s Soccer, and Softball 

• Best finish in the Little East Commissioner’s Cup since 2017-2018  

• Best finish in the Little East President’s Cup since 2020-2021 

• The second highest cumulative department GPA since 2013-2014 (highest cumulative GPA excluding 2020-2021 COVID year) 

Prior to her role at UMass Boston, she served as the Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator/Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Athletics at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In this role, she worked with the Friends of Colby, which provides philanthropic support for Colby sports programs and was a part of the team that raised the 2nd highest amount in the history of the Friends program with $1.1 million and secured a $2 million-dollar endowment to support the Peak Performance Program. She also was charged with building the multidisciplinary, collaborative, data science-based Peak Performance program, which currently serves as one of the most unique and comprehensive DIII holistic performance programs in the nation, the development of a Leadership Development Academy for student-athletes, and oversight of 12 sports programs and departmental strategic planning.   

Additionally, she was responsible for addressing equity in the department and sat on the university’s student conduct panel for Title IX issues. Dr. Schuman, who served as Colby’s NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Designee, also led the development of the Athletics Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Action Plan and programming efforts for Colby, was the Co-Chair of the NESCAC Antiracism Committee and Co-Developer of the NESCAC Student-Athlete of Color Coalition, Chair of the NESCAC DEI Committee, and a leader for the Maine Division III Athletics Student-Athlete of Color Planning Group.  

In her wide-ranging career in collegiate athletics, Dr. Schuman has proven her ability to succeed in diverse environments. She served as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives and Talent Management at the University of Delaware. As a member of Delaware’s senior leadership team, Dr. Schuman guided her peers to develop organizational redesigns of administrative areas. She also provided coaches and staff members with leadership practices designed for excellence in performance improvement. While also managing high-level departmental projects, Dr. Schuman recruited and hired more than 30 staff members and served as the Chief Diversity Advocate for the Department of Athletics and Recreation.   

Before her time at Delaware, Dr. Schuman was the Division Head for Athletics and Wellness at The Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. There, she helped lead the transition to a new $63 million Athletics and Wellness Center while developing a revenue stream of $800,000 to offset operational expenses for this new facility within her first 18 months in the position.  

Dr. Schuman also has worked at Catholic University of America, the University of Tennessee, and Florida Atlantic University. She was Associate Athletic Director at Catholic, with oversight of several programs that competed for Landmark Conference championships. While at Tennessee, Dr. Schuman was Director of the Student-Athlete Development program, developed the annual Volscars Sports Awards Show, and led philanthropic efforts to increase funding for educational enhancement gifts, including closing just under $3million of an endowment gift to help fund student-athletes returning to school for degree completion. She also served as an Assistant Director and Academic Counselor during her time at Florida Atlantic University.  

While working as an education and athletic administrator, Dr. Schuman also pursues her passion for educating others in the areas of leadership, diversity, bystander intervention, and gender violence prevention through her work as a consultant both independently and for the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Sport and Social Justice.    

She has facilitated in these areas to athletes, coaches, and administrators at places like Vanderbilt, the University of Oregon, NASCAR, the WWE, Major and Minor League Baseball Organizations such as the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals, and the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Philadelphia 76ers.  She has also worked with the United States Navy through Mentors in Violence Prevention Strategies.  

A former cross country and track and field student-athlete, Schuman graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University. She then earned her master’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science, with a concentration in Sports Administration, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In August of 2021, she completed her Doctorate in Leadership and Learning in Organizations at Vanderbilt University. A lifelong runner, Schuman has even completed two marathons – San Diego in 2010 and New York City in 2011. 

Throughout her career, she has participated in a multitude of professional organizations, including the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, Women Leaders in Sports, and the College Athletics Leadership Symposium (CALS). Additionally, she serves on the NCAA Division III Strategic Alliance Matching Grant Committee since 2022. Schuman serves on the board of The Base, a nonprofit organization committed to using the power of sports to engage urban young people and prepare them for life success.   

The Schuman File 

2022-Present: Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics and Recreation, UMass Boston 

2021-22:  Director of Athletics and Recreation, UMass Boston 

2008-Present: Consultant, The Institute for Sport and Social Justice 

2018-21: Sr. Associate Athletic Director/Sr. Woman Administrator/College, Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Colby College 

2016-17: Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives and Talent Management, The University of Delaware 

2013-16: Division Head for Athletics and Wellness, The Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City 

2011-13:  Associate Athletic Director, The Catholic University of America Department of Athletics 

2008-11: Director of CHAMPS/Life Skills & Student Life Development, The University of Tennessee Athletic Department 

2006-08: Assistant Director, Student-Athlete Development/External Affairs, Thornton Athletic Center, The University of Tennessee 

2002-06: Assistant Director, Student-Athlete Welfare, Florida Atlantic University 

Bachelor's: Vanderbilt University (1999) 

Master’s: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2002) 

Doctorate: Vanderbilt University (2021)