Tiffany Alford was named the first Director of Community Engagement and Inclusive Excellence at the University of Massachusetts Boston after serving as the Associate Director of Academic and Membership Affairs for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
"After supporting the Division III membership through the governance structure, I wanted an opportunity to work on a campus, and UMass Boston provided a perfect fit. It is a strong academic school that serves a highly diverse body of students and student-athletes alike," said Alford. "I am excited about this position being able to engage in two areas that I'm really passionate about: building relationships in the community and cultivating spaces where people of diverse backgrounds feel seen, heard, and understood. Dr. Schuman is a dynamic leader who has helped improve every campus she has been a part of. She has demonstrated a commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging throughout her career and has a clear vision of how to make UMass Boston athletics department a leader in this space."
In her role, Alford will be responsible for the development and execution of the UMass Boston Athletics and Recreation community engagement program. This program will focus on planned engagement opportunities for UMass Boston athletic teams in the surrounding community and the intentional engagement of external community partners for student-athletes to engage with and give back to area schools, non-profit organizations, and programs on a regular basis.
Alford will also support the vision, management, planning, and execution of all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives for Athletics and Recreation, where she will take a systems approach to the promotion and practice of these efforts for the department's student-athletes, coaches, staff, and administrators. Additionally, she will serve as the department's NCAA Diversity and Inclusion designee.
"I am so excited to welcome Tiffany to the UMass Boston community! Our ability to attract a candidate with Tiffany's professional acumen to UMass Boston speaks volumes to the work this university does daily," said Schuman. "I know the minute Tiffany steps on campus she will immediately impact our community and the city of Boston. Her experience and innate ability to connect with people also makes her the perfect person to lead, develop, and advance our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives."
Alford has spent the last five years at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she served as the Associate Director of Academic & Membership Affairs and before that, the Assistant Director of Academic & Membership Affairs. In these positions, Tiffany played a vital role in the daily operation of the NCAA Division III Office.
While at the NCAA, Tiffany presented rules education and other programming to Division III membership at the annual NCAA Convention, Regional Rules Seminar, and conference compliance meetings.
She was a member of the NCAA Academic and Membership Affairs Unity Council to facilitate the development of safe spaces for addressing race and social justice issues. She also served as a liaison for the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, Division III Management Council, Interpretation and Legislation Committee, Division III Membership Committee, and the Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee.
"Part of UMass Boston Athletics & Recreation's mission is to encourage every student-athlete and member of the recreation community to be a champion in an environment where academic integrity, social responsibility, respect, and competitive excellence are highly valued. Athletics and Recreation has been committed to this mission and to positively impacting the greater Boston community for many years now. Any campus that supports that kind of initiative is a place I want to be a part of", said Alford.
Before joining the NCAA, Alford, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Drexel University, served as a general attorney for contracts at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs from 2010-2016 and served as Assistant Counsel at the U.S. Department of the Navy from 2016-2018.
Alford holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wagner College in N.Y., where she was the captain of the track and field team.
