NEW HAVEN, Conn . (July 16, 2012) – Ellen O’Brien has been named as Associate Commissioner at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, Commissioner Dan Mara announced today. She will also serve as the conference’s Senior Woman Administrator (SWA).

A native of Bethesda, Md., O’Brien will be primarily responsible for eligibility, budget, the conference grant program and educational opportunities for conference members.   She will also serve as the conference office liaison to the CACC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the CACC Senior Woman Administrator Committee and the CACC Compliance Coordinators.

“Ellen brings a wide range of previous experience to the CACC,” Commissioner Mara said.  “Her versatility and dedication to collegiate athletics will be a benefit to the CACC and each of its member schools.  She will be able to relate to and assist both the student-athletes and the administrators at the 14 CACC schools.”

O’Brien comes to the CACC from Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa.  During her time at Misercordia, O’Brien handled a wide range of responsibilities.  She spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball program where she was primarily responsible for recruiting, scouting and film exchange.

In addition to her coaching duties, O’Brien served as the Assistant to the Athletic Director which saw her handle a multitude of tasks including work-study supervision, budget and accounting, maintenance, event planning and championship administration.

O’Brien also was tabbed as the Coordinator of Athletics Facilities earlier this year and served in that role for the past five months.  Her responsibilities included maintaining the Sports and Health Center Schedule, overseeing the scheduling of athletic facilities and serving as the athletic department representative in summer planning, commencement and convocation meetings.

Prior to Misericordia, O’Brien was an athletic department graduate assistant at Ithaca College.  During her time at Ithaca, she worked with game operations, budget, payroll management and supervision of the student athletic staff.

O’Brien earned her Master of Science degree in Sports Management from Ithaca College. As an undergraduate, O’Brien earned a pair of degrees from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.  She graduated with a bachelor of arts in both Sports Management and Psychology.

While at Denison, she was a member of the women’s basketball team for four seasons.  She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Third Team.  On the court, she was the NCAA Division III leader in assist/turnover ratio.  She was a member of Denison’s SAAC for three years.