Sandra Roecker (Niedergall) joined the River Hawks staff in November 2014. She brought a wealth of NCAA Division I experience with her when arrived in Lowell as the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and member of the senior administration team.
Once arriving on campus, Sandra ‘s key contributions were to transition the academic and compliance areas from Division II policies and procedures to Division I policies and procedures. These areas were crucial components of the NCAA’s IPP audit that granted the elevation of UMass Lowell’s remaining fourteen sport programs to Division I status. During this time, she was soon promoted to her current role of Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator with her responsibilities continuing to expand. Currently, she has oversight of internal operations with areas that include academic and support services, compliance, sports performance and athletic health care.
With her leadership, River Hawks athletics has experienced great strides in the overall administration of the 16 Division I sports program that services approximately 425 student-athletes. Sandra has lead the charge to improve academic support services and NCAA compliance policies and protocols. She created a proactive eligibility system for continuing students, restructured the athletic scholarship process, and organized departmental meetings to improve communications throughout the department.
In her role, Sandra also serves as the sports administrator for field hockey, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track, and softball programs. She works directly with the head coaches on all aspects of their comprehensive Division I programs including budgeting, scholarships, scheduling, fundraising, marketing & promotion, staff development & performance reviews, and program upgrades.
In addition, Sandra is the athletic department liaison with the offices of Financial Aid, Student Conduct, Residential Life, Equal Opportunity & Outreach, and Title IX. She is also the primary administrator for overseeing and completing the annual NCAA reports including the APR, GSR and Sports Sponsorship and Demographics.
Sandra is not only an active member on various campus committees but is an active leader in America East Conference affairs, Sandra served as the chair of the SWA Committee from 2017-19, and she is currently on the Health & Safety Committee as well as being a member of the recently formed America East Time Obligations Working Group.
Prior to UMass Lowell she spent four years at Old Dominion University (ODU) as the Senior Associate Athletic Director of Compliance and Student-Athlete Welfare.
She supervised and had direct oversight of the Monarchs’ support services in compliance and student-athlete academic services and welfare. Her direct contribution included structuring comprehensive and proactive academic and compliance support services while researching and submitting all NCAA mandated reports as well as various conference and University documents. Administratively, she participated on the athletic department’s senior management team, which had the responsibility of assisting with the football program’s successful transition from FCS to FBS status. The transition was successfully completed in 2012.
Sandra assumed the Tournament Director title for the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championships on ODU’s campus also in 2012. She operated a successful three-day nationally televised tournament that became a part of the department’s mission to bring NCAA events to campus. As a result, ODU hosted NCAA Regional games for women’s basketball and NCAA qualifying rounds men’s soccer, which she also played a contributing part. .
This experience certainly contributed to her sport supervisor responsibilities of the Monarch’s nationally ranked field hockey team, which advanced in the NCAA Division I semi-final tournament game in 2011, and the men’s and women’s swimming programs, which sent qualifying swimmers to the NCAA Division I national meet.
Before arriving at Old Dominion University, Sandra had just completed her 15-year tenure at the University of Nevada, Reno. She began her career as the Director of the newly established Mackay Athletic Resource Center and soon was overseeing the academic center and the compliance office in a dual role. Halfway through her tenure, she committed to being the Director of Compliance in a full-time position.
While with the Wolf Pack, she played an integral role in implementing new policies and procedures for the academic center and compliance office, started an intern program that assisted student-athletes that had exhausted their eligibility but needed assistance in completing their degree and gaining work-related experience. She was able to maintain working relationships with various campus offices to maintain institutional control with the athletic department’s processes. It was her time as Director of Compliance that Sandra became a part of the department’s leadership team working closely with the Athletic Director, Chris Ault, and the Faculty Athletics Representative, Christopher Exline. She also had a great working relationship with all eighteen sport programs plus serving in a games management role with the football program.
The opportunities in working with the Wolf Pack allowed her to be a part of the traveling party and working with supporters for football bowl games, NCAA regional tournament baseball games, and NCAA tournament appearances with men’s basketball.
Sandra earned her Masters of Science in Education-Leadership and Education Policy Studies at Northern Illinois University. It was during this time that she began her career outside of coaching as an athletic advisor for the Huskies.
She was the assistant coach of the women’s track & field program at Eastern Michigan University where her collegiate coach, Bob Maybouer, and her led the program and school to its first women’s Mid-American Conference championship title. During her three -year tenure, the women’s track & field program earned three conference titles and numerous women qualifying for the NCAA Division I national meet.
Sandra earner her undergraduate degree at Saginaw Valley State University where she was an Academic All-American, Indoor and Outdoor Track All-American, and national champion in the 4x800 Indoor relay team.
In September 2019, she was inducted into her High School Hall of Fame, in Oscoda, Michigan.
