The University of Charleston has named Shari Reed to the athletic department's full-time staff as the school's Director of Athletics Development.
Reed, who is UC's winningest women's tennis coach in school history, has been coaching the Golden Eagles since 1997 and comes into her new position after serving as the manager of the Charleston Tennis Club for the past 14 years.
"I've been at the university for 20 years now and this is a great opportunity for me moving forward to contribute even more to our student-athletes," Reed said. "UC has a great athletic program with outstanding student-athletes and one of the best all-around coaching staffs in all of Division II. So I'm looking at this as another way to get to participate in this and give back to the school.
"The timing seemed right, the opportunity seemed right. I've loved it at the Charleston Tennis Club, but I felt this was a chance to really help make a difference here at UC."
As the Director of Athletics Development, Reed will be overseeing fundraising efforts among Charleston's varsity sports.
Reed's mission when she begins in the position in June is to work on outreach - continuing to improve relationships between the school and its alumni, as well as the Charleston community as a whole, as they look to develop a "better and more streamlined fundraising approach" for the department.
The fact that she has been a presence around the University for such a long time is something that Reed believes will help play into her favor as she looks to hit the ground running in the new job. Unlike a person just jumping into a task like this without much background knowledge about the school, she has 20 years of meeting people and establishing contacts in the community that will be a big help.
And even though she hasn't worked directly in the field of fundraising, she pointed out how integral that is to coaching at the Division II level for all terms.
"It's a big advantage because I'm not starting from scratch, I know a lot of people. Every team fundraises and through my time coaching here I've developed a great network within the area," Reed said. "I've been here for so long and I know how things work. I believe in our mission statement and that's going to let me hit the ground running."
At the end of the day, Reed said jobs like this exist so that schools can do whatever they can to help make the years that the student-athletes spend there as great as they possibly can be. She identified several trips that teams at Charleston have been fortunate enough to be able to take over the years - pointing out that in order for them to get the full experience as a student-athlete, those type of opportunities are necessary.
That's the thing that will drive her in this new full-time role.
"Our goal at the end of the day is to find whatever ways we can to enhance the experience of our student-athletes," Reed said. "In order to do the kind of things that give the kids those great experiences and in order to really make this one of the best Division II destinations in the country, we have to work hard in this department.
"It's what can do to help make our student-athletes well-rounded. We want them to be well-rounded people for when they leave here and embark on their professional careers."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.