July 19, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
With the ever-present watchful eye of the NCAA and the mounting policies regarding Division I athletics, Illinois State Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance and Certification Cindy Harris knew that her office could use an extra hand. Harris found that help in Tessi Taylor, who was recently hired by the Redbird athletic department as the Assistant Compliance Coordinator, and graduate assistant Alissa Brandt.
Taylor returns to Illinois State, where she received her Masters Degree in Sport Management in August of 2004. During her first stint as a Redbird, she was a graduate assistant softball coach for Melinda Fischer's squad.
"I attended Illinois State for grad school and also worked with the softball team as a graduate assistant," said Taylor, whose first day with the department will be July 24. "This is a great opportunity to come home and I'm proud to be a Redbird once again. I was very impressed with everyone on campus, as well as the new athletic director Sheahon (Zenger). I am really looking forward to building on my foundation with Cindy and her staff."
Learning the pressures of being a collegiate student-athlete firsthand, Taylor played softball from 1997-2001 at Millikin University, while earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. The Riverton, Ill., native served as a captain for the Big Blue varsity softball team and also played on the junior varsity volleyball team in 1997 and 1998.
After receiving her masters degree from ISU, Taylor relocated to the state of Hawaii and has worked as the Compliance Coordinator and Business Manager at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu since January of 2005. She was in charge of monitoring all NCAA compliance forms, rule interpretation and education and waiver processing. Taylor also assisted with the generation and processing of coaches contracts and scholarship renewals.
Harris believes Taylor will work in several of the same areas, in addition to playing a lead role in all of the financial aid processing, as well as being the department's primary recruiting liaison.
"I'm very happy to have a person of Tessi's character join my staff," said Harris. "Compliance is a difficult, complex and misunderstood business. It takes a unique person with a keen eye for detail and strong communication skills to succeed in this area. Tessi brings all of these skills with her. She impressed me most with her work ethic, professionalism and energy."
Brandt, who joined Harris' staff in June as a graduate assistant, also facilitates the day-to-day operations of the compliance office.
"Alissa has been a great addition to the compliance office," said Harris. "I was lucky enough to find someone in Alissa that actually had some experience in the compliance area. She worked on several projects as an undergrad at Quincy University with their faculty representative and athletic director that demonstrated her interest and affinity for compliance. She too has the energy and communication skills that are so important to us."
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ILLINOIS STATE- Tessie Taylor named the Assistant Compliance Coordinator and Alissa Brandt named as a Graduate Assistant.
