CHICAGO (Oct. 9, 2023) – Several members of the UIC Department of Athletics staff have been selected for key positions with national organizations and within the Missouri Valley Conference during the 2023-24 academic year.
 
Fifth-year director of athletics Michael Lipitz has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Competition Committee, which works with the NCAA Men's Basketball Oversight Committee on such issues as student-athlete health and safety, integrity, game presentation, and technology use.
 
Lipitz is Chair of the MVC Council of Athletics Directors for the 2023-24 academic year, and also serves on the MVC Finance Committee, Sports Medicine Committee, Legislative Review Committee, and Long-Range Planning Committee.
 
UIC deputy athletics director, chief operating officer and senior woman administrator Farrah Manthei serves as Chair of the MVC Equity & Diversity Committee and is also the MVC's primary sport liaison for women's tennis.
 
Dr. Galen Duncan, UIC's senior associate athletics director for health, wellness & performance, is part of the MVC Mental Health Working Group, while senior associate athletics director/chief ethics & compliance officer Emily Wollet joins Lipitz on the MVC Legislative Review Committee.
 
Rounding out UIC's representation on MVC committees are Danielle Colegrove, UIC's associate athletics director for athletic medicine and head team physician Dr. Mark Hutchinson, who serve alongside Lipitz on the MVC Sports Medicine Committee.
 
Colegrove also serves as the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) representative to the NCAA Concussion Safety Advisory Committee. Meanwhile, UIC deputy athletics director for external operations/chief revenue officer Frank Cuervo is a member of the Board of Directors for the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA).
 
UIC associate athletics director for academic services Karen Dixon is an institutional services consultant for the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A). She also is the incoming chair for the N4A Legislative Affairs Committee.
 
Lastly, senior associate athletics director for external operations Chris Masters serves as chair of the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Hall of Fame Committee and is a member of the NCAA Women's Final Four Media Coordination Committee.
 
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