An experienced collegiate athletics administrator with more than a decade of work and upward movement on her resume, Dr. Monique Carroll is the United States Sports Academy’s 2023 Alumna of the Year.
A native of New Boston, Texas, Carroll is the director of intercollegiate athletics at Chicago State University, where she oversees 15 NCAA Division I sports programs and serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She joined the Cougars on September 1, 2022 after serving as the athletic director at Huston-Tillotson University since March 2020.
Carroll will receive her Alumna of the Year Award at the Academy’s commencement ceremony on May 18, 2023, on the institution’s campus in Daphne, Ala. She earned Master of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy, before earning her doctoral degree in sports management from Northcentral University.
During her two-year tenure at Huston-Tillotson, Carroll developed a partnership with Thrivent Financial to support athletic operations and campus-wide social justice internship initiatives which provided student-athletes with financial literacy workshops and resources. She also developed a partnership with the San Antonio Spurs & Frost Bank on the announcement of the $100,000 Spurs Operation Renovation Grant. She also oversaw an unprecedented four-year deal with adidas via Cardinal Sports to support all 13 Red River Athletic Conference teams, cheerleading and E-Sports. Academically, 60 student-athletes earned degrees for the 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 academic years and finished Spring 2021 with nine student-athletes earning a 4.00 GPA while 90 student-athletes achieved a GPA of 3.00 or higher.
Prior to her time at Huston-Tillotson, Carroll was the Deputy Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Senior Woman Administrator at South Carolina State University. In that role, she served as the sport administrator for 10 sports. In addition to serving as a sport administrator, Carroll oversaw various units including, business operations, compliance, academics, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, ticketing, sports information, and game day operations.
Prior to South Carolina State, Carroll served a nine-year stint at Prairie View A&M University in various roles. In her last role as Associate Athletic Director for External Operations her duties included overseeing all external functions of Panther Athletics, including fundraising, game operations, ticket operations, and sponsorships and advertising. During the 2016-17 season, Carroll spearheaded growth in athletic department sponsorship and revenue to the University. Panther Athletics led all public HBCU Division I Athletics Departments in revenue with more than $17.8 million. Among additional accomplishments was implementing seating plans at the new Panther Stadium, the 15,000-seat home for PVAMU football which opened to a sellout crowd and exciting come from behind win over archrival Texas Southern on ESPNU. In the 2015-16 season, Carroll introduced the Athletic Director’s Club, the booster club set record numbers for athletic fundraising and in its 3rd year experienced 46% growth in fundraising.
She previously served as Director of Athletic Compliance, monitoring and ensuring compliance for the Panthers’ 18 Division I programs with Prairie View A&M, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the NCAA rules and regulations. Carroll also oversaw the compliance department’s Assistant Software and athletic certification of student-athletes in addition to rules education for faculty, staff, boosters, coaches, and student-athletes.
Prior to her arrival at Prairie View A&M University, Carroll served as the Coordinator of Student-Athlete Services/Compliance Assistant for the SWAC. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and serving as a liaison for all campus SAAC committees. She was also responsible for assisting in daily compliance duties at the SWAC office, including overseeing the National Letter of Intent program.
Prior to accepting the position as the Coordinator of Student-Athlete Services/ Compliance Assistant, Carroll served as the SWAC Championships/Compliance Intern. As an intern, Carroll was involved in the day-to-day planning of championships and on-site operations. She also assisted the Assistant Commissioner for Compliance in monitoring and educating the SWAC membership on all SWAC and NCAA rules and regulations.
Carroll got her start in intercollegiate athletics as a compliance volunteer at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB). Carroll was a three-sport athlete as she was a member of the UAPB volleyball, track and field, and bowling teams. Carroll also attended Langston University (LU) where she was a member of the track and field team. During her time at LU, she set four school records – that have since been broken – in the indoor high jump, outdoor high jump, outdoor triple jump, and women’s heptathlon.
Carroll’s recognitions and organizational memberships include NCAA Division I National SAAC Representative for the SWAC, NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics, NCAA Effective Facilitation workshop, Women Leaders in College Sports, NACDA, NAADD, NAAC, and BWSF, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
A native of New Boston, Texas, Carroll received her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Health and Physical Education from Arkansas Pine Bluff, a Master’s of Sports Science in Sports Management at the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala, and a Doctor of Education with an emphasis in sports management from Northcentral University.
