ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) has appointed KatieJo Svenson as its next Assistant Commissioner. Svenson most recently served as the Sports Information Director at Wartburg College, a position she held for 11 years between two different stints at her alma matter. KatieJo possesses a significant amount of experience at both the campus and conference levels and is no stranger to the UMAC, having served as the Coordinator of Sports Information at UMAC member institution Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) for three academic years.
The hire was announced on Monday by UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt. “As a veteran in the athletics communication field, I am very excited to add someone to our staff with such a high level of expertise and long list of accomplishments. KatieJo will be a great addition to our conference and I look forward to the support she will provide for our member institutions in the UMAC.”
Between her time at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), Maryville University (Mo.), Bethany Lutheran College and Wartburg, Svenson has accrued 18 years of experience at the campus level leading athletics communications, media relations, and sports information related efforts. She also previously held the Assistant Commissioner position and was appointed the Interim Commissioner for the Midwest Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Conference.
Considered by her peers as one of the best in athletics communications and sports information, KatieJo is previously a national winner of the CoSIDA Rising Star Award, served on the CoSIDA Board of Directors for a four-year period, and has received numerous CoSIDA awards for her writing pieces and other promotional efforts.
Svenson noted on her hiring, “I'm excited for this new opportunity to work in a league that I'm familiar with. I appreciate the belief that Commissioner Borchardt has shown in me and look forward to working with the institutions, personnel, and student-athletes of the UMAC.”
KatieJo’s primary duties with the UMAC will include oversight of the league’s sports information and communication efforts, brand and identity development utilizing the conference’s website and social media platforms, schedule management of all applicable conference sports, working with all 18 conference championships, and providing additional support to the governance structure including some duties involving compliance, educational programming and membership services. KatieJo begins her duties with the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference in mid-July.
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The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member conference comprised of seven full-time member institutions from Minnesota and Wisconsin including: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Watch UMAC games on the UMAC Sports Network: available on the web, as a mobile app for iOS and Android, and as a TV app for Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku.