Stephen Dolan Named Assistant Commissioner for Compliance
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) -- The Big South Conference has named Stephen Dolan as the Assistant Commissioner for Compliance, it was announced today by Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander. Dolan joins the Conference office from member institution Gardner-Webb University and will begin his duties on April 10.
“Stephen Dolan will serve the Big South membership extremely well in his role as Assistant Commissioner for Compliance,” said Kallander. “He is very knowledgeable of NCAA legislation and governance, creative in the education of his constituents, and relates well to his peers. We are fortunate to have him on our team!”
Dolan will oversee all compliance activities related to the NCAA and Big South Conference, provide day-to-day governance and legislative services to the conference membership and research and interpret NCAA and Big South rules and regulations. He will assist with the implementation and initiatives of the conference’s strategic plan, with a focus on areas related to academic centrality and student-athlete experience. Dolan will also be involved with the league’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as well as organize the Big South’s annual Student-Athlete Leadership Conference and SAAC meetings.
"I am thrilled and honored to be joining the Big South team in this role,” stated Dolan. “Over the past nine years, I have developed a tremendous amount of respect for the work being done in the Big South, particularly as it relates to student-athlete welfare and the overall student-athlete experience. Our conference has been a vocal supporter of student-athlete rights and I am humbled to be able to join the discussion in this role.”
Dolan spent the past nine years at Gardner-Webb where he served as Assistant Athletics Director. In that role, he directed the Compliance Department for GWU’s 22 athletic teams, provided rules education for university administration, athletics department staff, coaches, student-athletes, faculty, boosters and the local community. Dolan enforced all aspects of rules compliance, including the areas of recruiting, financial aid, eligibility, playing and practice seasons, camps and clinics, amateurism and Division I membership, in addition to monitoring and reporting any violations of NCAA, Big South Conference or institutional rules and regulations. He authored NCAA Bylaw 15.5.4.1.2 pertaining to financial aid increases for baseball, and was an inaugural member of the Big South Legislative Committee.
In addition, Dolan was Gardner-Webb’s athletic representative on the Faculty Athletics Committee, Eligibility Certification Committee, Institutional Review Board, and the President’s Taskforce for Athletic Progress. He was the lead official for all NCAA Financial Reports and Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) reporting, served as the sport administrator for six Division I teams, served as the Championship Director for five Big South Championships hosted at Gardner-Webb, and was the Big South’s elected representative in the FCS ADA Young Administrator’s Program at the 2010 NACDA Convention.
Prior to his time at Gardner-Webb, Dolan served as Compliance Coordinator at North Carolina State as well as a Compliance Intern at UNC Wilmington. He earned both his Bachelor of Science degree (May 2006) and Master’s Degree (May 2008) in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management from N.C. State. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Dolan and his wife, the former Abby Baker, reside in Gastonia, N.C., with son Carter (2) and are expecting their second child later this summer.