UAH Athletics

Dr. Jen Cole joined the UAH Athletics leadership team ahead of the 2024-25 academic year with her promotion to Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Affairs and Senior Woman Administrator

Overall, Cole is in her 12th year at UAH, joining the Chargers as an athletic trainer in January of 2012 before becoming assistant volleyball coach in 2018. She joined the department's administration in a new role as Assistant Director of Compliance and Student-Athlete Development in January 2021.

In addition to several compliance related improvements, Cole has spearheaded the modernization of the department through compliance software, generating better flow of internal communications between student-athletes, coaches and administrators.
 
A native of Pennsylvania, Cole leads UAH's efforts in NCAA compliance rules education and regulation, while overseeing student-athlete development programming. She also serves as the sponsor for Student-Athlete Mentors and the UAH Volleyball Club while assisting the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Cole is also a member of the university’s Staff Senate.
 
In her academic career, Cole received her undergraduate degree in athletic training from Pittsburgh-Bradford in 2009 followed by a graduate assistantship at Edinboro where she earned her Master’s in Exercise Science with a concentration in fitness and wellness in 2010. She completed her Doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2019. Her research investigated the role of student-athlete development at the Division II level.
 
She has gone on to garner certifications as a NSCA certified strength and conditioning specialist, NASM corrective exercise specialist, and NASM fitness and nutrition specialist. Cole has been an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology at UAH since 2012. She is a member of the National Association for Athletics Compliance,  the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals, and an affiliate member of the National Collegiate Director of Athletics Association.
 
Cole and her spouse live in Huntsville with their sons Cooper and Carter.