2021 National Conference

Debbie Garcia

Administration is NOT a 14 Letter Curse Word

I am a proud first-generation college student and began my career as an Academic Advisor in 1997. I am currently the Executive Senior Associate AD for Compliance, Academics and Student Welfare / Senior Woman Administrator at the University of Texas at Arlington and have worn many hats in my 30 years in athletics. As a cross country and track student-athlete, I took tickets, parked cars at games and even stenciled numbers on the steps in the football stadium…lots of them! All of those jobs gave me an appreciation for what it takes to maintain a career in athletics and influenced my leadership style.

As a Graduate Assistant, I quickly learned that coaching was not what I was passionate about but I knew I wanted to stay in the game and had to find my voice so that I could be heard. I care about people first so academics, compliance and student services were my stage. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to grow our student-athlete support services unit and in my current role I oversee all aspects of student-athlete welfare which includes academics, compliance, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and sport supervision for softball, women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis.

Throughout my career I have been sport supervisor for almost every sport at our institution which reflects my respect for all sports programs. I recently completed a 4-year term on the NCAA Volleyball Committee and have had the great opportunity to hire coaches, staff and university administrators including the Vice President for Student Affairs. My experiences outside of athletics include leadership roles with our University Advising Association, Presidential Task Forces on Diversity and Inclusion, our Community that Cares initiative, D&I Committee, Sun Belt Conference Strategic Planning Committee and NIL Task Force.

I am most proud of the demonstrated leadership and academic success of our student-athletes and our reputation as a program and staff that have integrity, absolute compliance with NCAA, UT System and conference policies and who compete for championships. I am often the only woman and usually the only person of color in the room and I cherish the opportunity to prove why that matters. I am proof that a person — of any gender — can be a high-achiever professionally, sustain a long marriage and be an engaged parent. My husband, Mike also works in the athletics department at UT Arlington and we have two inspiring boys, Vincent and Christian.