Shanna Alexander joined Merrimack athletics in the winter of 2024 as Senior Associate Athletic Director and SWA. In her role, she is part of the College’s Senior Leadership Team and provides oversight of program administration for the department. Alexander oversees student-athlete support services including athletic training, strength and conditioning, compliance, and student-athlete affairs. Additionally, she serves as the primary sport supervisor for several programs. She also is the liaison to several areas around the Merrimack College community including admissions, financial aid, and the Dean’s Office. 

Alexander came to Merrimack from Quinnipiac University where she was a Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and Student-Athlete Development. In that role, she coordinated NCAA compliance efforts for the department’s 21 varsity programs, with an emphasis on policy development, education and implementation of monitoring new NCAA legislation. Alexander also created an NIL educational series called Bobcats with a Brand, which focused on arming student-athletes interested in NIL with the tools and information necessary to be successful in that space. Alexander also had sport oversight of several varsity programs. While at QU, she was active within the larger campus community, serving as Deputy Title IX Coordinator, and on several campus wide committees and also was part of the MAAC Track and Field Championship Committee. 

Prior to Quinnipiac, Alexander previously held the role of Assistant Athletic Director at Harvard University. She joined Harvard in 2007 as a compliance intern before being promoted to Director of Compliance and subsequently Assistant Athletic Director. At Harvard, she coordinated all aspects of NCAA rules compliance for the nation’s largest division 1 athletics program, working extensively with rules education, process efficiency, policy development and monitoring of the 1,100 students who make up the Crimson’s 42 varsity programs. She also served as sports administrator for several varsity programs. 

Alexander was a member of the committee at Harvard that created the Crimson Captain’s Leadership Program, and she was part of the planning and execution of a comprehensive student and staff development program. While at Harvard, Alexander served on many committees institutionally, from a conference perspective, and nationally. Alexander was a part of several head coach search committees, including men’s lacrosse and women’s rugby. She served as the Ivy League liaison for women’s swimming and diving while serving as a member of the Ivy League Rugby Concussion Committee. At the national level, Alexander was named to the NCAA Ski Committee and was voted co-chair. She also was a member of the NCAA Amateurism Cabinet. 

After a four-year collegiate career that included two seasons as the track and field captain, Alexander graduated from UMass Lowell in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and management. She then completed her master’s in sports leadership from Northeastern University, where she was also the recipient of the inaugural Excellence in Sports Leadership Alumni Award for her excellence and achievement as a leader in the sports profession and her commitment to Northeastern’s Master of Sports Leadership Program.