Marshall Foley was hired as the new associate athletic director by Oakland University on May 27.

“I’ve been looking for a couple of years now for an opportunity to get on campus,” Foley said.

“When working in athletics, you want to be a part of a dynamic university that’s filled with excitement and is on the move like Oakland.”

Jeff Konya, the current athletic director at Oakland, along with other university officials felt that Foley was the perfect man for the job.

“The search committee selected Marshall as a finalist from a strong pool of applicants,” Konya said, “His previous experiences as a senior administrator is a great fit, especially since he ran several championships, served on NCAA committees and even oversaw the budgetary process. He has a strong work acumen and skill set.”

Foley spent the past 19 years gaining valuable experience which will serve as a big help to him during his tenure at OU.

From 1996 and to 2000, Foley worked for the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he started off as an intern and worked his way up to assistant to the athletic director and later assistant to the vice chancellor.

Following his work in Anchorage, Foley worked for Canisius College, a private university in Buffalo, New York as associate athletic director of internal affairs.

He worked there from 2001 to 2005 before accepting his next job as the associate commissioner for championships for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

While a part of the MAAC, Foley had administrative control of conference championship events for 22 of the 25 sports within the conference. He spent the past 10 years in this position before coming to OU.

Foley is thrilled for the opportunity to join Oakland’s athletic staff and sees the school as one that is on the rise.

Konya and his prior relationship with Foley played a big role in Foley ultimately accepting the job at OU.

“I was on the NCAA men’s soccer committee with Jeff, and he and I hit it off on our time together there. We had stayed in contact over time, and when the Associate AD position opened at OU, Jeff contacted me about it and I was immediately intrigued and excited to be in the position to receive an offer,” Foley said.

Foley’s duties at Oakland will consist of things revolving around athletics, many of which are established by Konya.

“Marshall will serve as the sports administrator to several Oakland teams, and he will oversee the athletics budget office, our sports performance team, facilities and operations, as well as directing all championships held on our campus,” Konya said.

“He will be a great fit with the personnel that we have on the athletics team, and I think his spirit and presence will bring some great new perspectives to the discussions we conduct.”

Foley, above all the pride and sense of accomplishment in being brought into Oakland, is most excited to become part of a growing Golden Grizzly community.

“It’s already been a truly great experience to be a part of Oakland, from getting to know the welcoming staff here to realizing the excitement in people all around the campus,” Foley said.

 

Foley is not the only new employee in OU’s athletics department. Five other new employees were hired in April and May, from aministrative assistants to trainers to work with athletes. 

Foley is not the only new employee in OU’s athletics department. Here is a list of other new employees, their positions, and the date they were hired.

Name	Position	Date They Were Hired
Mekye Phelps	Athletic Communications Assistant	Starting July 2015
Michelle Quinn	Assistant Athletic Trainer	April 2015
Dane Roach	Strength and Conditioning Assistant	May 2015
Andy Adrianse	Director of Facilities	May 2015
Tara Bergeron	Assistant AD for Development	May 2015