Bill Shults Director, Athletic Academic Support Office Location: D2108 University Center  wshults@fsu.edu

Whoever said “you can never go home again” doesn’t know Bill Shults because after serving more than 10 years in athletics administration at the University of Connecticut, Shults has returned to Florida State, where he was a member of the athletics staff for nearly 20 years, to assume the position of Director of Athletic Academic Support.

First as swimming coach at Florida State from 1979 through 1992 and then as assistant director for compliance/student services from 1992-97, Shults helped lay the foundation for the Seminoles’ compliance program by implementing systems that are still in practice today. At FSU, he also assisted in the development and implementation of a substance abuse program and the student-athlete exit interview process.

Shults returned to FSU after a brief stint at Florida International, where he was the Special Assistant to the General Counsel for NCAA Compliance.  Shults made the move south from UConn where he had served as associate director of athletics/NCAA rules education and compliance services since April 1997 and created a full-service and comprehensive Compliance program, which upon his arrival, was a one-man operation.  While at UConn, Shults was credited with bringing the resources of the university and athletics department together to develop the first data exchange between a collegiate mainframe database and NCAA software.

He was also involved in the creation of UConn’s Student Welfare & Academic Team (SWAT), which discusses student-athlete concerns with the Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid, Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes and the Compliance Office, thus increasing communication with athletics and the campus. 

Shults developed and advised the UConn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from a small “captain’s council” to an organization with 50+ members which received the University’s Student Life Award for Outstanding Community Service in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  Additionally, he formed a close affiliation with the FBI and spoke to agents at the FBI Academy regarding the Sports Presentation Program and their national gambling prevention initiatives.  Shults also served as compliance coordinator for the College Swim Coaches Association of America, directing that organization’s compliance program on a national basis.

This fall, Shults was honored when the University of Connecticut renamed the Senior Husky Excellence Award in his name.

“I am truly honored that the student-athletes and athletics administration recognized my efforts at UConn,” Shults said.