June 9, 2009

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame associate athletics director Mike Karwoski is taking over a newly-formed athletic performance division within the department – and University associate vice president and senior counsel Jill Bodensteiner is joining the athletics department as associate athletics director in the areas of compliance and counsel.

A 16-year veteran of the Notre Dame athletics administration, Karwoski now will coordinate efforts to enhance areas such as strength and conditioning, athletic training and physical therapy, sports medicine, nutrition, sports psychology and others that contribute to student-athletes’ physical welfare and on-field performance.

Following 12 years with Notre Dame’s office of General Counsel — including extensive work with athletic issues — Bodensteiner moves over to athletics to oversee compliance, an area in which Karwoski has worked during his time at the University. She will also serve as the athletics liaison to the General Counsel’s office.

“The goals and expectations of athletics at Notre Dame necessitate finding ways for our student-athletes to optimize their efforts when they compete at the championship level of our programs. That doesn’t happen by accident,” says Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick.

“Mike’s assignment will be to work within all these different areas so that we can provide every opportunity for those student-athletes to be at their very best when they take the field. If we can help them become just a little bit faster, quicker, stronger, and more confident, then they and our programs will have better chances to attain success at the highest levels.

“Jill has worked very closely with us in recent years in a variety of contractual and legal areas, and she has an excellent feel for what athletics is about. I’m confident she will enable us to enjoy a seamless transition in the critical area of compliance. Jill has partnered with us in the past on compliance-related matters and she is well-versed in NCAA rules and regulations as well as Notre Dame’s expectations.”

“This is an exciting opportunity for Jill and we are delighted that we will continue to work together as she takes on new responsibilities for our student-athletes,” said Marianne Corr, University vice president and general counsel.

Before Karwoski was promoted to associate athletics director in February 2005, he spent five years as an assistant athletics director, five years as director of compliance, one year as the assistant director of compliance and two years as an intern in the department.

In recent years as associate athletics director, Karwoski has overseen the areas of NCAA compliance and student-athlete development/welfare. He has served as the compliance liaison with the NCAA and BIG EAST Conference as well as with the University’s General Counsel office. He also has worked closely with the Faculty Board on Athletics, undergraduate admissions office, office of the registrar, office of student financial aid, academic services for student-athletes and the alumni association.

In the area of student-athlete development/welfare, Karwoski has worked with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), First Year of Studies, student affairs/residence life, undergraduate admissions and special/talented students. In addition, he has been involved with off-campus issues and student-athlete conduct. He also has served as the sport administrator for men’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s cross country, indoor and outdoor track, cheerleading and assisted Swarbrick with administration responsibilities for women’s basketball.

A native of Farmington, Conn., Karwoski has served on various BIG EAST sports committees, including those for women’s soccer, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s golf. He also served as tournament director for the 2005 NCAA Men’s Golf Central Regional Championships hosted by Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course.

Following his graduation from Central Connecticut State University in 1990 with a degree in political science (he also played both baseball and soccer), Karwoski worked on legislative policy for both the education and public health subcommittees of the Connecticut General Assembly. He served as an athletics administrative assistant and graduate assistant soccer coach in 1991-92 at Springfield (Mass.) College while earning a master’s degree with a concentration in sports management.

As associate vice president and senior counsel, Bodensteiner has provided advice on employment-related matters to the offices of the provost, the colleges, human resources and institutional equity at Notre Dame. She generally served as the University’s contact with government agencies that monitor equal opportunity issues.

In addition, Bodensteiner has served as the primary contact for legal issues in athletics and international studies. She has served as an ex officio member of the University committee on women faculty and students and as a member of the University benefits committee, and she chaired Notre Dame’s Equity in Athletics Task Force.

Bodensteiner served as an assistant editor for The Journal of College and University Law, and has published articles regarding employment discrimination in the Journal and other publications.

Before joining the Notre Dame office of the General Counsel in 1997, Bodensteiner specialized in employment litigation as an associate at two law firms, Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago and Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis. A member of the bar in Indiana and Illinois, she also clerked for the Honorable Catherine Perry, a United States District Court judge in St. Louis.

She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Notre Dame in 1991, her J.D. from Washington University Law School in St. Louis in 1994, and her MBA from Notre Dame in 2008. She’s a native of Valparaiso, Ind.

— ND —