COMMERCE – Texas A&M University-Commerce has announced Karen Allen as Lion Athletics' senior woman administrator in addition to her duties as senior associate athletics director for business and administration.
 
"From the day she arrived three years ago, Karen has exemplified our Best in Class mission and led several key financial initiatives for our department," said A&M-Commerce director of athletics Tim McMurray. "In addition to her work with maintaining a balanced budget each of the last three years, she also has excellent relationships with our Finance and Administration units – procurement, budget, accounting, and human resources.  This appointment as senior woman administrator is both appropriate and well-deserved, as she has tremendous respect amongst her peers in our department."
 
Allen has been with Lion Athletics since May 2018, leading the financial services and administration unit of Lion Athletics. She is currently the senior associate athletics director for business and administration, and sport administrator for volleyball and softball.
 
"I would like to thank Tim for the opportunity to serve Lion Athletics in this capacity," Allen said. "In the short time I've been in Commerce, I've seen first-hand the success of so many within this department, and I'm hopeful and confident I can continue to impact A&M-Commerce in a positive way."
 
She led the athletics department's Level One audit in 2019 and directs the department's business processes with regard to purchasing, budgeting and administration, as well as serving as the liaison to the campus community for the department strategic plan and institutional effectiveness assessments. She also oversees the Lion Athletics' Best In Class partnership with Under Armour, as well as human resources, inventory, and gameday ticketing operations.
 
Prior to coming to Commerce, Allen served as the associate athletics director for business & communications and senior woman administrator at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., where she oversaw financial operations, sports information and gameday management for each of the University's 19 athletic teams.
 
While at Shorter, Allen served in a number of capacities; transitioning into the role of sports information director in April 2013 after serving two years as a graduate assistant for athletic administration. During this time, she also assisted the department in its transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.
 
In addition to her time at Shorter, Allen also worked for four seasons at the Rome Braves, the single-A minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, in ticket operations.
 
The Mableton, Ga. native earned her bachelor's of business administration in sport management from Shorter in 2009, before obtaining a master's in business administration in 2012.