Sandra Taylor was appointed as Director of the Norma J. Clayton '81 Learning Center in late September 2014 after serving as Interim Director for the previous 16 months.
She joined NJIT in January 2010 as Academic Advisor for Student-Athletes working in NJIT’s Learning Center, which has since been renamed as the Norma J. Clayton '81 Learning Center.
She mentored student-athletes in the areas of academic support, personal development, leadership, and community service. She was instrumental in bringing the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society for student-athletes to campus and has been individually certified from the N4A (National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics) as an academic advisor for student-athletes.
In May 2013, she was elevated to Interim Director of CAPE and presided over its transition to the Learning Center in August of 2014. The Learning Center provides academic support to all students, mentoring and workshops, tutoring in areas outside of math and writing, and testing accommodations for students with disabilities. She has served on NJIT’s Strategic Planning, Academic Advising, Retention and Persistence, Customer Service, Student Satisfaction, and Athletic Oversight Committees.
Prior to joining NJIT, Taylor spent 17 years as a key member of the Manhattan College Department of Athletics. She earned both her bachelor’s degree in secondary education and her master’s degree in special education from Manhattan College and is working on her doctorate in educational leadership at St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN.
Working in the athletics department at Manhattan, a founding member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Taylor was Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator, having filled those posts from 1996 until joining NJIT in 2010,
For much of her time on the Manhattan staff (1995 to 2003), she was Chief Athletic Department Compliance Officer, with responsibility for Manhattan’s adherence to NCAA Division I, MAAC and college regulations. She began her service at Manhattan as Athletic Department Ticket Manager, serving in that capacity from 1993 to 2003.
In her time at Manhattan, she served on numerous NCAA, conference and internal college committees, including service on the NCAA Division I Management Council from 2004 to 2007 and as chair of the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Committee from 2002 to 2006.
At the conference level, she chaired the MAAC Women’s Basketball Committee from 1997 to 2009 and also served on four other sport committees, as well as on the MAAC Committee on Athletic Administration, with service as vice-chair in 2008-09.
Internally at Manhattan, her assignments included service on the Middle States Review in 2000 and on the NCAA Certification Committee.
Sandra and her husband, Ken, who is Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball and Baseball at the MAAC, reside in Monroe Township, NJ, with their daughters, Katherine, who was born in May 2004, and Samantha, who was born in July 2009.
