Williams Education Fund announces staff hires
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Jamie Hays Szelc, Jeanna McCabe and Andrea Norris have joined the Williams Education Fund team, Ryan White, senior associate athletics director announced Tuesday.
Hays Szelc (pronounced sells) has been hired as the Associate Athletics Director for Development, while McCabe is a Gift Processing Specialist and Norris, a KU track and field great, has joined the staff as an intern. In her role, Hays Szelc will cultivate relationships with alumni, donors, season ticket holders and fans that will lead to major gifts and leadership annual gifts to support all aspects of the fundraising program. McCabe will be responsible for gift processing of Williams Education Fund pledges and donations as well as assisting with special events, preparing files for deposits to KU Endowment, coordinating book transfers for funds and contacting donors when necessary regarding account information and pledge contributions. As an intern, Norris will be working in all facets of the Williams Education Fund operations.
“I’m excited to have Jamie, Jeanna and Andrea join our Williams Education Fund team,” White said. “They all bring a unique skill set that will help us continue to advance our fundraising efforts in support of Jayhawk student-athletes.”
A 2003 KU graduate, Hays Szelc comes to KU from Colorado State where she spent the past two years as assistant athletic director for development. Prior to CSU, the Pratt, Kansas, native was associate director of development-major gifts at the University of Texas Longhorn Foundation. Before joining Texas, her first stint at Colorado State was as assistant director-major gifts where she worked for two years. Hays Szelc began working in college athletics development at Marquette as a marketing coordinator in 2003. She then earned her master’s in sports administration from Southern Miss in 2005 and returned to Marquette as an assistant director of marketing and sales from 2005-08.
McCabe comes to Kansas Athletics from the KU School of Law and the KU Physics Department where she was an accounting specialist for two years. Prior to her KU campus role, the Yukon, Oklahoma, native owned her own business called U Name It! from 2000-18. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism/advertising with a minor in marketing from the University of Oklahoma in 1986. Following OU she worked as an accounts manager for an advertising firm for three years and in the Shawnee Mission School District office for seven years before owning her own business.
Norris, whose maiden name is Geubelle, was a member of the KU women’s track and field team from 2010-13 and represented the United States in the triple jump at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero. During her time at KU, Norris was a three-time individual national champion (two in the triple jump and one in the long jump) and was a four-time individual Big 12 Conference champion. From University Place, Washington, Norris was a captain on Kansas’ 2013 Women’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship team. Norris graduated from KU in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in community health.
The Williams Education Fund generates financial support for all University of Kansas student-athletes with a responsibility to facilitate, promote, and enhance academic and athletic experiences. Today, the Williams Education Fund staff helps identify and meet student-athlete needs in the way of financial aid and capital projects, and serves as stewards for the fund that has grown to more than 4,700 annual members from its humble beginning of 115 charter members. The staff also manages hospitality and the gameday experience for Williams Education Fund members, and manages KU’s priority point system and select-a-seat process.
