Michelle Reed joins the Quinnipiac Rugby team as an assistant coach for the 2011 season. Reed comes to Quinnipiac with a diverse resume including coaching, athletic academic advising, law enforcement, and emergency medical services.

Prior to joining the Quinnipiac rugby coaching staff, Reed was a police officer and paramedic at Northern Illinois University. During her career as an officer, Reed was assigned to the Office of Emergency Management and Planning, served on the Critical Incident Response Team, trained as a paramedic, and acted as a victim’s advocate. She received multiple awards including Officer of the Year in 2008 and the Life-Saving Award in 2009 and 2010.

Before making the career change to law enforcement in 2008, Reed served as an academic coordinator for the Office of Student-Athlete Academic Supports Services at Northern Illinois University. She was quickly promoted to senior academic coordinator within a year.

While working in Student-Athlete Academic Support Services, she managed the academic progress and eligibility for eight intercollegiate teams. During her service from 2006 -2008, she worked closely with the Compliance and Records department, creating and overseeing the internal process for the academic eligibility of incoming transfer student-athletes. 

Reed also developed and taught a university foundations course for freshman student-athletes. Reed was a member of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) while working in athletics at Northern Illinois.

From 2004 – 2006 Reed committed herself to various areas including volunteering as a coach for the Waubonsie Valley High School Girl's Rugby club.  She worked as an adjunct instructor at Aurora University in Aurora, Ill., teaching a diverse range of Physical Education and Recreation classes to undergraduate students. Reed served as an area director and sports director for GreenApple Management from 2004-2005 and was an area manager and sports director for the Skyhawks Sports Academy from 2003-2004.

Reed’s last college coaching position came during the years of 2002-2004, when she was an assistant rugby coach for the Eastern Illinois University women’s rugby squad. She was one of the founders in creating the first Division I women’s rugby team, as the squad went 19-1 during her time as an assistant coach. During this same two-year stretch, Reed served as an academic athletic advisor, monitoring the academic progress and success of over 500 student athletes.

A native of Zion, IL., Reed graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Eastern Illinois in 2000 and attained her Master of Science in Physical Education from her alma mater in 2002.