Leslie joined the IPFW Athletic Staff as an Academic Counselor in July of 2003 after serving as the first Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Affairs at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas for five years. In addition to her work in Athletics, Leslie teaches IPFW'S "Freshman Topics for Student-Athletes" course and English Composition for IPFW's Department of English and Linguistics.

In 2007, Leslie was named Director of IPFW's newly created Mastodon Academic Performance Center (M.A.P. Center), a Student Affairs Department under the supervision of Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. George McClellan. Leslie finds the M.A.P. Center name especially appropriate because as Leslie likes to say, "We help our Student-Athletes map out their college careers and often their life after college."

Leslie holds Bachelor's and Master's of Arts degrees in English from Lamar University. In addition to teaching Composition and Literary Interpretation, Leslie has worked as an Academic Advisor- a position which sparked her interest in working with Student-Athletes specifically.

Leslie's professional expertise lies in designing and implementing Academic Support programs. As IPFW's (and Lamar's) first full time Athletic Academic employee, Leslie's charge was to create an Academic Support program that would bring the institutions' Athletic Departments up to NCAA Division I standards.

Since coming to IPFW, Leslie has adapted the program she created at Lamar, enhancing IPFW's P.A.S.S. (Promoting Academic Success for Student-Athletes) program to include monitored Study Table, individual tutors on demand, and Intrusive Advising of all new and academically challenged IPFW student-athletes. Monitoring of Student-Athletes' NCAA continuing eligibility was also brought into the academic program where it continues to be handled through the M.A.P. Center. Leslie works closely with Academic Advisors across campus to maintain accurate records of each Student-Athletes progress toward graduation. Student-athletes are expected to be actively involved in monitoring their eligibility, and progress toward graduation, and must meet with Leslie on a regular basis to monitor their progress. Additionally, every aspect of a Student-Athlete's academic performance and progress (including regular grade checks) are closely monitored by Leslie and her staff.

In the four years since Leslie joined IPFW, our Student-Athletes have set records for academic achievement. In the Fall of 2003, the IPFW Student-Athletes achieved an astounding 3.0 GPA; more importantly, however, our Student-Athletes have not only maintained, but also, surpassed each previous term's GPA. Approximately 80% of IPFW's Student-Athletes maintain individual GPAs above 3.0 each term.

The success of the M.A.P. Center speaks for itself as other units at IPFW such as MAC and DMS have adapted M.A.P.'s programs to ensure a positive progression toward graduation for their individual populations. With IPFW's membership in the Summit League, Leslie looks to IPFW's academic successes to set the academic standard for the Summit League.

Leslie lives in Fort Wayne with her children, Jessie, Dakota, and Savannah. A lifelong student of history, Leslie finds Fort Wayne's strong role in the exploration, expansion, and development of the United States, and the ongoing interest of Fort Wayne's citizens in its history, compelling and enlightening.