James Gassman
Camp Director
James Gassman, a member of the SNHU athletics staff since 2006, was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics following the 2014-15 academic year. He was named SNHU's Equipment and Operations manager in June of 2008 and promoted to Assistant Director of Athletics in September, 2011.
Gassman directly supervises an operations and equipment room staff of five full-time operations coordinators, as well as more than 65 student-workers and four interns each semester. Gassman is also in charge of field maintenance. Gassman oversees all capital projects, including the new $26 million multi-sport athletic complex that opened in February 2018, the Penmen Field facility update that featured permanent stadium seating, a press box and bathroom installations, the Fieldhouse renovation and a number of other facility renovations and improvements. Gassman is also in charge of field equipment purchases and upgrades, as well as planning for future needs and requests for capital projects for the entire department.
Gassman is the point of contact for hundreds of events on campus each year, including NCAA and Northeast-10 Championships, New Hampshire Presidential Primary ceremonies, NHIAA state tournaments, National Guard deployment/welcome home gatherings, SNHU accepted students days and open houses, job fairs and many other SNHU-based and community events. He also performs the event scheduling for the department in regards to both internal and external events.
Gassman manages the field maintenance of the natural grass baseball field, softball field and practice/recreation field, as well as the synthetic turf field, outdoor tennis courts and a 72,000 square foot athletic complex, that includes a basketball/volleyball competition gym, auxiliary gymnasium, Penmen Room for events, 14 locker rooms, equipment room and all supporting areas throughout the facility.
Gassman oversees the equipment and operations for 20 NCAA Division II athletic teams, as well as assists with equipment and orders for various on-campus departments and club sports. He also manages contracts for services/repairs/improvements with external vendors on an annual basis.
Gassman is a member of both the Crisis and Safety Committee at SNHU, while also holding memberships in the New England Sports Turf Managers Association (NESTMA), Collegiate Event and Facility Management Association (CEFMA) and National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).Before his current post, Gassman served as an assistant operations coordinator at SNHU. Among his duties were handling event management operations for the University's home athletic contests as well as events held by external organizations, serving as the main contact for external organizations. He also coordinated field maintenance for the University's outdoor facilities, including SNHU's FieldTurf facility, Larkin Field, and the baseball and softball fields.
Prior to working at SNHU, Gassman worked as a special education aide and assistant boys' basketball coach at Kearsarge Regional High School. He also served as the second assistant golf pro at Lake Sunapee Country Club in the summer of 2005.
Gassman received his Master's degree in sport management from SNHU in May 2008, and is a 2004 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, earning his Bachelor's degree in sport management. In addition to his duties in the department, Gassman also teaches a sport facilities class for the sport management department at SNHU.
A native of Newbury, N.H., Gassman resides in Hooksett with his daughters, Claire and Stella.