Chris Howlett was hired as the Director of Football Academics in May 2022 and will oversee all academic operations for the program.
Howlett comes to KSU from the University of Colorado Boulder where he previously served as an assistant athletic director for academic services and student development. He spent 10 years in CU’s Herbst Academic Center and worked exclusively with the football (linebackers and defensive backs) and women’s soccer programs.
During his time at CU, Howlett focused on developing programs and supporting initiatives designed to improve the recruitment, retention, academic success and graduation of a diverse population of Colorado’s student-athletes. Howlett directly supported students during their academic journey at the university through transitional coaching, exposure to educational opportunities, course and program exploration, and appropriate referral to on-campus resources. He also represents the Herbst Academic Center on several leadership committees within athletics.
Howlett was an academic coordinator when first hired, working with the women’s basketball, men’s golf and men’s and women’s skiing programs and eventually with volleyball. He was promoted to an assistant director in July 2016. While serving as an assistant director, he was responsible for the direct oversight of the student-athlete academic mentor program. The mentors are charged with helping students enhance the fundamental academic skills needed to achieve and sustain success at the university. The mentor “team,” then coordinated by Howlett, supports on average 85-100 students each semester, or approximately a fourth of all CU student-athletes.
AT CU, he also served as a member of the First Year Program Committee, which is comprised of several athletic department staff members whose goal is to create programming to aid in first-year students transition to college. By participating in this program, first-year student-athletes become more informed about campus resources, meet members of their new community and participate in academic skill building sessions to become more efficient in the classroom.
Howlett came to Colorado from Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton), where he was as an athletic academic counselor and admissions coordinator for the better part of four years (2008-12). His responsibilities at FAU included the academic oversight of the men’s soccer, women’s softball, women’s golf, and women’s volleyball teams. In addition, Howlett served as the department’s admissions liaison, textbook coordinator, and Life Skills coordinator.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (major in management, minor in accounting) from Florida Atlantic in 2008. He completed a graduate certificate in Leadership and Management from the Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program at CU Boulder in 2015.
Howlett is a native of Northampton, England, and his family moved to the United States (south Florida) when he was five. He graduated from Western High School in Davie, Fla., where he lettered in baseball and hockey. During his down time, he enjoys exercising, spending time with his family, attending concerts and sporting events, and playing recreational softball. He is married to the former Rachel Gartner and the couple has two children, a daughter, Elina and son, Landon.
