Lakeland Athletics Hall of Famer April Arvan is serving as the Muskies' senior woman administrator in 2024-25, after stepping down from the director of athletics position after 10 years.
First a Muskie student-athlete, then a coach and now a longtime instructor, professor and administrator, Dr. Arvan served as director of athletics first on an interim basis in 2013 and again in 2014 and permanently from Aug. 2015 to July 2024. Before that she also was assistant athletic director and then associate athletic director while also serving on Lakeland's faculty.
Arvan is Lakeland's all-time winningest women's basketball coach, compiling a record of 266-84 from 1994-2007. Her teams won eight conference titles, and Arvan and her staff led the Muskies to five NCAA Division III tournament appearances. She earned six conference coach of the year honors, and Arvan's .759 winning percentage still ranks 19th-best in Division III women's basketball history.
Arvan also has been a Lakeland Athletics administrator since 2004, with responsibilities including NCAA Division III Compliance, Equity, and Student-Athlete Development. She has worked for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) nationally facilitating content for the NCAA Leadership Forum to a diverse and dynamic representation of student-athletes, coaches, faculty, and administrators at all NCAA Divisions.
Arvan also is associate professor of sport management and leadership and joined the faculty full-time in 2007 after teaching part-time at Lakeland since 1994. Most recently, Arvan was named interim director of graduate business beginning in the fall of 2021. In this role, Arvan provides administrative oversight for Lakeland’s master of business administration (MBA) and master of science in leadership and organizational development (MSLOD) programs. This includes reviewing student applications, supporting adjunct faculty in these programs, assisting with course scheduling and assessing student learning in these programs.
Arvan graduated from Lakeland with her bachelor's in secondary education and broad field social studies in 1993 and her master's in education in 1995. She earned her Ph.D. in education with an emphasis in Sport Management and Leadership from Northcentral University in Arizona in 2010.
