The 2026-27 academic year will mark the 19th year for Carol Rivera as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Conference Office. She was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Internal Operations/SWA in October 2007 and elevated to Associate Commissioner in 2018.
Rivera monitors CCAA and NCAA compliance for member institutions, oversees the NCAA Coaches Certification administration for member institutions, organizes professional development activities for faculty athletics representatives, senior women administrators and athletics directors, coordinates the activities/meetings for the CCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Compliance Administrators and Athletic Trainers, and oversees the day-to-day office operations of the CCAA. Rivera currently serves on the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Regional Advisory Committee. In addition, she is also active in the NCAA Division II Governance structure and will begin serving in September as a member of the NCAA Divisions II and III Playing Rules Oversight Panel and has been a former member of the Division II Championships Committee, Division II Legislation Committee and Division II Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee.
Rivera joined the CCAA from UC Irvine where she was compliance coordinator for two years.
At UC Irvine, Rivera provided NCAA rule interpretations, worked with the Big West Conference in providing periodic coaches rules seminars, and monitored coaches recruiting activities to ensure NCAA rules compliance. Her position also included preparing NCAA rule violation self-reports, hardship waivers for submissions to the Big West Conference, and the NCAA and ARS and Progress-Towards-Degree waivers for submission to the NCAA.
Rivera brings a wealth of collegiate compliance experience to the CCAA. In addition to her two-plus years at UC Irvine, Rivera was a compliance assistant at the West Coast Conference and served as a compliance intern at the University of Cincinnati while working toward a Masters of Education, Sport Administration degree from Xavier University. Her collegiate experience goes beyond compliance as she worked as a student athletic trainer at Solano Community College and served as a Laboratory Teaching Assistant at Sonoma State where she studied athletic injuries.
While working towards a bachelor's degree in kinesiology-athletic training from Sonoma State in 1999, Rivera served five years as a seasonal firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.