Academics Team
John Shukie
President, Co-Founder
John serves as the President of Forward Progress, where he leads the Academics team. He has worked with over 70 Division I institutions on issues surrounding APR, Graduation Rates and NCAA academic policy. He is considered a leading expert on NCAA academics and has assisted dozens of schools with reaching academic revenue distribution benchmarks and avoiding NCAA APR penalties.
John founded Forward Progress in 2013 after serving as Director of Academic and Membership Affairs (AMA) at the NCAA national office, where he oversaw various academic and compliance-related programs. This included creation and oversight of the in-person academics hearing process, Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data and data reviews.
Over his time in AMA, John also served as liaison to the DI Committee on Academic Performance, providing leadership in NCAA academic policy decision-making. He also oversaw the Initial-Eligibility, Progress-toward-Degree and Two-Four Transfer Waiver processes, managing staff charged with analyzing and deciding nearly 1,000 cases per year.
Prior to his time in AMA, John served as an investigator within the NCAA enforcement department. In this capacity, he worked closely with institutional representatives and NCAA staff to develop and investigate information related to violations of NCAA legislation.
Before joining the NCAA, John was employed as an attorney at Bingham McCutchen LLP in Boston. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Sports Law at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), and Metropolitan State University of Denver.
John is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and received his M.S. in Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, where he graduated cum laude with a double major in History and Spanish, and was a four-year football student-athlete. In 2016, John was inducted into the Northwest Catholic High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
John is actively involved in his community, serving as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Special Olympics Colorado.
Lindsey Hicks
Senior Academics & Compliance Consultant
Lindsey has spent her career in college athletics advocating for student-athletes through her work in NCAA Compliance and Student Services.
While at Northern Illinois University (NIU), as the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Student Services she directed the day-to-day operations of the Compliance and Student Services Office while also serving on the Executive Staff for Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition, Hicks monitored all NCAA, Mid American Conference (MAC) and NIU Athletic Department Policies and Procedures. She also spent time as the Sport Supervisor for the Women’s Soccer, Gymnastics and Wrestling teams. She served as the primary liaison to the Admissions Office, Office of Registration & Records, Student Financial Aid Office, NIU Orientation, Housing & Dinning and the NCAA Eligibility Center. Hicks also managed the APR & APP data for all sports. Hicks oversaw the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was an integral part in creating The Victors Student-Athlete Awards Show and redesigning the Student-Athlete Life Skills experience at NIU. During her time at NIU, Hicks also served as the Assistance Athletic Director for Compliance and Student Services and as the Compliance Coordinator. In addition, she was also a member of the National Association of Athletic Compliance (NAAC) executive board overseeing the Communications Committee.
Prior to NIU, Hicks worked as a Graduate Assistant in the Compliance Office at the University of Central Florida. Her first full-time position was a Compliance Assistant at the University of Texas where she served as the primary liaison in monitoring daily operations for Personnel, Eligibility, Financial Aid and the Academic Performance Program. She also was the main point of contact for the Admissions Office and NCAA Eligibility Center regarding initial eligibility.
Hicks received her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Florida where she was also a student-athlete on the Women’s Soccer team.
She earned her Master’s in Sport Business Management and MBA from the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida. Lindsey and her husband Jeff have two daughters, Kenna & Kyla.
Christine Simatacolos
Senior Academics Consultant
Christine Simatacolos joins Forward Progress Academic Consulting with over 25 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics.
Most recently, Christine was the Associate Athletic Director for Student Life at the University of Louisville. She oversaw the department’s Life Skills program and was the sport administrator for swimming and diving and spirit groups. She also developed the department’s mental health support programs for student-athletes and was a liaison to many campus departments.
Christine also spent eight years working with the NCAA. She was the Associate Director who oversaw the first NCAA Academic Performance Program (APP) penalty waivers. She was a staff liaison to NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance and assisted in the development of APP policies and procedures. Christine also conducted APP Data Reviews, assisting institutions with APP policies and academic and financial aid compliance.
Prior to the NCAA, Christine was in her first full-time stint at the University of Louisville, working in the areas of academic support and compliance. During this time, she was also the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletes (N4A) Legislative Affairs liaison to the NCAA when Academic Reform was introduced. Christine presented the new NCAA Progress-Toward-Degree standards and APP policies at N4A National and Regional conferences.
Christine started her career at the University of Florida in the Office of Student Life as an academic coordinator for the Gator student-athletes.
A native of Carmel, Indiana, Christine received her B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University where she was an Academic All-Big Ten swimming student-athlete. She received her M.Ed. in College Student Personnel from the University of Louisville, where she was a graduate assistant in the academic support office for athletes.
Christine now resides in Frisco, Texas with her husband and three children.
Susan Vollmerhausen
Academics & Compliance Consultant
Susan Vollmerhausen has over twenty years of experience in NCAA Division I athletics at both public and private universities. She served as the Senior Woman Administrator at two NCAA Division I institutions and she has led Student-Athlete Academic Support Services and Student-Athlete Development/Life Skills programming at multiple institutions.
An expert in the field of enhancing student-athlete academic performance, Vollmerhausen is a specialist in evaluating and improving institutional outcomes in Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rates (GSR). Under her leadership, multiple institutions have earned NCAA Academic Based Revenue Distribution – regardless of program resources.
She managed all elements of eligibility monitoring, including progress toward degree certification involving credit-hour and grade point average (GPA) requirements. Vollmerhausen also managed degree completion programming.
Vollmerhausen served on the NCAA High School Review Committee and was the Chair of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Waiver Committee. She also served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.
