Genese A. Lavalais joined the Jackson State University family on October 14, 2014 as an Assistant Director of Athletics for Academics at JSU, after serving as the Coordinator of Academic Enhancement and the Director of Academic Enhancement at Grambling State University (GSU) where she played an instrumental role with improving the 2012-2013 APR scores.  

As the Associate Athletic Director, Academics/SWA, Lavalais’ responsibilities include oversight of the athletic academic enhancement center servicing over 320 student-athletes. Her motto: “Empower students, grow champions, and develop leaders,” confirms her dedication to the development of student-athletes through and beyond their matriculation. 

Lavalais enters her fifth year of serving on the NCAA Region 6 Post Graduate committee, and is currently the chair of the Life Skills committee for the N4A. Lavalais is the 2014 recipient of the N4A Professional Promise award, reinforcing her position as well respected professional in athletics.  Lavalais is extremely dedicated to the field of athletics, seeking every opportunity to improve her skills.  Lavalais is an Alumni of the 2011 National Association of Academic Advisor for Athletics (N4A) Professional Development Institute (PDI), and an Alumni of the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Leadership Institute. 

After a combined six years of volunteering, Lavalais began her career in athletics in 2010 at Alabama State University as an academic advisor.  Lavalais volunteered as a Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics at Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC), an Athletic department intern at Louisiana State University (LSU), an Assistant high school girls’ basketball coach at Marksville High School.  

The Marksville, La. native was a member of the women’s basketball team at Southern Arkansas University where she graduated in May 2004. She later pursued a Master’s degree in Sport Administration at Grambling State University and graduated December 2007, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 

genese.a.lavalais@jsums.edu

Bringing over 10 years of experience working with student-athletes in Academic Support Services, Mr. Bello started his career in college athletics as a student-athlete at the University of Mississippi participating both in Men's Football and Track and Field.  As a student-athlete, German received the distinction of Scholar Athlete Honor Roll by the Southeastern Conference (SEC) throughout his tenure as a student-athlete. 

His professional career in athletics began at the University of Mississippi where he served as an Administrative Intern in the Office of Student-Athlete Support Services and then moving into the position as an Athletic Academic Counselor. While at Ole Miss, Mr. Bello worked directly with Men's Football, Men's and Women's Golf, Tennis and Track and Field while coordinating various aspects of the academic tutoring program.    

Prior to joining the (staff) Tigers Academic Support Service, Mr. Bello spent 4 years working at Alabama State University. During his stint at ASU, he helped coordinate the day-to-day support activities in the Office of Academic Advising and Support Services for Student-Athletes and providing direct academic support to both Men's Baseball and Men's Football. In addition as an Athletic Advisor, he served as Tutor Program Coordinator and worked with first-year student-athlete transition program and orientation.    

A 2003 graduate from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor's Art in Chemistry and Spanish. German is native of South Florida and a graduate from Blanche Ely High School (Pompano Beach).  

german.m.bello@jsums.edu

Rafael Ordaz serves as Coordinator of Athletic Academic Advising for the Athletics Academic Enhancement Center.  He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and came to the United States in Fall 2008 on a baseball scholarship at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Then he transferred to Ashford University in Clinton, IA, where he obtained his B.A in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance with Magna Cum Laude honors.

In 2013 he moved down south to Jackson, MS where he started working on his Master’s Degree at Jackson State University. He obtained his M.S. in Sports Management on Spring 2015.

His duties include the direct supervision of 6 teams: Volleyball, Soccer, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Golf among other responsibilities such as helping students whose Spanish or Portuguese is their first language.

rafael.a.ordaz@jsums.edu

Shyandrea Shaniece Glass is the Coordinator of Student-Athlete Support Services at Jackson State University. Shyandrea serves as the Athletic Academic Advisor for Freshmen Football and Baseball. She also serves as the advisor of JSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and oversee the Life Skills Program. A native of Greenwood, MS, Shyandrea joined the Athletic Academic Enhancement Center (AAEC) team September 2015. Since joining the AAEC team, Shyandrea has been instrumental in the success of Jackson State University’s academic excellence in the Division of Athletics.  Shyandrea’s passion to instill knowledge and skills that will help prepare student-athletes for life after college has been instrumental in her prospective sports maintaining a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. During her first year with the department, she oversaw Women’s Bowling and Softball and which both teams maintained a 3.5 GPA. During her first year as the Life Skills Coordinator she implemented programs for student-athletes in the areas of Academics (7), Athletics (6), Personal Development (5), Career Development (7) and community service (23). The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee broke the record for raising the most money that any SWAC school has raised for the SWAC Coin Drive ($2,018.43). In the spring 2016, Shyandrea was selected to attend the 2016 NCAA NACWAA Women’s Leadership Symposium. During the NCAA N4A (National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals) annual conference in June 2016, Shyandrea along with the Athletic Academic Enhancement Center staff was selected to present on the topic “Empowering Student-Athletes and Preparing Them for Life after College.”  Summer 2016, Shyandrea played an instrumental role in help the Jackson State University Athletic Academic Enhancement Center become N4A certified. Shyandrea was selected to participate in the Inaugural HBCU Professional Development Institute Track in the summer of 2017.  

Glass holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (Alcorn State University), Master of Science Media Studies (Arkansas State University) and a Master of Sports Administration (Belhaven University). 

shyandrea.s.glass@jsums.edu