Known as a visionary, energetic and dynamic leader in college athletics, James Arnold begins his sixth year as the Director of Athletics
at Columbia College and first year transitioning to the new position of Vice President of Student Experience.
Arnold spent two years at the helm of the women’s basketball program from Spring 2022 to Spring 2024. During his time as head coach for the Cougars, he collected a record of 53-10 and made two NAIA National Tournament appearances. Arnold also led Columbia to back-to-back American Midwest Conference (AMC) tournament titles as well as two regular season titles. Over the two seasons, Columbia also produced two NAIA All-Americans and 13 All-Conference athletes.
Arnold took the helm of the nationally prominent and successful Cougar athletic department on May 1, 2019 and immediately made an impact on the entire campus with his engaging personality and vision for the future. His passion for higher education was recognized just 12 months into the job as he was appointed the Interim Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing. A position he held for a full year while also remaining the face of Cougar Athletics.
As interim vice president Arnold was responsible for the administration, oversight and management of over 90 employees, including direct reports in the areas of marketing, recruiting, admissions, student success, financial aid and enrollment services. In less than a year, Arnold guided many initiatives, including; a transitional marketing campaign to rebuild brand identity and awareness, an alumni MBA grant program to increase graduate enrollments, test optional admittance policy for the day campus and a restructuring of Scholarship Day to increase participation and student yield.
While balancing vice president duties, Arnold was able to navigate the Cougars through unprecedented times in college athletics with the global pandemic. Engaged in every conversation as a member of the College’s COVID-19 task force, James was the key factor in developing and implementing protocols for the entire campus.
While the pandemic slowed down so many, it gave Arnold the perfect opportunity to propel the athletic department to even greater success. He brought on two new sports offerings in 2021 in competitive cheer and dance, extensive locker room renovations for basketball and volleyball, a new track & field and cross country building, game hut renovations for Esports, most recently the addition of a state-of-the-art video board
in Southwell, the addition of a full-time bowling coach, a full-time sports information coordinator, and a record number of student athletes. The Cougar athletic department continued its streak of American Midwest Conference President’s Cup victories last year, dating back to 2016-17. The last three years have also seen 17 of the eligible 19 teams named NAIA Scholar-Team for their work in the classroom. Arnold and his staff, in conjunction with the City of Columbia Sports Commission, were awarded the bid to host the NAIA Cross Country National Championship in 2024, 2027, and 2030.
James is not only a dedicated leader at Columbia College, serving on the President’s senior staff and management council, he is also a recognized leader in the community as the chair of the City of Columbia Sports Commission and a Callaway County election judge. Professionally he is well known as an active member of NACDA, NAIA-ADA and WBCA.
The move to Columbia College gave Arnold the chance to oversee a veteran department and made him the first Cougar director of athletics to not also hold coaching duties, a role he was familiar with as the head women’s basketball coach and associate director athletics at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. However, with the departure of women’s basketball coach Taylor Possail, the solo duty didn’t last long as Arnold took over head coaching responsibilities in the summer of 2022.
Just like his arrival at the college, Arnold made an immediate impact on the women’s basketball program, guiding the Cougars to a 26-5 record overall, an 18-2 conference record, the regular season and tournament conference titles and a trip to the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament. Not surprisingly, Arnold was named AMC Coach of the Year. The list of accolades for the team last season is long; 14 Academic All-Conference members, four NAIA Scholar Athletes, four All-Conference awards and an Honorable-Mention All American just to name a few.
At Westminster College
As the Associate Director of Athletics at Westminster, Arnold had direct oversight of Softball, Volleyball, Cheer & Dance, Men’s & Women’s Soccer, Track & Field, and Cross Country for the Blue Jays. He was also the architect of the departments new zero-based budget and served as the department liaison to the Wellness Center, Residential Life, and Food Services. Arnold also served as the Director of Residential Life at Westminster for a year prior to his departure.
In his two seasons at the helm of the Westminster women's basketball program, Arnold's teams set the top five records for points in a game in school history and earned a combined record of 34-19. The squad reached the SLIAC Tournament in both seasons and in 2017-18 advanced to the title game for just the fourth time in school history, becoming the first-ever No. 4 seed to upset the top seed and advance to the championship. Arnold picked up his 250
th career victory on February 16, 2019 with a 76-58 win over McMurray College.
In 2018 Arnold was selected to present at the WBCA National Convention and spoke on the topic “Playing Fast: Free Throw Break for All Levels”.
At Southeast Missouri State University
Arnold joined the Westminster staff after serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach at NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State University for two seasons. His primary role with the Redhawks was as the recruiting coordinator and post-coach. He was also responsible for scheduling, planning and executing Team Camp, and served as the liaison with Sports Information, Marketing, and Compliance.
At Central Methodist University
Prior to SEMO, Arnold spent four seasons as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach and Assistant Director of Athletics at Central Methodist University. In his administrative role he was responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of all policies and procedures relative to the Champions of Character Council, drug testing, and football game day operations. He also was instrumental in landing the host bid for the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening Round and handled? game day management for baseball and volleyball. Arnold also presented at the 2014 NAIA National Convention on a Champions of Character Best Practice panel.
On the sideline, Arnold led his teams to a record of 79-45 in his four seasons as an Eagle, including a 42-30 record in the HAAC. During the 2012-13 season, the team recorded a 25-8 record and earned CMU’s first bid to the NAIA Division I National Championships. In 2012, Arnold earned HAAC Co-Coach of the Year honors for leading Central to 17 wins after inheriting a team who had won just five games the year prior. In 2012-13 and 2013-14 he received the CMU’s Moz Rahmatpanah Champions of Character Award.
At Highland Community College and North Central Missouri College
Arnold also spent four years as the Head Women's Basketball Coach and Sports Information Coordinator at Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas, and five years at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri, earning two NJCAA Region 16 Championships, one NJCAA District F Championship, and the Sportsmanship Award at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. Arnold was named NJCAA Region 16 Coach of the Year twice and NJCAA District F Coach of the Year once. During the 2007 season, Arnold and his team recorded a 30-win season and finished sixth in the NJCAA Division II Tournament, which later earned them a spot in the North Central Missouri College Athletics Hall of Fame.
Arnold has extensive experience in many areas of higher education having served as a Head Baseball Coach, Head Women’s Golf Coach, Director of Residential Life, Residential Coordinator, and adjunct faculty member throughout his career. He is also certified as a Green Dot trainer to help prevent personal based violence incidents on campus.
Arnold received a bachelor's degree from Glenville State College in West Virginia where he was a member of the men's basketball team. He received his Executive Masters of Business Administration from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Leadership and Adult Learning from William Woods University.
Arnold is a native of Paw Paw, West Virginia. James and his wife, Lesley, have one daughter, Audrey and they reside in Fulton, Mo.
