FIU Athletics

Alma Mater: Nova Southeastern, 2004 (Business)
Graduate Degree: Miami, 2012 (Master of Liberal Arts)

Joining the FIU staff in 2015, Octavia Gibbs serves as the Assistant Director of the Athletics Compliance office. She analyzes and applies NCAA, Conference USA and campus regulations in a consistent and uniform manner.

She assists in all facets of the awarding of athletic financial aid and monitoring the awarding, processing, certification, and reconciliation of athletics financial aid; collecting, verifying, and posting National Letters of Intent for incoming student-athletes; monitoring team and individual equivalency limits; maintaining, preparing and disseminating NCAA squad lists; monitoring student-athlete employment during the academic year and summer; and administering postgraduate scholarship applications to student-athletes through the NCAA and FIU.
 
Gibbs oversees and enhances the proper awarding, documenting and monitoring/auditing of financial aid for all student-athletes and serves as liaison between the Financial Aid Office and Athletics Business Office to ensure compliance with all NCAA, FIU and Federal regulations, including working with every student-athlete and their family to ensure completion of the FAFSA form.
 
She coordinates all pre-season, post-season and vacation meals/housing issue and communicates the information to the coaches, athletics administration and the Financial Aid Office.
 
Gibbs works with the Student-Athlete Academic Center (SAAC) and the Academic Progress Rate Specialist to identify any and all former student-athletes who have not completed their FIU undergraduate degree and develops a plan to help those student-athletes receive financial assistance to finish their degree.
 
She serves as the athletics compliance administrator for the University, performing various duties as assigned, including, but not limited to, implementing University policies and procedures in the areas of personnel, amateurism, recruiting, eligibility, financial aid, awards and benefits, and playing and practice seasons.
 
She also maintains financial aid information in the NCAA Compliance Assistant Internet (CAI) in conjunction with the Compliance Office and SAAC.

Gibbs joined FIU from the University of Miami, where she served as Assistant Director of (Compliance) Financial Assistance in the 2014-15 academic year. She served the six year prior as the Senior Financial Assistance Advisor / Compliance Advisor at her alma mater. Prior to that promotion, she was a Senior Financial Assistance Advisor in the 2007-08 academic year.

Prior to her time in Coral Gables, she was a Financial Aid Advisor and Loan Coordinator at Miami Dade College from 2005-07. She was promoted to that position form the office manager position from 2001. Prior to that position, she was an Assistant Supervisor and Perkins Loan Coordinator and before that, a data entry clerk in that office.

She received her undergraduate degree in business from Nova Southeastern in 2004. While working at Miami, she received a Masters of Liberal Arts degree in 2014.

A lifelong Miami native, Gibbs is the mother of three daughters - Kelshay, Tamia and Isys.