Melanie Ford has been named as Shepherd’s interim athletic director.

Ford has been an assistant athletic director for compliance at Shepherd since relinquishing her position as women’s basketball coach three years ago.

Several months ago it was announced that the contract of six-year athletic director B. J. Pumroy would not be extended past June 30, 2016. At that same time it was announced that Shepherd would make a nationwide search for Pumroy’s successor.

The search for a permanent athletic director will continue. The beginning of the 2016-17 school year comes in mid-August.

In recent years, Shepherd has named interim coaches in men’s basketball, baseball and lacrosse and all of those coaches were eventually installed as permanent coaches.

Ford was the only woman in the school’s athletic administration once Joan Pope retired several years ago from her position at Shepherd.

The 2015-16 school year had Pumroy as the athletic director with Aaron Ryan and Ford as assistant athletic directors.

No firm date for the naming of a permanent athletic director has been announced.