Christian has served as the Assistant Athletic Director since August of 2003.

He oversees the Saluki Athletic Compliance Office as well as the Athletic Financial Aid Office and is the administrative liaison to Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross-Country.

Spears initiated the development of several new programs since his arrival at SIU, including the "Become a Saluki" website as well as the Saluki Athletic Compliance Office website. Spears also established a monthly compliance newsletter "The Compliance Conscience" which is hosted by the National Association for Athletic Compliance (NAAC). Spears also established the annual SIU all-sports recruiting weekend for prospective student-athletes and parents.

Most recently, Spears implemented the "Sports Studies Intercollegiate Athletic Graduate Internship Program" in coordination with the Department of Kinesiology and the Law School Externship in the Saluki Athletic Compliance Office in coordination with the SIU School of Law.

Spears is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he majored in political science. He obtained a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Long Beach State University in 1998 and he received his Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law in 2002.

Prior to SIU, Spears worked in the Department of Athletics at Long Beach State University, The Ohio State University and Harvard University.

Christian and his wife, Julia, reside in Carbondale with their sons, Rain and Kai and their daughter Skyla.