Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders On College Athletics

Today's podcast is particularly timely as Presidents are often approached by boosters, conference commissioners and others with ideas of "elevating the schools profile" by changing Conferences. The whole concept of "Conference Realignment" is something your school could face during your tenure. The NCAA's FRS (financial reporting system) is one of several key indicators to monitor the health of yo...

The trend of higher education employees leaving their jobs before they have been offered another is an under-mentioned aspect of the “Great Resignation”. Whether the reason could be due to caregiving for a family member or friend, or the acceleration of wage growth in sectors outside of higher ed, it has highlighted a lack of pay, work/life balance and/or growth opportunities (i.e. “career paths”)...

A nightmare occurred at the University of Maryland in 2018 when freshman football player Jordan McNair died of heatstroke after an offseason practice. The confluence of events caused this nightmare scenario—a warm, humid day with a heat index over 90 degrees; practice was suddenly relocated to another field because the designated practice area (the football stadium) was under construction; the wor...

With the Big Ten Conference signed a brand-new media rights contract worth $1.23 billion annually, all of college sports took notice. Exceeding the NCAA’s March Madness contract, the Big Ten will soon deliver between $70 and $100 million to each school in the conference. It’s a staggering number and has positioned the conference as one of the top two in all of Division I sports. My guest today is...

When the news broke in 2010 of an academic scandal on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, at first involving members of the football team, few knew that the issue would eventually expand to include more than 3100 students and student-athletes taking 200 “ paper courses " offered by the African and Afro-American Studies Department. Among many other outcomes, UNC Chapel Hi...

With all the talk about Division I undergoing massive transformation, what is going in NCAA Divisions II and III? According to my guest, Chuck Mitrano , long-time commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference in New York, quite a bit. Chuck joins the conversation from two perspectives-one as a sitting commissioner, and one as a member of the NCAA Championships Committee, which provides oversight for all...

“Higher education institutions across the country are contending with significant headwinds. However, with a shared sense of purpose, a creative spirit, and sustained focus, PC can emerge stronger than ever and build a tremendous foundation for the next 140 years.” That was a part of the inauguration speech that Matthew vandenBerg gave at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina in Fall 202...

Two years ago, America was embroiled in racial and social justice protests, kicked off by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer. Higher education, like so many other industries, took the opportunity to look inward and ask, “how are we doing when it comes to racial and gender equity”? For the Presidents of the West Coast Conference and Commissioner Gloria Nevarez , this was...

Over the past few months, there have been at least five high-profile student athlete suicides on campuses across the nation. It’s a frightening and sobering trend that requires colleges and universities to take a serious look at their infrastructure in place to support the mental health and wellbeing of athletes as well as the broader student population. Universities and colleges are aware that th...

Since the Great Recession of 2008-2010, enrollment in Pennsylvania's 14-campus state university system has notably changed, with some campuses growing in enrollment, and others losing students precipitously. The Commonwealth's annual system funding was recently ranked 46th out of 50 states, a dismal statistic. Yet, there are "help wanted" signs everywhere from employers who want to hire college ed...

NIL Collectives have exploded in the last few months. Defined as a group of donors/boosters/fans and others who pool their money to reward a college athlete for enrolling/succeeding or transferring to your favorite school, the evolution in this area of NIL is confusing to say the least. Today on the podcast, I’m joined by an expert in this area, attorney Mit Winter . Mit is with Kennyhertz Perry i...

We’re coming off a spectacular 2022 season called March Madness, where all of America stops and pays attention to college basketball, whether its men’s or women’s. If we’re lucky, fans can be treated to magical moments, even magical runs where a team plays well above its tournament seeding. In 2022, Saint Peter’s University from New Jersey made one of those magical runs as the 15th seed, upsetting...

Jonathan Holloway, the President at Rutgers University, recently gave a speech to the Faculty Senate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, a member of the Big Ten Conference. The speech caught national attention when he told the group “ For too long the entire Rutgers community has been laboring under the illusion that athletics will generate enough revenue to pay for itself and, then, in time turn...

There are a few moments in the life of a university where an event overtakes the local and national narrative about who and what your campus represents. When the news broke in 2010 of an academic scandal on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill involving the football team, few knew that the issue would eventually expand to include over 3100 students and student-athletes taking...

Colleges and Universities are always seeking partnerships to extend their brand via brand marks, brand identity, logos, colors, etc. All form the tool kit for Chief Marketing Officers and Athletic Departments to raise awareness. With the changes in technology, social media and the abundance of platforms today, the opportunities can overwhelm Senior Leadership teams to decide how to promote their i...

Today, more than ever, it is crucial for colleges and universities to hire the right leaders for the right moment in time. Higher Education is facing many complex challenges, and finding the person to lead your campus through the next 5-10 years (or longer) may be one of the top responsibilities for members of Boards of Trustees. In December 2021, the Trustees announced the selection of Neeli Bend...

As far as Division I sports are concerned, the next few months are where the sausage gets made. Division I’s Transformation Group , led by the SEC's Greg Sankey and Ohio U's Julie Cromer, will have to get into the nitty-gritty of putting values into action, while remaining under tremendous pressure from state and federal lawmakers who are concerned that the organization can't fix itself.  For...

As the NCAA concluded an historic convention this month, much uncertainty surrounds its future. There are those naysayers who believe the NCAA should be disbanded and college athletics should start over again; some believe that the NCAA should break apart into two kinds of athletic entities-one being commercialized sport, the other being educational sport. Still others believe that, besides shifti...

In 2020, Clemson University attempted to drop a bunch of sports, including men’s track and field. Minnesota did the same thing with four sports (including both indoor and outdoor track and field), and ended up dropping indoor only. Brown University also tried to drop its men’s track and field team, and then re-added… Etc. etc. Enter my guests today. Russell Dinkins, a former 400 and 800m track ath...

College coaching has changed dramatically in the last decade. There are pressures at every level, whether it be Division III and using athletes to drive campus enrollment or Division I where the expectations to win surround a coaching staff every waking moment. But for Division I Olympic sports coaches, there is a third pressure lurking in the back of their minds—will my sport be dropped to accomm...

Spending, spending, spending. When the college sports model rewards athletics programs for acquiring more resources (while restricting paying the labor force beyond the cost of attendance), there are no guardrails. $10 million coaches are suddenly all the rage. Someone who has been thinking a lot about the necessary spending changes college athletics needs to make joins podcast. Dr. Kevin Blue , f...

Last Saturday, the college football world spun off its axis as Michigan beat Ohio State and Cincinnati broke into the College Football Playoff Top 4. Michigan's victory was the first in the Jim Harbaugh era, and launched the Wolverines into the Big Ten Championship Game. It also secured the future of Jim Harbaugh, (a true "Michigan Man"). Just how thin was the ice Harbaugh was standing on pri...

Over the last 12 months or so, a great reawakening has been happening in the consciousness of sports fans. Some are just now discovering that female college and professional players can generate significant revenues for their schools/employers and themselves is growing. The television eyeballs for the recent WNBA championship series broke records–Game 2 alone averaged 789,000 viewers on ESPN. Afte...

Collegiate athletics has never seen so much change coming at them so fast. Athletic departments continue to deal with the fallout of the pandemic, the safety, mental health and wellbeing of their student athletes, conference realignment, advances in data around human performance, fiscal resiliency, and now, names, images and likenesses as well as the recent labor opinion from the General Counsel o...

Heard of the metaverse ? Want to know how to leverage this tech for recruiting Gen Z students to your campus? Then, this podcast is for you. Some of you may know that I have a deep interest in tech and media, particularly as it influences college sports. I’ve written about data privacy issues and talked with thought leaders in that space. The acceleration of change in this space can be overwhelmin...