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

I was invited to join the Athletic Business podcast to talk about athletics business-go figure. We discuss about the state of the Big Ten, of Olympic Sports survival, conference realignment possibilities, including blowing up the traditional conference model completely. We also discuss the impact that flying is having on college athletics, including whether fans can travel to their favorite colleg...

So much of what we have talked about (and who we have talked with) involves leadership. Whether it’s in the President’s Office, as a Board member, as a higher ed scholar, or heading up a national education association, navigating the headwinds and occasional rough waters are a part of the job. My guest today studies higher education and athletic leadership. Dr. Jennifer Lee Hoffman is an Associate...

What's it like to lead a University in the middle of a pandemic? Add cuts to state funding and declining enrollment, and you'll get a taste of the challenges my guest has faced. State governments, and state universities are under tremendous financial pressures, causing Presidents in the most recent ACE survey of College Presidents to express their concerns that the “ long term financial viability...

Those who have been listening to the podcast for awhile now know that I have interviewed very few people who work inside an athletics department. I do this because there is a gap in our knowledge and understanding of all the different stakeholders whose work is impacted by athletics, and who work in other parts of the university ecosystem. Setting that principle aside for this week..... I'm joined...

What questions are facing higher education leaders as they begin to think about college athletics in 2021? How comfortable are we with the optics of playing college football this fall? How does it reflect on all of higher education? Are the discussions around creating a "basketball bubble" appropriate if athlete health and welfare is considered important? How can we have fans in the stands, and at...

One of the most important things for a college to have is a seal of approval from an outside agency. This agency certifies on a regular basis that, among other things, the college is worthy of Federal Funds, is meeting academic standards, managing its finances appropriately and transparently, and is providing a quality experience for its students. This agency is often called an accreditation organ...

The Roots of the Big Ten's Disconnectedness Go Back 30 Years.  When the Big Ten Conference added Penn State University in 1990, ADs jumped up and down screaming that the Presidents had made a decision without their input. Back then, the Athletic Directors ran the conference, and could not have imagined the Presidents even cared about how the Conference was run. Later, this was an early s...

"This may be the most significant development for athlete's economic rights in our lifetime"- Walt Harrison, former chair of the NCAA President's Council. Your athletic program is about to look very different. Simply put, some of your athletes on campus are about to elevate their brand (and their income) while playing for your school. What that will look like is being hotly debated right now, with...

A conversation exploring college athletics not from the court, field, or locker room…but from the board room. From the White House to the Big House and everywhere in between, there’s a remarkable amount of chatter about the decisions being made and those making the decisions. But for all we hear about and chancellors, athletics directors and commissioners, there’s one group we don’t hear much abou...

The American Rivers Conference (ARC) was set. The President's Council had been meeting throughout the summer, tracking localized Covid-19 trends, and ensuring their safety protocols were in place. Then, in mid August, the NCAA came out with updated "Resocialization Guidelines", and announcing that fall Division III NCAA championships were cancelled. Despite their careful planning, the decision was...

The NCAA is failing college football. In August 2020, college sports leaders witnessed the limits of the power that NCAA President Mark Emmert has to control the five most visible Conferences--the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the SEC. In the span of 24 hours, two conferences announced they were not going to play their fall sports schedules-the Big Ten and the Pac-12. As of the mid-...

It seems like everyone is talking about money--the money made in college sports in general, and the money that may be lost as a result of this pandemic. With fall football being cancelled in both the Big Ten and the Pac-12, I reached out to Patrick Crakes , currently of Crakes Media Co, and a former Senior Vice President of FOX Sports Media Group who oversaw Programming, Research and Content Strat...

This conversation may surprise you. And it might give you insight into why some schools ARE playing sports this fall. Following weeks of announcements from conferences across the nation postponing fall competitions until next spring, the NCAA recently announced that they would not hold championships for Division II or Division III for fall sports; around the same time, the NAIA did the same. Short...

To lighten it up a bit (and hopefully make you smile), I'm joined by my colleague Ross Aikins to do some sports bantering. Ross (who is a public health scholar who loves sports) and I (on a steep learning curve about public health issues) have created a highly sophisticated system of ranking the 27 NCAA sports and the chances they will (or should) play in 2020-21. (HA!) RED: No way the sport...

The number of college conferences that have suspended, modified or cancelled Fall sports in mind numbing. Presidents and Commissioners have had to make tremendously difficult decisions--the cancelling of a fall season could mean those athletes don't return to campus. The Northeastern, MidAtlantic and Midwestern portions of the country are packed with small colleges (mostly private), whose primary...

In July 2020, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing called "Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics". Led by Senators Blumenthal, Graham and Booker, the Committee announced their intent to create a " College Athletes Bill of Rights " tied to a reform agenda with Names, Images and Likenesses legislation.  The Bill of Rights includes: · Empowers and protects economic rights of...

In July, Stanford announced they were dropping 11 Olympic sports, going from 36 to 25 total sports. The Cardinal are the most successful overall Division I athletics program in the last 20 years, yet they have been struggling with keeping up financially with other Power 5 Conferences. The big question is why, and we'll try to answer that today. My guest today is Jon Wilner , the Pac-12 beat report...

Division II and III athletic conferences have been discontinuing fall sports at a record pace this month. It is devastating for athletes, and for campus budgets. Many private colleges have built their enrollment strategies on having as many as 50% of the total student body comprised of athletes. In the era of Covid-19, now what? Many are wondering if some of them will survive. Does the thinking ho...

It's important to understand who is sitting at the table when it comes to critical institutional decisions. It's even more telling who is NOT sitting at the table. Today's conversation is focused on both the HOW and WHY of "return to campus" decisions that are made for Fall 2020. Presidents are under intense financial and political pressures (from all sides) to make the right decision, while consi...

This week is a time like no other-the Ivy League announced the cancellation of Fall 2020 sports, Vanderbilt University, part of the powerful SEC football conference, announced the near elimination of their athletic communications department, and Stanford University announced the discontinuation of 11 Olympic sports. Prior to that, many other universities have announced cutbacks to their athletic p...

Today we’re going to examine the fate of regional public institutions, particularly in the Upper Midwest and the Mid Atlantic regions.  An overwhelming number of these institutions have robust athletics programs on their campuses in all NCAA divisions.  The Brookings Institute recently assessed the economic, educational effects and overall well-being of regional public universities withi...

This week's podcast leads with a personal conversation with Charles Hallman, a Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder journalist. Having this conversation with Charles has been on my mind since the horrific video of George Floyd's death consumed the nation three weeks ago, Floyd's death has led to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, discussions about police brutality and white nationalism, and is currently surg...

All anyone can think about right now is if/when college sports will be back.  Will it be in the fall? Will football be back?. How about DIII schools? Presidents are overwhelmed with all of the what if scenarios, but Richard Giller , Partner and Insurance Recovery Lawyer in the Los Angeles law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, walks college leaders through the intricacies of opening up...

Jordan Acker , the first University of Michigan Regent who graduated from the University in the 21st century, is a ball of fire. Part of the Obama White House, and a part of former Homeland Security Director and current University of California System President Janet Napolitano's homeland and cybersecurity team, Acker brings deep understanding of the important role the Regents play in the life of...

This week has been stunning . With the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, the city is in the national spotlight. Two days after he dies, University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, with only an hour's notice to her Board of Regents , announced the University was severing ties with the Minneapolis Police Department for all large scale policing partnership...