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Karen Weaver | Adjunct Assistant Professor | Academic Director, Collegiate Athletics Certificate Program | Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
The most critical governance issue in college athletics is defining an institution’s mission and how athletics aligns with it. As Division I athletics becomes increasingly divided by financial realities, many schools must rethink traditional models that are no longer sustainable. Institutions are challenged to determine how they can continue delivering meaningful student-athlete experiences while staying true to their values, resources, and long-term goals.
Click to Read the Video Transcript
By far the most important issue when it comes to governance for boards or surrounding college athletics is to define what their mission is for their campus.
Most people think that’s something that’s already been settled. It really hasn’t been settled when it comes to athletics.
Most programs have sort of drifted to the conference they’ve joined or the division they’ve always been a part of, and they’ve sort of adjusted to the new reality. But the new reality is that there’s a group of schools in Division I that are going to leave, at least financially, the model behind.
So what does the model look like for everybody else if we don’t have $30 million a year for revenue share, if we don’t have enough scholarships to give every athlete in our school a full ride, if we don’t have enough coaches to coach all of our teams?
What can we do that aligns with our mission and still delivers the experience that we want our athletes to have?
