In response to Executive Editor Abe Madkour’s powerful Forum piece (Sports Business Journal, Aug. 14, 2023), there is some good news to report.
About 15 years ago, while studying for my doctorate with the University of Pennsylvania Executive Doctorate in Higher Ed Management program, I saw in real time what you wrote about. This 23-year-old program (ranked No. 1 in the country), which has produced over 60 current and former college presidents to date (mostly small to medium size institutions), lacked an athletics course in the program. Since I graduated, I now teach the only course in the country (that I’m aware of), that prepares current and/or future college presidents about the intricacies surrounding college athletics. The feedback I get is consistently good — comments like “I didn’t know what I didn’t know” and “now I know what questions to ask” are common. Unsurprisingly, since most new leaders come from the academic side, there is nowhere in a college president’s career path that prepares them to deal with college athletics. It’s a significant gap in the development of our CEOs.
The program’s goal is to prepare current and future leaders to engage with the challenges that face all higher education and, now in college athletics, too. In 2021, we launched a stand-alone program called “Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders Certificate Program,” focused on educating senior higher education executives more broadly.
Madkour’s treatise is a powerful reminder of what’s at stake as the business of college sports evolves. Penn has decided to address this pressing issue in a very proactive way. We invite higher ed leaders to join us.
Karen Weaver, Ed.D
Graduate Faculty, Higher Education
University of Pennsylvania
Questions about OPED guidelines or letters to the editor? Email editor Jake Kyler at jkyler@sportsbusinessjournal.com
