Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for Senior Campus Leaders On College Athletics

About Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for Senior Campus Leaders On College Athletics

Hosted by Karen Weaver, EdD, she interviews key leaders, stakeholders and those impacting the business of college sports and higher education. From Division I to Divisions II and III, senior campus leaders now have a chance to learn about the challenges nearly every institution is facing post-pandemic. Today, athletics plays an even more crucial role in enrollment, retention, alumni donations, campus spirit, housing and dining, and marketing Pre-order Karen Weaver's new book NOW: "Understanding College Athletics" https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/33296/understanding-college-athletics

Publisher

Dr. Karen Weaver

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Nov 2019

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 214 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Kim Schatzel: Trustees, Private Equity and the Deals You're Not Allowed to See

   Who's really minding the money in college sports? Boards are realizing they have an important perspective. About 85–90% of Division I athletic departments can't pay for themselves. Private equity firms are stepping in, and some want deals that the lenders don’t want the trustees to see. Karen Weaver talks with Dr. Kim Schatzel, former president of Louisville and Towson and a former CEO. They cover the growing gap between the richest schools and everyone else, the fight over Arkansas's athletics budget, the Protect College Sports Act, and why conferences may be reshuffled soon. Kim's warning to boards: every trustee has the right to see every deal. If you lead, govern or care about a university, this episode covers the questions to ask before the next deal gets signed.

2. 

   16 Sept 2026

   From East Mississippi CC to the NCAA: Brittany Wagner on Athletic Academic Advising After Last Chance U

   Brittany Wagner, the academic advisor whose work at East Mississippi Community College became the soul of Netflix's Last Chance U, joins Karen Weaver to go beyond the cameras. Wagner reflects on unexpected fame, the life-skills coaching that shaped hundreds of athletes, and why today's transfer portal era has quietly erased academic advising from the recruiting conversation. Currently an adjunct professor at the University of Montevello (https://www.montevallo.edu/) in Alabama, she makes a compelling case that degree progress, credit transfers, and international athletes' visa realities deserve as much urgency as NIL money and roster spots. Netflix show referenced: Last Chance U (https://www.netflix.com/title/80091742)

3. 

   2 Sept 2026

   What Does a General Manager Actually Do in College Sports?

   For more info about the certificate program: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/events/information-session-new-athletics-enterprise-certificate-program "General manager" used to mean one thing. On a college campus in 2026, it means at least two, and the difference matters more than most administrators realize. Karen Weaver is joined by Kristi Dosh, Forbes sports business contributor, founder of Business of College Sports, and creator of the first job board for NIL roles, and Scott Woodruff, General Manager of Villanova Sports Properties with Playfly, who brings 29 years across the Detroit Lions, Northwestern, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kristi explains how the GM title migrated into athletic departments to manage rosters, revenue share, and player valuation, and why the job looks completely different from one campus to the next. Scott describes the parallel GM role on the multimedia rights side, where jersey patches, court logos, and campus-wide corporate partnerships are reshaping what an athletic department can sell. Along the way: the Nebraska arbitration and what "warehousing" means, why "best efforts" NIL letters aren't contracts, the twenty-somethings negotiating six-figure deals without a law degree, unresolved Title IX questions around revenue share, and what presidents should be asking their ADs right now.

Inside a recent episode

Who's In Charge In The Big Ten? Why The 1990 Decision To Add Penn State Might Give Us A Clue

Published 13 Sept 2020 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So bringing this back to 2020 and and and the heat Kevin Warren is taking really as as the front line of the 14 presidents in the Big 10 just put your hat on for a second and try to give us a sense of where the Big 10 might go procedurally in the next few months knowing that they've got to probably get a super majority knowing that they have a subcommittee meeting this weekend talking about medical testing and trying to get up to speed with the latest research and all that type of thing can they get an entire conference back on the field in football 14 teams or will they sprinter do you think as schools like Ohio State and others are arguing if you don't want to play that's fine but we want to play and by the way in Columbus the Attorney General has come out and said that he thinks he's got a cause of action for breach of contract if Ohio State is not committed to play under the Big 10 rules. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Contact Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for Senior Campus Leaders On College Athletics

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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