Earn a certificate in Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders to support you in navigating the challenges and opportunities post-secondary leaders face in overseeing college athletics.

Collegiate athletics is at a crossroads. While athletic programs can provide countless benefits to students, the campus community, and the institution, athletic programs are also complex enterprises fraught with potential challenges. Senior campus administrators in colleges and universities must understand the athletics enterprise on their campus and be prepared to strategically respond to challenges and opportunities in ways that align with their institution’s goals and mission.

What Sets Us Apart

 Expert teaching faculty from Penn GSE
 Cohort model allows you to learn in community and expand your networks
 Deep, rich, and personal learning experiences made possible through live synchronous sessions

About the Program

Universities spend thousands of dollars on athletic consulting reports each year, hoping to gain insights into the challenges facing their athletic departments. In this time of economic uncertainty for many institutions, Penn GSE offers a different path. The Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders certificate program empowers you to learn what questions to ask (and what answers you need to know) to support a healthy, sustainable, and mission-aligned athletics department.

Program Start

September

Program Length

4 months, including 9 sessions and a final project

Certificate offered

Penn GSE Certificate in Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders

Professional development

3 Continuing Education Units from Penn GSE

Programs for Working Professionals
Teacher Programs & Certifications
Overview

Senior campus administrators know the financial commitments made to provide a quality athletics experience on their campus are substantial. However, they often don’t understand why or how that commitment translates to other desirable campus outcomes. While athletic directors bring required expertise to their areas, they may lack the broader institutional mindfulness needed to support the athletics enterprise on their own. Ultimately, an institution’s senior campus administrators must understand the challenges, and opportunities, that an athletics program can offer an institution of higher education.

Each participant will leave the program with deeper insights into the athletics enterprise, allowing them to strategically contribute to the difficult, but necessary conversations beginning on college campuses surrounding the future of athletics.

To learn more details about this program, including information about the curriculum, please visit our application webpage.
 

Learn More

Our Faculty

Karen Weaver

Adjunct Assistant Professor
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Guest Speakers

Audrey Anderson

Former General Counsel, Vanderbilt University (Division I); Counsel, Bass, Berry & Sims
J.D. University of Michigan

Dr. Kenyon Bonner

Former NCAA Men's Basketball Player (Division I); Vice Provost and Dean of Students, University of Pittsburgh (Division I)

DeAngela Burns-Wallace

Trustee, Stanford University (Division I); Secretary of Administration, Kansas Department of Administration
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Amalia Dache

Associate Professor, Higher Education Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania (Division I)
Ph.D., University of Rochester

Scott Flanagan

Former President, Edgewood College (Division III); Senior Consultant, Academic Search, Inc.
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Denise Illitch

Chair, University of Michigan Board of Regents (Division I); Owner, Illitch Family Companies; President, Ilitch Enterprises, LLC
J.D., University of Detroit

Matthew Lambert

Vice President for University Advancement, College of William & Mary (Division I)
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Jeremy Martin

Interim Athletics Director, College of William & Mary (Division I)
Ph.D., William and Mary

Linda Oubre

President, Whittier College (Division III)
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Michael Sorrell

President, Paul Quinn College (NAIA)
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Welch Suggs

Associate Professor, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia (Division I)
Ph.D., University of Georgia

Sue Wasiolek

Adjunct Faculty, Duke University and North Carolina State University; Former Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Senior Advisor, Duke University (Division I)
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Collin Williams Jr.

Senior Director, Curriculum, Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE)
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Penn GSE Faculty Karen Weaver
Karen Weaver
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Advisory Team

Advisory Team

Audrey Anderson
Former General Counsel, Vanderbilt University (Division I); Counsel, Bass, Berry & Sims
J.D. University of Michigan

Scott Flanagan
Former President, Edgewood College (Division III); Senior Consultant, Academic Search, Inc.
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Denise Illitch
Chair, University of Michigan Board of Regents (Division I); Owner, Illitch Family Companies; President, Ilitch Enterprises, LLC
J.D., University of Detroit

Linda Oubre
President, Whittier College (Division III)
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Contact Us

For more information about the Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders certificate program, contact us at ProfessionalLearning@gse.upenn.edu