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.

Application deadline

September 6, 2022

Program start

September 13, 2022

Program length

4 months

Certificate offered

Penn GSE Certificate in Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders

Professional development

3 continuing education credits

Format(s)

This program includes both live virtual sessions and asynchronous work to be completed at your own pace.

Cost
  • Program fee: $6,500
  • Early-bird fee: $3,000 (Available until August 13, 2022)
  • Group rate: $3,000

For information about group payment options or payment plans, please contact ProfessionalLearning@gse.upenn.edu.

Ideal candidates

This program is ideal for Presidential Cabinet members, new Presidents, senior campus administrators, and those who aspire to move into those roles.

Programs for Working Professionals
Overview

Senior campus administrators understand the substantial financial commitments needed to provide a quality athletics experience on campus. However, there is an increased need to understand how and why those commitments translate to other desirable campus outcomes. With this increased knowledge, senior campus administrators will further understand the challenges and opportunities that an athletics program can offer an institution of higher education.

Over the course of three modules, learners will analyze relevant research and use case studies to develop frameworks for strengthening their understanding of issues relevant to stakeholders, including student-athletes. Individuals 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.

 
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Our Faculty

Karen Weaver

Adjunct Assistant Professor
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania

Guest Speakers

Listed below are the guest speakers from our inaugural program. Each cohort’s speakers may vary.

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

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

Michael Sorrell

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

Matt vandenBerg

President
Presbyterian College

Holden Thorp

Editor in Chief, Science Journals
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Michael Wade Smith

Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff
Penn State University

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