Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics

Task Force report now available

The Chancellor's Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics released its report on June 5, 2017. 

Our Charge

The Chancellor's Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics (IA), formed in July of 2016, has been tasked with reviewing the costs, regulations, and campus impact of IA's various programs, with a view to recommending an appropriate scale and scope for IA's overall structure, including the number of teams and roster sizes. Given the serious constraints on overall campus resources, including a structural deficit in 2015-16 of about $150m, it is imperative that IA be financially stable within the constraint of its fixed debt service obligations. It also must be aligned with Title IX and diversity priorities.

Specifically, the Task Force will endeavor to answer the following questions:

  • For each element of IA's program, what are the costs and benefits to campus?
  • How do the requirements of Title IX affect our choices about how to reshape the program?
  • Given the costs, benefits, and regulatory constraints, what is the appropriate scale and scope for the total program?
  • In addition to the scale and scope, are other changes, e.g., organizational or structural, needed to achieve financial stability?
  • How much will the campus need to invest on an ongoing basis in order to sustain IA at this new level?

Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics charge letter

Chancellor Dirks' December 2016 update on the Task Force's progress

Task Force Membership

Co-Chairs:

Robert Powell Professor of Political Science and Chair of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate
Robert G. O'Donnell UC Berkeley Foundation Trustee and Lecturer, Haas School of Business

Members:

Lisa Alvarez-Cohen

Fred and Claire Sauer Professor of Environmental Engineering and Vice Chair of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate

Lishelle Blakemore Executive Director, Annual Programs, University Development & Alumni Relations
Brad Brian UC Berkeley Foundation Trustee
Patricia Dechow

Donald H. and Ruth F. Seiler Professor in Public Accounting, Haas School of Business

Khira Griscavage Associate Chancellor
Chris Kutz C.William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law
Rich Lyons Dean, Haas School of Business
Caitlin Smith Former Cal swimmer and Olympian
Nadine Tang

Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology and UC Berkeley Foundation Trustee

Mike Williams Director, Intercollegiate Athletics


Staff to the Task Force:

Nils Gilman Associate Chancellor
David Secor Chief Financial Officer, Intercollegiate Athletics

About Cal Athletics

UC Berkeley is represented by more than 900 student-athletes in 30 intercollegiate sports. Striving for excellence in the classroom and in the arenas of competition, Cal teams have earned 94 national championships in 16 sports over their almost 150-year history, in additional to nearly 300 individual and relay national championships won by student-athletes. Golden Bears have collected 207 medals at the Olympic Games, including 21 this past summer in Rio. Cal Athletics regularly finishes near the top of the annual Directors’ Cup standings, which ranks programs based on national team results, including 17 consecutive years among the top 20 and 10 years in the top 10.

Contact the Task Force

While the Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics' analysis process includes meetings with student athletes, intercollegiate athletics staff, faculty, alumni, and others, we are eager to hear input from members of the UC Berkeley community.

To pose a question, submit a recommendation, or provide feedback to the Task Force, please write to TFIA@berkeley.edu.