Perfect Storm Impeding Strategic Leadership Decision-making at UC Berkeley

Abstract

Exogenous events have disrupted higher education and impacted the decision-making skills of university presidents. While all university presidents are affected, the problem is most acute at the thirty-six AAU members of the power four conferences. The exogenous events were the precipitous cancellation of federal research grants, the on again and off again restrictions on both new and current foreign students studying at US universities, the proposed 15% limit on indirect costs, the tax on university endowments, the changes in student loan programs, the annual $20.5 million NIL revenue sharing settlement for Division I (DI) athletes, and their share of the $2.276 billion Name Image Likeness (NIL) settlement payable to athletes for prior years (2016 to July 1, 2025). These events will challenge the strategic leadership of the University of California -Berkeley.