The panel convened by Chancellor Birgeneau came back with their findings and recommendations as to what the university should do about the subsidy for the athletic department. 

The Panel:  

...found that the university's athletic subsidies are among the highest in the nation...

...criticized the department's poor control of its finances, calling it an 'unacceptable' system "that makes serious financial management nearly impossible'...

...[noted that] '[w]hile the rest of the campus has, over several years, cut deeply into the bone of academic staff and programs, intercollegiate athletics' staff has grown significantly, as have program expenses...The culture of what has appeared to be unconstrained spending must change.'

Recommendations included:

...reducing the subsidy to $5 million a year by 2014...

...hiring a director of development to bring in more philanthropic donations and a chief operating officer to hold down expenses...

...spending caps for teams and staff...[and]

...[for the department to] reduce costs and do more to raise philanthropic donations...

According to the article:

 

Athletic funding

Here is a breakdown of expenses for the department of intercollegiate athletics at UC Berkeley and subsidies from campus administration, in millions of dollars:

	Expenses	Subsidies
2008-09	$72.7	$13.7
2007-08	$64.3	$7.4
2006-07	$61.5	$9.8
2005-06	$53.7	$10.9
2004-05	$53.2	$13.1
2003-04	$45.2	$11.0

 

SF Gate Source

Just wanted to bring attention to this issue and see what you guys think about the panel's findings and recommendations.  This blog is largely focused on Cal Athletics and the successes on the field, but I think most Cal grads/alums also cherish the university's high academic standing.    What do you think the chancellor and the university should do?