At the July 19 regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Ryan Byrne was appointed as the College’s director of kinesiology and athletics.
Byrne, 37, comes to College of Marin (COM) from Santa Barbara City College where he served as the athletics director. He replaces Steve Berringer, who has held the position of COM’s interim kinesiology and athletics director since June 1, 2015.
During his time at Santa Barbara City College Byrne managed an athletics department of over 70 employees and a $2 million budget. Byrne’s charge included supervision of all aspects of academic performance, compliance, recruiting, and eligibility for 19 intercollegiate athletic teams with over 400 participants. Byrne was responsible for interpreting and implementing policies, procedures, and requirements of Title 5, Title IX, and the California Community Colleges Athletic Association (CCCAA) Constitution. In addition, he represented the district in local, regional, and statewide academic and professional meetings, successfully passing two pieces of CCCAA legislation. His work around student success planning and policy development resulted in an increase in the average number of student-athlete graduates from 43 to 102 per year.
Noting the College’s clear focus on developing student- and community-centered programs, Byrne sees tremendous opportunity for COM’s kinesiology program in serving the broader health of the community. He hopes to continue that practice his new role.
Prior to his work at Santa Barbara City College, Byrne held positions as coordinator of the Student-Athlete Academic Success Program at both Diablo Valley College (DVC) and Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC). Additionally, he was the football team’s offensive coordinator at DVC and served as college skills faculty as well as the athletics on-site administrator at SRJC.
At COM, Byrne will be responsible for building and fostering a collaborative process as the administrator and program planner for both kinesiology instruction and learning support services as well as the implementation of a variety of athletic programs, competitions, events, and activities. The role also includes administering and implementing District policies, collective bargaining agreements, equal opportunity statutes, state and federal codes, local laws, and other regulations as applicable to ensure compliance. The position reports to the senior vice president of student learning and student services.
Byrne graduated from UC Davis in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, emphasis in social inequality. He earned a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in athletics in higher education from UC Berkeley in 2005. He currently serves on the Student-Athlete Scorecard Committee, the Bylaw 1.3.3 Subcommittee, and the Southern California Football Association Competition Committee. Originally from Santa Rosa, both Byrne and his wife Marisa are looking forward to being closer to family. They have an 18-month-old boy, Hagen, and are expecting their second child in December.