SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Brother Ronald Gallagher, F.S.C., Ph.D., Saint Mary's College President since 2005, was appointed as the chair of the West Coast Conference President's Council at the league's annual Executive Council Meetings.

The meetings, which included the Presidents, Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives from all nine institutions, including Brigham Young University who will officially join the Conference on July 1, as well as the West Coast Conference staff, determined changes to the Conference's championships structure, and affirmed its sports sponsorship requirements.

The meetings were also highlighted by the second annual WCC Honors Dinner, which included student-athlete academic award presentations and culminated with the presentation of the 2010-11 Commissioner's Cup to the University of San Diego.

Action items at the Executive Council meetings included:

- Officers for the 2011-12 school year were appointed:
Presidents' Council Chair: Brother Ron Gallagher (Saint Mary's)
Executive Council/Athletic Director Chair: Ky Snyder (San Diego)
Senior Woman Administrator Chair: Karen Peters (Portland)
Faculty Athletic Representative Chair: Dr. Don Shores (Pepperdine)

- Approval of a four-team Conference baseball championship beginning with the 2013 season.

- Approval of a neutral site cross country championship format which will rotate to a different region every year (Northern California, Southern California and Oregon/Washington/Utah) beginning with the University of Portland hosting the event in 2012.

- Approval of a neutral site golf championship format with neutral sites defined as courses not used as practice courses by WCC institutions.

- Approval of Conference sports sponsorship requirements which align with the new NCAA multi-sport requirements.

- Conference staff reported on the progress of the WCC Strategic Plan launched in 2010.

- The Presidents' Council conducted a joint meeting with the Executive Council (Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives) to discuss effective campus communication.

- Reports on the Sportsmanship Task Force, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and conference-wide community service events