With a few athletic departments in two Calif. school systems in flux, the state's Lt. Gov. has promised reforms in how athletic directors are hired.

According to ESPN, Gavin Newsom wrote letters to both the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. In both letters, he indicated he wanted to connect the contracts of athletic directors to the academic success of their school's student-athletes.

Cal, UC's main school, is searching for a new athletic director after Sandy Barbour left to take the same position at Penn State. The Cal Golden Bears, an NCAA Division I football team, have posted graduation rates of 48 percent and 44 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

"We have some of the lowest graduation rates in all of college sports and we're talking arguably the finest public university in the world, not just the United States, and it's a disgrace," Newsom wrote in his letter to Janet Napolitano, president of the UC system.

Fresno State and Sacramento State are also seeking new athletic directors, allowing Newsom to implement his desired changes right away.

"I'm going to be very aggressive on these contracts," Newsom wrote. "There should be penalties, not just bonuses attached to academic success. We have it backwards right now.

"We incentivize and give bonuses for athletic achievement, but we pay modest lip service to academic achievement - modest bonuses. The bar is so low."

Cal is currently operating with Michael Williams as its interim athletic director, who has promised to undertake a thorough review of the department. Part of his review, ESPN reported, will help the school's chancellor Nicholas Dirks hire a permanent replacement. Newsom said he will not be a part of the search committee.

Both being part of the Pac-12 conference in NCAA's Division I of athletics both Cal and UCLA are part of what is known as the Power Five. The Pac-12, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC were just recently granted more self-governing autonomy in a proposal from the NCAA since they make far more money than non-Power-Five conferences.

The Power Five will now be able to pass their own bylaws with a lower threshold for approval.

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