Report to the Board of Trustees- Changes and Challenges

Report to the Board of Trustees – August 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

The last 15 months have been eventful. And the road ahead promises both changes and challenges. I would like to review several key elements in each category, beginning with changes.

CHANGES

I. New Personnel

• We have identified areas of investment in our academic programs and that translates into the hiring of about 30 new faculty members for this fall, most of whom are tenure track position. We anticipate additional faculty searches this fall.
• There also will be personnel changes at the leadership level:
  • As planned, the search for a new chief academic officer will begin in the fall semester.
  • In addition, we will soon commence searches for permanent deans in the colleges of:
    • Business
    • Education
    • Health Professions
    • and Arts & Sciences.

II. Action Plans

• For the first time in the 32 years I have been at The University of Akron, we finally have a plan that is not only aspirational, but actionable as well.
• I want to thank everyone on campus and on this Board for their contribution to the action planning.
• So, as was arranged when this began, the campus will begin the annual updates of the Action Plan.

III. Success in Budgeting

• We used the Action Plan to make tough strategic choices within our budget.
• In doing so, we have been able to reduce the structural deficit of the University by an estimated $10 million while funding priorities outline in the Academic Program Review.

IV. Faculty Workload Guidelines

• There has been an extensive effort to update and implement our workload guidelines. We have had conversations with deans, chairs and school directors and other campus leaders, and made numerous revisions to reflect their input. Consultation will go on for the remainder of the summer.
• We will complete that process early this fall.

CHALLENGES

I. Enrollment

• Recruitment of new students is absolutely vital to our continuing success, and is one of our key priorities.
• The environment for recruiting new students has gotten steadily more competitive throughout the state of Ohio. We may continue to experience a decline in enrollment this fall, although there still a few weeks left and there is hope it may improve.
• Everyone needs to contribute in attracting new students to our campus.

II. Persistence, Retention & Completion

• These metrics are the low-hanging fruit that everyone needs to help harvest.
• If we improve these rates, it will dramatically
  off-set the effects of a competitive environment for recruiting new students.
• Each one of us needs to ask ourselves, “How can I help with recruiting?”

III. Revenue

• In the year ahead we will once again be challenged to operate with less money on hand. We may have to do a bit of belt-tightening to the operating budget again this year.
• The way to lessen the discomfort of that squeeze is to spread it out as thinly as possible. That means asking everyone, at every level, to find new ways to save.

IV. Reorganization

• Early this year we decided to pause our campus discussions of a possible reorganization plan for our academic units.
• The idea was to give administrators and faculty half a year to develop alternate approaches and ideas for those proposed back in February.
• That six-month pause is nearly concluded, and I will report on potential next steps shortly.

CONCLUSION

Earlier I mentioned that each of us needs to ask ourselves “How can I help improve the University?” And though he may not appreciate the attention, I would like to point out that our own chairman, Mr. Gingo, has responded to that question personally. He and his wife, Linda, have established an endowed scholarship in the College of Engineering.

On behalf of our University, I would like to recognize Joe and Linda for their generosity.

Joe, you do have some competition in this regard: last year the Berry family created a scholarship fund for students in the Zippy Program. This year the family has added to the James R. and Phyllis C. Berry Zippy Endowed Scholarship.In the 2019-2020 academic year, 9 students who help bring Zippy to life will receive scholarships from the endowment.

I want to thank Joe, the Berry family, and all our many donors for their support of our students.

Finally, I would like to note that the fall semester is nearly upon us again. I personally have witnessed the “academic change in seasons” for nearly four decades professionally—and even longer if you count my years as a student. I recently realized I have literally spent my entire life in school!

I truly love the University’s cycle of beginnings, toil, completion, rest...and beginning again. To me it is one of the most wonderful aspects of academic life. When we love something, we try to preserve it. The hard irony for many of us in higher education is that to preserve this academic way of life, we must be willing to change aspects of it.

Next spring The University of Akron will celebrate the 150th anniversary of this University’s involvement in higher education. Its history is one of preservation through change, meeting the constant challenges of a diverse and dynamic world.

The changes and challenges I laid out earlier continue that process of preservation and renewal. We owe it to those who came before us, and those who will come after us, to preserve this thing that we truly love.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, that concludes my report.