The University of Akron student was panicking. She’d lost her keys to her car and apartment. She’d lost her driver’s license.
So who did she call for help?
The president of the 23,000-student university, Matthew Wilson, who got the top job only six months ago and provides his mobile phone number to students.
Wilson, speaking at an Akron Press Club luncheon Wednesday, said giving out his number “has called some to question my sanity.”
But he said, “if the students can’t contact me, I shouldn’t be in this profession... It’s my mission, it’s my duty, it’s my responsibility to be available and responsive to my students.”
Wilson not only took the call, but he also resolved the student’s crisis, harnessing the resources of UA. He sent out emails to his staff, and an employee found the student’s keys and driver’s license.
Wilson, in answering a question from the audience at UA’s Quaker Station in downtown Akron, said the most effective change he’s made in his short tenure is “style — and my approach,” intensively focusing on students.
“I’m all about students,” he said, “in every form or fashion.”
Others on campus have picked up on this student-centered approach, he said, “and they truly understand that we are about family.”
Wilson, formerly UA law school dean, became interim president in July after the resignation of President Scott Scarborough.
Scarborough’s resignation came after a contentious two years in which he was criticized for enrollment declines and various decisions including rebranding the school as “Ohio’s polytechnic university” and dismantling the baseball team.
Wilson became president — dropping interim from his title — in October.
Over the past two years, Wilson said Wednesday, “I think we had a clouded view in our community of what is the University of Akron.”
Wilson lauded the school’s “world class” programs, such as polymer engineering and science, and the school’s engineering programs and their job-placement rates.
He went on at length noting UA strengths, citing a jump in first-year enrollment at the law school at a time when other law schools are struggling. He touted UA’s “quality faculty” and “top programs in sports” that involve training students “not only to succeed on the field, but also to succeed in the classroom.”
When he became interim president in July, he said, a goal was to “help everybody know that things are the same as they were a couple of years ago. In fact, we’re on an upward trajectory that I don’t think we’ve seen ever before.”
Given challenges such as enrollment, he said, the plan moving forward can be summarized as “stabilize, invest and grow.”
Over the past six months, he said, he has been “trying to improve trust, trying to work on collaboration.”
He’s met with alumni, students, faculty members, donors, government officials and others, and held town hall meetings with each college and unit. He has visited more than 70 high schools.
In December, Wilson unveiled a two-year transformation plan that calls for a cutback on travel expenses, voluntary university wide buyouts, remodeling the way scholarships are distributed and strengthening recruiting efforts that will also target international students.
UA is operating on a deficit, which is being covered by an $18 million withdrawal from savings.
Wilson said Wednesday he anticipates a budget shortfall for the next fiscal year and a balanced budget the following year.
Concerning enrollment for the coming fall, Wilson said the number of new freshmen “commitments” are up 46 percent to 705 prospective students from last year at this time. (A committed student may still opt not to attend.)
New-freshmen applications for the fall total 15,734, up 8 percent over this time last year.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter.