uakron1.JPG

University of Akron officials are working to regain the trust and support of university constituencies following the resignation of President Scott Scarborough.

(Karen Farkas, cleveland.com)

AKRON, Ohio - University of Akron officials are trying to regain trust, support and students as they work to put the two tumultuous years under former President Scott Scarborough behind them.

"We have to play the hand we were dealt," said interim senior vice president and provost Rex Ramsier, who is handling the duties of the president until trustees appoint an interim president. "We can't gnash our teeth and worry how we got here. We have to move on."

Ramsier and vice president and chief financial officer Nathan Mortimer have spent the two weeks since Scarborough resigned reaching out to faculty, staff, alumni others who had lost confidence in Scarborough's leadership.

"We have to rekindle efforts to rebuild relationships that have become strained, Ramsier said. "We have to go back to the community to re-establish the trust we had in the past, that it is a good institution to send students to."

Ramsier and Mortimer are moving quickly because the university faces serious enrollment and budget troubles.

A need for students

The university's main priority is contacting students who were admitted to the university and encouraging them to enroll, which they can do almost up to the first day of classes Aug. 29.

"Significant efforts continue across the campus to do everything possible to help those admitted prospective students who have not yet confirmed to see the benefits of attending UA," UA said in a statement.

UA enrolled 4,278 freshmen in 2015.

This year the university admitted 11,741 students. The number of new freshmen students who say they plan to attend UA this fall is 22 percent lower -- or 1,000 students fewer -- compared to this time last year, officials said.

Ramsier said total enrollment is expected to decline 9 percent from last year, when undergraduate enrollment on the main campus was 19,828.

Fewer students are returning to campus because it awarded 3,016 degrees in May in one of the school's largest ever classes.

Tuition and fees fund the bulk of the university's budget.

"It is not a spending problem, it is a revenue problem," Ramsier said. "We have the facilities and people to serve more students than we currently have. The challenge is on the revenue side -- which is tied to enrollment."

A budget deficit

Trustees are expected to pass the fiscal year 2017 budget on Wednesday, but it will continue to be revised, Mortimer said.

The overall general fund budget of about $300 million will be short about $20 million, based on the enrollment decline, he said.

The tuition and general fee revenue for the Akron and Wayne campuses is estimated at $206 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

In the last fiscal year, tuition and general fee revenue for the two campuses was $224 million, Mortimer said.

That budget was balanced by transferring approximately $7 million from reserves.

In fiscal year 2015, tuition and fee revenue for the two campuses was $232 million. The revenue in fiscal year 2014 was $236 million.

The school needed about $6 million from reserves to balance the budget.

Mortimer has been meeting with deans and other campus officials to explain the budget.

"They have to view and understand the flow of resources," he said. "Options are to fully fund the difference with cash reserves or look for opportunities to trim the edges on expenses. The future is about enrollment."

UA will post updates on the budget, which is expected to be finalized in mid-September.

"The goal is to ensure that the full campus community is informed about the budget preparation process, the issues that exist and the plans that are being developed," officials said in a statement.

A team to address the issues

Ramsier, who received his undergraduate and master's degrees from UA and has taught there since 1996, said he has been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have said they want to help.

He is establishing a "Tiger Team," comprising members from the Faculty Senate, University Council, deans, department chairs and directors and the American Association of University Professors, to address the challenges.

The team will develop plans to assist in enrollment, university governance, finances and other subjects.

"We want to pull the main governing groups and determine goals to achieve, near and longer term," he said. "We are all in this together."

He said he is not yet working with community members and alumni but they will be involved in the future.

Ramsier and Mortimer are optimistic about the future of the university.

"I respect history," Ramsier said. "You learn from that and have got to move forward."