A little creativity and back to basics — that’s the strategy the University of Akron’s interim President Matthew Wilson is using to help restore confidence in the administration.
“It’s all about the students,” Wilson said. “The key to positive results is listening, and after that, more listening.”
One mid-day last month, he listened as he sweated, playing basketball in the Student Union commons area.
There were blocked shots, dribbling behind the back and shooting from the perimeter.
Some students engaged in trash talking.
“You’re pretty good,” one told him, “but you have home court advantage.”
He used the contest as a way to get to know the students.
“What are you studying?” he asked. “What year are you in school? What do you like about the university?”
Choosing basketball was no accident. Wilson’s 15-year-old son, James, said his father was a star basketball player in high school in Utah.
The game rules were simple: A little one-on-one but no dunking, or five shots and you choose your spot. If you tie or make more shots than the president, you win a $5 gift card from Starbucks.
Wilson has twice challenged students to these impromptu games since taking over as interim president in July after former embattled President Scott Scarborough stepped down.
Wilson, 45, moved to Ohio to head UA’s law school two years ago. Enrollment skyrocketed by 40 percent his first year as dean.
During last month’s event, third-year engineering student Will Rasper, 20, of Stow saw the president playing one-on-one so he decided to go with five shots from any spot. He picked a spot 60 feet away from the basket.
“I knew I couldn’t make the shots and was hoping he couldn’t either,” Rasper said.
The odds were good. His strategy paid off.
Ashley Petit, 19, played post at Chippewa High School in Doylestown.
“I’m going for it,” she said.
She made one out of five shots. All Wilson had to do was make two shots. He did.
Her excuse? “I’m a rebounder, not a shooter,” she said. “But it was fun anyway.”
Emilee Johnson, 17, of Akron, who is majoring in business management, tied with Wilson.
“I like that the president comes out of his office and is visible around campus,” she said.
After about 30 students, the last contender — senior communication major Sopufaa Whyte, 24, of East Cleveland — decided to play one-on-one. As shots were blocked and the fadeaways got weaker, Wilson had his own excuse: “Dude, I’ve been playing for nearly two hours.”
But defeat is not in Wilson’s vocabulary. His own words motivated him even more.
“I just got beat by the president,” Whyte said afterward. “I thought I had you. You’re pretty good.”
Personal connection
Even the losers received a token of Wilson’s appreciation for a good contest and good conversation,
He gave out his business card, with a personal touch. It included not only his work phone, but also his email address and his cellphone number. And on the flip side, his signature with a note: “So happy you are here. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.” One student gasped at the idea and asked if he could handle all the possible responses. There are 24,500 students enrolled this semester.
“Absolutely, I’m here for you,” Wilson said. “All our faculty and staff are here to help you too.”
Wilson said his mission at UA is to advance the university.
A big part of that is meeting students. Many students know him to see him. He often walks through the student union and engages in conversation with students.
“He’s all about communication,” said Kelsey Jones, 22, a marketing major. “I see him everywhere. He was greeting freshmen and their parents on move-in day. He was at our residence hall programming meeting. It was after 9 p.m. and he stayed afterward and mingled with the students,” she said. “I ran into him one day at the student union and he said, ‘Kelsey how’s it going?’ I met him two years prior. I can’t believe he knew my name.”
Working late
On a recent evening, UA’s director of bands, Galen Karriker, was working with band members for the football team’s first game. He also ran into the interim president.
“It was 11 o’clock at night. He was working in his office and heard us practicing. He said he often works late to answer emails,” Karriker said. “I invited him down and he met the band members.”
Wilson personally answers all his emails, recalling a few where he felt he made a difference.
In one email to the interim president, an international student said he was having a hard time understanding his classes.
“I gave him five different strategies to use on how to overcome that language gap,” said Wilson, who is fluent in a foreign language. “We went back and forth until about 11:30 that night.”
Another time, a student who said he got Wilson’s cellphone number during a basketball event texted the interim president.
“He told me a friend of his died back home and he didn’t know who to turn to or where to go for help, but he thought about me and remembered the card I gave him so he used it. We had several phone conversations after that,” he said.
“Another student who was teetering on the brink of homelessness said he could pay his tuition but after that, had no money for housing,” Wilson recalled. “We were able to rally our troops and he won’t be homeless this semester and can pursue his education without that challenge.”
Wilson also sends emails asking students to share their success stories, and faculty and staff to share ideas for improving recruitment, retention, revenue and cost-cutting measures.
In addition, he has had more than 60 meetings with community leaders and connected with 51 area high schools
The board of trustees hopes Wilson can move the needle on enrollment on the university side. When he took over as interim president, UA enrollment was down 12.3 percent. Every percentage point is about a $2 million drop in finances. Two months ago, enrollment was down 8 percent.
“I have many challenges to overcome,” he told Summit County Council earlier this month. “I came to the university in 2014, the same time as my predecessor was coming in. I saw an anchor of the community, a great university, something very near and dear to me in terms of access to education. I went to a local university, a public research university. I paid for it myself.”
He said maybe that’s part of the attraction at UA because he sees so many students like him.
“I need to remind everyone we have the same great university today that we had back in 2014, but over the last couple of years, the glasses got a little bit foggy. I’ve got a big handkerchief and I’m wiping off those glasses,” Wilson said. “We have the same professors, the same phenomenal students, a great alumni base and great support from the community.”
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.