University of Akron President R.J. Nemer in his first state of the university address Thursday said he wants the university to shake its reputation as a “commuter campus,” and tacos could be part of the solution.
Nemer says in his position previously as dean of UA’s College of Business, he and his staff started hosting pop-up taco and cookie shops for students, which helped make the campus feel a little more lively.
"And I'm happy to say that even after the two years I had done that, those traditions are now continuing," he said. "We're borrowing that same concept of having (more) fun activities on campus."
Another recent move by the university suggests another route to attract students after years of enrollment declines, Nemer said: the university becoming the “official university” of the Cleveland Browns.
Specifically, he said that $1.36 million partnership – funded by private donations - will involve students across many disciplines working with the Browns during upcoming games, among other opportunities.
“We're excited about the competitive advantage and the real life and unique academic and experiential opportunities this partnership brings to our students into the region,” he said.
That’s just one example of his overarching goal: for the university to be known for its “breadth of offerings," Nemer said. While the university hasn’t finalized data yet on its enrollment for the fall, he says residence halls on campus are "essentially full" on campus. The university saw its first slight enrollment increase last year, after more than a decade of year-after-year enrollment declines.
“Our campus is built for more students than we currently have, and one of my primary goals is to grow the student body in strategic ways to best fill the seats in our classrooms,” he said. “It's no secret that our primary goal is to produce students who will go on to lead meaningful lives and careers.”
While he declined to say if the university will pursue layoffs as other schools including Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace University have, he said UA will need to cut back on some of the facilities it operates to meet a new normal.
“We do have buildings that we don't have as much need for anymore, some of which, because I don't think it's a secret, there are sale signs in front of them,” he said. “So we do have a need to reduce our footprint, and we are proactively and very actively taking those steps to, to reduce inventory or square footage.”
Nemer is just a few months into his tenure as president. While the overall address was light on details – the president says he’s in the middle of a listening tour – he did highlight several areas of focus for the university,
“One, flourishing people, two, lifelong learning, and three, social impact, (will) allow us to uplift all individuals in all roles across our campus,” Nemer said.
Nemer also highlighted his Akron background during the hour-long address, both as an undergraduate and in his professionally. The former attorney founded a professional golf agency in Akron in 1998 that was eventually sold in 2014 to IMG, an international sports and fashion media company. He said that experience shows he’s committed to the community, and its betterment.
“We need a great community to be a great university,” he said.
He said the university will need to grow the number of “unique experiences” it offers students while keeping a personal touch with smaller class sizes.
"Something I hear often from our students at the university is that we offer big school opportunities, with personalized education, most often found at institutions much smaller or much more costly than ours," he said.
Nemer named several recent achievements and areas of growth at the university that he hopes to continue to expand upon.
- Several recent grants, including $7.1 million for research on sustainable polymer technology
- A new partnership with Summa Health to create a two-year program for future radiology technicians
- The university’s eSports and speech and debate programs which have seen a number of victories in recent years and have been highlighted as a top programs nationally in recent online surveys
- Recent ribbon-cuttings for new facilities, including a newly renovated nurse anesthesia surgical lab.
