TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - Wednesday was Dr. Sharon Gaber's first official day as the University of Toledo's president. The former provost for the University of Arkansas, Dr. Gaber will serve as UT's first female president in its 143-year history.
Her first day included meetings with senior leadership, student government and faculty leaders. Additionally, she spent time on the Health Science Campus to speak with staff at the UT Medical Center.
The student experience, retention and graduation rates are some of the areas Dr. Gaber hopes to focus on, with the end goal of helping the university move forward. Dr. Gaber says she strives to be both open and accessible to all on campus by interacting regularly with students and faculty.
With a background in urban planning, Dr. Gaber says part of what drew her to Toledo in the first place was to help students succeed in what she calls a great metropolitan, urban area.
"There are tons of opportunities here. The university's in a great position, there have been lots of transitions and movement forward, and I'm excited to really work on the enrollment growth," she said. "I'm excited to work on the retention in graduation, philanthropy, increasing research and looking at what does our administration look like, how might we streamline, what else might we do to enhance the student experience."
In celebration of her first day, Dr. Gaber has also joined Twitter. Follow her there: @UTPresident.
First day on the job for University of Toledo's new president
Wednesday was Dr. Sharon Gaber's first official day as the University of Toledo's president. The former provost for the University of Arkansas, Dr. Gaber will serve as UT's first female president in its 143-year history.
