Toledo community concerned about future University of Toledo president interaction

This is the fourth of a four-part series allowing individuals to voice what they want in the next president.

Part I: What do students want from the next president?

Part II: Faculty speak out

Part III: Administrators voice thoughts

After speaking with students, faculty and administration about their views on the presidential search, we interviewed members of the community about their opinions and concerns about the new president’s future interactions with the city of Toledo.

Community outreach

Tom Waniewski, a city council member, said he thinks the new president should focus on reaching out to the community.

“From a community perspective, any time you have a new kid on the block you want to have them meet the neighbors and also be involved with them,” Waniewski said.

Specifically, Waniewski said he hopes the new president will reach out to Toledo’s business community.

“I would hope that the new president has an eye towards economic development and can reach out to the business community in that regard,” he said.

Linda Alvarado, executive director of the board of community relations, said the president being part of the community is extremely important.

“They would need to be part of the community; they would need to listen to the needs, praises and desires of the community,” Alvarado said. “Immersion, involvement, transparency, genuine communication and compassion are only a few ways that a new University of Toledo president would need to do in order to reach out to the community as a whole.”

She said she also hopes the new president will create partnerships with the community and assist in solving some of Toledo’s social problems.

“The university and its staff cannot operate in a silo; it needs to become part of the community,” Alvarado said. “It needs to reflect the community for which it serves: ethnically, culturally and respectfully.”

Larry Sykes, a city council member, agreed that the new president should make himself or herself known in the community.

“I think that many times universities are so campus, and when I say campus I mean that they don’t think that they need to go out into the community,” Sykes said. “I think that they should have individuals that work with the community through various organizations and various religious groups, various fraternities and sororities that can go out and invite or present to the community.”

Quality Education

One of the most important factors the new president should focus on is quality education according to Monsignor Michael Billion from the Corpus Christi University Parish.

“These students are going to leave the university and hopefully they will be able to use what they learned and use their education so that they will be able to get jobs,” Monsignor Billion said. “These students are the future and we should make sure that they are prepared for the work force.”

According to Alvarado, the president is “key in assisting the community by providing well-educated, well-informed and employable citizens.”

“I would like to see the necessity for a quality education back on the forefront, where students enter into the university and leave with a diploma that makes them employable and participatory citizens,” she said.

In addition to the quality of the education, Waniewski also believes the new president should take steps to ensure that education is available to everyone.

“I think if anything, I would like to see something done with the educational opportunities for students with the cost of going to college getting more and more expensive,” Waniewski said. “I’d like to see someone come up with a unique plan that would keep tuition rates down, but still be able to give students a high class, world class education at a reasonable or lower price.”

Challenges

“Undoubtedly, the new president will face challenges,” Billion said. “Anyone coming in is going to have to learn how things are done around here as well as try to gain the trust of the people here.”

Alvarado said she feels one of the biggest challenges will be getting to know the community.

“The community must be understood, appreciated, and welcomed,” she said. “Toledo may appear to be a large, urban city; however, we are a very compassionate, close knit community. Someone new to Toledo would need to be immersed into the culture of Toledo and the many diverse cultures that make up the City of Toledo.”

Waniewski agreed that a big challenge will be for them to absorb Toledo’s culture.

“It will be a challenge for them to absorb our way of living. Not that they have to conform to it, but to understand it,” he said. “They may be surprised by the many great things that occur in Toledo, so I hope that they would be able to find the positive things and then build upon them.”

Background

The most common thing the community said they wanted to see in the new president is a business background.

“I always like to see anybody in leadership to have a good business background,” Waniewski said. “You have to be able to run an institution and to do that you need to know how to run a business.”

He said he hopes the new president will have a business perspective on things, as well as to realize who their audience is and what the supply and demand for the university are, specifically with the demand being more educated students.

Billion agreed the background is very important because “that way, they will be able to run the university and help it to run smoothly and also thrive.”