Provost at UA finalists for Toledo helm

Gaber to interview in Ohio

FAYETTEVILLE -- The top academic officer for the University of Arkansas has been named one of three finalists to be the next president of the University of Toledo.

Sharon Gaber, UA's provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, will be invited to the Toledo campus for an interview, according to an announcement made Thursday by the school, a public university in Ohio with about 23,000 students.

Gaber, who joined UA in 2009, also is a sociology professor. Her 2014 salary was $303,113.

Last year, Gaber was one of four announced finalists to be president of the University of Memphis. She withdrew from consideration for the job about two weeks before another candidate, David Rudd, was announced as the recommended choice for the job by the Tennessee board of regents.

Other finalists for the University of Toledo job are Christopher Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and Michele Wheatly, a professor at West Virginia University who served for five years as the school's provost.

If Gaber leaves, UA will be looking to fill both her position and that of retiring Chancellor David Gearhart. He submitted a resignation letter Jan. 9 to UA System President Donald Bobbitt that cited a desire to spend more time with his family.

Gearhart's last day as chancellor will be July 31, and Bobbitt has said there will be a national search to find UA's next chancellor.

Gaber didn't respond to repeated requests for comment Thursday.

She submitted a three-page cover letter dated Nov. 10 to the University of Toledo. In the letter, posted online at the University of Toledo website, Gaber described several accomplishments, such as being "very proud to have enhanced diversity among deans, faculty and students" at UA. She cited hires made for top jobs at UA's Law School, business school and online education department.

Gaber also described how decisions made relating to academics helped UA's finances.

"One concept to improve graduation rates is an increase in course scheduling flexibility for students. In May 2013, we added intersession courses -- in May, August and January. These new sessions also had the added benefit of increasing revenue," Gaber wrote.

She also described having the opportunity at UA "to help transform our Distance Education unit."

"Four years ago, it was a separate unit that did not contribute to the overall general fund. At that time, any students who took classes there had to register separately from our standard on-line system. This unit is now a contributing unit to our general fund. It has expanded offerings and has integrated into our on-line student information system," Gaber wrote.

Plans for when Gaber and the other candidates will be visiting Ohio have yet to be announced.

NW News on 01/23/2015

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