Presidential Priorities

Immediately following his appointment to his two-year term at the helm of Ohio University, President Hugh Sherman outlined five priorities that will be essential to his presidency. These priorities do not define the entirety of the work happening across Ohio University but rather define the essential goals that President Sherman believes must see progress in his tenure as President. 

Priority One: Continue Improvement of Student Experience and Success

Ohio University has long been known for its commitment to the individual success of each student and the unique experiential learning opportunities we offer across various disciplines and fields of study. President Sherman is committed to expanding opportunities for every student to build a portfolio of experiences during their time at OHIO, closing equity gaps in student success, and ensuring students graduate on time and ready to move into graduate studies or their career of choice. 

Priority Two: Emphasize Focus on Enrollment Goals University Wide

Delivering on our mission of student success requires us to tell the story of that success and recruit prospective students to Ohio University. President Sherman recognizes a continued increase in competition for prospective students among universities nationwide and is committed to prioritizing marketing, enrollment and recruitment activities across the University. Those activities extend beyond traditional enrollment and marketing units to the work faculty do to talk with, educate and nurture prospective students; to facilities and capital planning staff who support the creation and maintenance of space where visiting students engage with campus; and to advising and student support professionals who help retain students throughout their educational careers. 

Priority Three: Ensuring Academic Quality

Protecting the quality of the University’s academic programming and ensuring a willingness and ability to deploy innovative curriculum and advance important research is essential to the University’s success. President Sherman believes this begins with recruiting, retaining and managing talent at the University. He is committed to increasing the diversity of faculty, to developing a plan for maintaining competitive compensation, and to shifting workplace culture to empower faculty and staff to innovate.

Priority Four: Serving Our Communities

Ohio University has a long history of service to our state and to the Appalachian region where our campuses are located. OHIO supports economic development through business incubation and entrepreneurial support, strengthens population health through service and research from our thriving health care programs and medical school, partners with K-12 schools to incubate innovative programs for young students, and much more. President Sherman recognizes this work as essential to our state and our mission as a public university, and he will prioritize the expansion of existing community partnerships and the creation of new ones that ensure we are contributing to the vibrancy of communities across our service region.

Priority Five: Ensuring Long Term Financial Sustainability

In order to serve students and the state, we must ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the University while continuing to focus on affordability for students and families. As the cost of recruiting students escalates in response to market competition and families demand an affordable experience with clear outcomes and a return on their investment, President Sherman recognizes that we must manage our expenses to meet new revenue realities. This will mean making choices of where we should invest and what we can no longer afford to do. It will also mean ensuring incentives align with priorities and that we have analytics and clear metrics to measure the success of our investments.