Meet UWM Chancellor Finalist Dr. William M. Sherman

One of the three finalists for UW-Milwaukee’s next chancellor is the current provost at the University of Akron in Ohio, Dr. William M. “Mike” Sherman, who has specialized in physical and health education and who’s second in charge of a public university facing many challenges similar to those at UWM.

He’s run into controversies with a focus on finding efficiency in tough budget times.

His CV outlines numerous publications and accomplishments, including converging programs, helping implement a shared governance model, changing admission criteria, improving peer mentorship to increase access, and “instigating interdisciplinary research.” His CV also says that, at Akron, he acts as provost on a campus of 29,000 students, 750 faculty, 1,700 contract professionals and staff, and with a $500 million total budget.

As provost, Sherman has emphasized increasing interactions between administrators and campus communities. The Akron Beacon Journal reported in 2010 that Sherman was named to the number 2 post on campus after the university spent two years and $135,000 in expenses to identify candidates. In the provost post, Sherman oversees academic planning and budgeting for 14 schools and colleges, the newspaper said. Chosen over two finalists identified by search firms for the UA position just four years ago, Sherman had focused on strategic planning at Ohio State before that, the Beacon Journal said. One of the other finalists had become embroiled in negative news controversy over previous hiring practices during the process.

The Chronicle of Higher Education described the University of Akron as not unlike UWM in some ways – an urban university, in this case located downtown, in a rust-belt city “facing decline,” in part because “the nation’s tire industry, which started here, has dwindled.” Akron struggled with growing poverty and declining population. When Sherman took over as provost, UA was grappling with such things as dropping graduation rates. In this article, Sherman said he wanted to focus on hiring more full-time faculty to improve “the quality of the student experience.” He has also worked on methods to improve UA’s enrollment.

Another similarity to UWM: Sherman said in the Chronicle article that he didn’t expect much in the way of extra money for the budget, and said Akron would have to work to find efficiencies and save money by eliminating under-enrolled courses. The goal: Use the money to find initiatives to improve graduation rates.

But that has led to controversies.

Last year, alumni and students protested a consultant’s recommendation to shut down Akron’s theater programs. In response, Sherman told local television media there, “Here at The University of Akron, our faculty and leadership have worked together since 2005 in an academic review process of the quality of our programs and to identify areas for increased or decreased investment. We have analyzed programs where student demand has declined or market demand for graduates has declined–factors important in determining whether it makes strategic sense to continue to offer a particular degree program or to create entirely new programs.”

In 2013, the Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association, in a posting critical of what it called “administrative bloat,”  pinpointed Sherman as the second highest-paid administrator at the University of Akron, noting that he made $291,600 a year as provost and had “retired and was rehired this summer and will collect his STRS benefits, along with his salary.”  The Association criticized the fact the top 10 earners were men.

He also received news attention for a program allowing students to test out of courses if they could demonstrate mastery of topics. And he’s spoken in favor of a program that provided millions of dollars in free tuition to employees and their family members, saying it improved retention.

While at Ohio State, Sherman became the co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Sports Medicine and wrote a high number of published, peer-reviewed articles pertaining to his area of study on such things as the effects of exercise and carbohydrate metabolism. He’s been involved in the community, being elected one of 16 directors for the local United Way last April.   He’s been a panel speaker on such topics as helping veterans transition to college.

Sherman was announced Wednesday by the UW System as one of three finalists to replace UWM Chancellor Michael Lovell, who left for Marquette. The other finalists are Interim Chancellor Mark Mone and Gail Hackett, provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairsat the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Media Milwaukee will be running feature stories on each of the finalists. It’s likely the candidates will visit campus before the final selection occurs in mid December.

As a student, Sherman attended three universities including Ohio State, Ball State and the University of Texas. At Ohio State, he earned his bachelor’s degree in education. He then received a master’s of science in biology at Ball State and concluded his education at the University of Texas in 1984 by earning his doctorate of philosophy in physical and health education.

According to the University of Akron’s’ provost page, after his graduation, Sherman returned to Ohio State as an assistant professor and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in exercise physiology. He climbed up the education ladder and became an associate professor in 1989, eventually reaching the level of professor in 1993.

With his background being in physical and health education, could UWM potentially see an increase in support and funding for its health sciences and kinesiology departments if Sherman is selected to fill the position as chancellor?

Sherman’s 25 years of service at Ohio State University and position as vice provost of academic planning are what allowed him to obtain his current position as provost at Akron in 2010.

As provost, Sherman outlined on the campus website his four priorities to achieve a higher level of excellence at Akron:

• Interact with the Board of Trustees, the president, faculty and the campus community to refine and define a leadership agenda for the University;
• Interact with the University community to transform the current draft strategic plan into an Academic Roadmap;
• Refine the proposed centers of excellence and the University’s contributions to the University System of Ohio goals and objectives; and
• Improve the efficiencies and effectiveness of the University by thoughtfully considering alternative organizations and structures within the University.

His main goal was to develop a plan for the future of the university through increased interactions with decision-making groups within the campus community, while also increasing the overall campus’ efficiency.

With the current developments happening on UWM’s campus in the form of the construction of the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex and the recent acquiring of the “UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena,” there is a lot to be figured out. Sherman could prioritize these issues and help see them completed or he could invest his time and energy into new avenues.

In his “State of Academic Affairs Address” for Akron, Sherman highlighted the fact that the cost of education continually increases, yet Universities and education aren’t getting better.

“The cost of higher education goes up every year, and there isn’t necessarily an associated output, associated with that increased cost. So, frankly, the cost of higher education can’t continue to go up every year and the institutions that deliver the product (education) at a lower cost, will be the institutions that individuals will go to,” he said.

As the final candidate interview date of Dec.10 draws closer, one final question should be on every students’ mind.

If chosen, what could Sherman’s past mean for our future?