“Our No. 1 priority remains our students,” Edwards said. “Their recruitment, enrollment, retention, and success will continue to be our key focus moving forward.”
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Schrader hired Edwards a year into her time at Wright State to replace then-provost Tom Sudkamp. Before starting at WSU in July 2018, Edwards served as vice provost for faculty affairs at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.
Edwards said Friday that she has told the board of trustees she is happy to serve in whatever role they need moving forward. Trustees have yet to announce whether they plan to promote someone at WSU to the school’s top job or if they’ll conduct their second presidential search since 2017.
“It’s an honor that they have confidence in me to actually perform these roles now. Should they have that sort of confidence moving forward, that is really up to them,” Edwards said. “I personally love my job and anything I can do to be impactful on the campus is fine with me.”
Schrader announced last week that she would step down Dec. 31. Schrader, an engineer, plans to eventually move to a faculty position at Wright State.
Until then, Schrader will continue to serve as president by representing the university at events and in a ceremonial capacity, according to the school. She will still preside over commencement in December.
Edwards praised Schrader getting the university “back on an economic stability track.” Though she was not involved in discussions about Schrader’s decision to step down, Edwards said she suspected the outgoing president “wants to leave on a high note.”
Schrader’s departure will cap a 22-month tenure in which she succeeded predecessor David Hopkins, who resigned from Wright State’s presidency in March 2017 ahead of his scheduled retirement.
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Schrader faced backlash from some in the faculty, which nearly brought a vote of no confidence against her in the faculty senate. Instead the faculty senate held a vote of no confidence in the school’s board of trustees.
Members of the Wright State chapter of the American Association of University Professors — the school’s faculty union — also went on a 20-day strike earlier this year. Schrader “navigated one of the most difficult years in university history with the strike,” Edwards said.
AAUP-WSU members have already met Edwards and find her to be “a person we can work with,” said Noeleen McIlvenna, faculty union president and a Wright State history professor.
During Schrader’s two years in office, Wright State has attempted to rebound from a financial crisis that started before she arrived. The university has doubled its cash reserves over the last two years, increasing them from around $31 million in 2017 to more than $60 million as of this fall.
The university’s financial trouble was the result of six years of overspending from 2012 through 2017. The university’s enrollment also declined during Schrader’s time in office, a trend that had been underway before she arrived.
Around 13,742 students are enrolled at Wright State University, around a 11.7 percent decline from last year. That is the school’s lowest enrollment in 37 years, according to Wright State data.
Under Schrader’s watch, WSU also ended a federal investigation into H-1B visa misuse last year and paid $1 million to settle the case. Like the financial trouble, the federal probe started years before Schrader arrived on campus.
Schrader’s evaluation following her second year in office was delivered verbally, as is the university’s practice, spokesman Seth Bauguess has said. She did not receive a bonus or a raise, he said.
Moving forward, Edwards said the university needs to build on Schrader’s successes from the past two years.
“My aim during this time is to ensure that the university maintains its current momentum and energy towards moving the institution forward,” Edwards said. “We currently have a number of initiatives that are gaining traction across the campus, and I am truly thankful for all who are working hard to see them come to fruition.”
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