Next, let's head to the universi to see what's new on campus.

I'm on location with Matt Schroeder, the interim president of the University of Toledo.

As only the third alumnus to be in this position.

Matt is focused on power new Toledo in a positive way, and we're about to find ou more about his vision and goals.

Matt, it' so great to be with you today.

Matt Schroeder: Kristi, thank you for having me.

Kristi: It's good to have your business life to 60 and to be here on campus.

Matt Schroeder: Great campus to be on.

Beautiful day and for February in northwest Ohio.

Kristi: So our business life 360.

We talk often about leadership and a growth mindset.

And I enjoy being able to exemplify on this show what leadership is all about.

So tell us a little bit more about Matt Schroeder, because you truly exemplify leadership and a little bit more about your leadership style.

Matt Schroeder: Excellent.

Great question.

So number one, homegrown talent.

University of Toledo undergrad, Michigan grad, love everything about northwest Ohio and what it has to offer for not only me, but my family.

And so started out with the Medical College of Ohio.

Found my way t the position that I'm in today through various career ladders tha the university has afforded me.

But to be where I am today could not be without the people and the team that I surround myself with.

So as a leader, very much believe in empowering people and giving them the opportunities to succeed.

Most importantly, I really believing in them, setting expectation and holding people accountable.

And more often than not.

I've been very blessed with the team that's been around m because they are high achievers.

And right now in our history as a university, we need a high performing team to be able to do what we need to do.

Kristi: Here we talk about you, Toledo, being really integra to the community, to the region.

Tell us how you, Toledo, is helping the community and really making a difference here and then vice versa.

What is the community giving back to you?

Yeah.

Matt Schroeder: So as I said we are Toledo, northwest Ohio, and really the Tri-State area's research university.

My vision for the University of Toledo is the regional force powering opportunities to learn, care, work, and play.

And so you loo at those four legs of the stool.

It really describes nicely or succinctly the role that we play in northwest Ohio.

And that is the educatio we believe in lifelong learning.

Does not matter your age K through 12 or someone that's sort of in the twilight of their career or into retirement.

There is always something to study or to learn at the University of Toledo health care.

We obviously have an aging population in Northwest Ohio.

It's important that we bring world class health care, supported by research, to not only our community, but really the tri state area.

The third the work, economic development, the economic impact of the university.

You know, northwest Ohio is known for its skilled workforce in manufacturing, engineering, health.

We help to keep those tools sharp in those various employers tool chest.

And then the fourth play, which my favorite.

Yeah, we often call the fun factor, which is intercollegiate athletics, but also opening up our campuses to the communit to really become a destination.

Kristi: Yeah.

Let's talk about the two campuses.

Yeah.

So we have the main campus and we have the medical sciences campus.

Yeah.

Tell us more.

Matt Schroeder: Yeah.

So on the health science campus, the former Medical College of Ohio, we have about 2500 students over there.

College of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, a number of our allied health programs.

That is really where the next generation of providers.

So MDS pays our nurses.

Pharmacists really not only educate, but they train.

You look at our academic medical center, which is really a crown jewel for anyone to have to have an academic medical center and to have a partnership like we do with ProMedica t train 380 residents and fellows.

Those individuals often stay i the community that they train.

So to be a net importer o talent in the healthcare space across that portfolio of programs is truly special.

And then here on the main campus, strong Stem.

So science, technology, engineering, math, engineering school natural sciences, mathematics, the school.

We have a portfolio of professional programs.

And then you couple that with an academic medical center that is truly second to none.

And when you look at public universities in the United States, we're one of 18 that have the depth and breadt that University of Toledo has.

Kristi: So with that comes challenge, I'm sure.

And you obviously are up for the challenge.

Yeah, no doubt about that.

Tell us wha one of your top initiatives is.

As you look at the challenges that are facing and universities are facin and as you look to the future.

Matt Schroeder: Yeah.

So with challenge, as I say, comes opportunity, right.

And the University of Toledo, is no secret.

We've had some headwinds around enrollment.

Enrollment back in the early 2000 was easy.

Everyone across the country could grow enrollment.

And then as the economy rebounded after the great Recession in oh eight, jobs and well-paying jobs were quite accessible for direct from high school students.

And so our value proposition and, I think it's safe to say we lost our way on that a little bit.

And we tried, some gimmicks and some quick fixes.

And now as we sit here in 2025, it's really getting back to our fundamentals.

But more importantly, who are we?

What do we do well?

How do we differentiate ourselves.

And what we know is that we pull our students from within a couple hundred miles, and the students that we pull i are attracted to, as we talked about the health sciences, the Stem programs, and for us that is a differentiator.

We talk about universities looking the same on paper, but when you really div into the University of Toledo, if you want to graduate and be in a positio for not only an in-demand job, but a job that pays really well right out of college, the University of Toledo is your university of choice.

Kristi: It's focusing on the future mean obviously identifying strengths with you, Toledo, but also being ahead of the curve in terms of thing like AI, technology, research.

Tell us some of the things that you, Toledo, is doing in those areas that really is putting the university, both campuses, ahead of the curve.

Yeah.

Matt Schroeder So whether you like it or not, AI is the new reality, right?

And in the classroom it is in my opinion, it's very difficult to place.

Right.

Our faculty, you know, go out of their way, rightfully so, to make sure that, you know, folk are using a ChatGPT type product in a very thoughtful and appropriate way, where a university though, comes into play with AI, because that is here, it will be the future for a university like Toledo and really any university, but especially one that's a research university like us.

It's an opportunity for u to teach and to educate students how to use the power of AI in an effective manner.

To put your head in the sand and to just ignore it or to try and police it.

It is a very powerful tool as it relates to, you know, coding.

It's a very powerful tool on the research front.

But you have to know how to use that tool.

And so I think universities and honestly, when you look at ChatGPT, going back to version 1.0, some of the first adopters are college students.

And that's the beauty of being in a learning environment like Toledo.

You see some of the thing that are happening years before it really becomes mainstream.

And so it's an opportunity for us to help put some guid rails on that, to where you're maximizing the resources, but in infrastructure.

Kristi: And it becomes a grea tool for learning.

Absolutely.

That's great.

So, Matt, let me thank you for your leadership and growth mindset.

You are just the spark that we all need for this university and for this region.

So thanks again for taking us to new heights and keep powering you Toledo.

Ma