Webster University is on the brink of a new era: A new chancellor will be appointed. While a timeline isn’t confirmed, the change in leadership is imminent.
In October, Chancellor Beth Stroble informed the university’s board of trustees that she would step down at the end of the year. After 15 years at Webster, she’s preparing to embark on a sabbatical and plans to return with a renewed focus on alumni relations and fundraising.
“Fifteen years is a long time. It’s unusually long – and it’s unusually long for a woman, and it’s unusually long for a woman at a global institution,” Stroble said. “I recognize that whoever comes into this role next will make it their own, and so it will be a new day and a new moment, but I do think that there are a whole lot of reasons this is a pivotal moment.”
Stroble began at the university in 2009, when she was appointed as president. She was named chancellor in 2019. Before Stroble, the university had just one chancellor, Neil George, who retired in 2012. As chancellor, Stroble took on what she calls a different role than her predecessor.
“He [George] took on the title and role really to do sort of special projects. We use the same title, but the roles are very different,” Stroble said.
Now, Stroble says the university needs both leadership roles, splitting the responsibilities with president Julian Schuster, depending on individual strengths. Stroble says she’s stayed just as busy as chancellor as she did as senior vice president, provost and chief operating officer at the University of Akron, where she served before coming to Webster.
“I am very bound by duty and obligation and what needs to be done. I mean, I work almost constantly. From the morning when I get up, you know, 5:30 to 6 a.m., I’m reading emails and getting caught up on what’s come in overnight. I typically don’t end work until nine o’clock at night, but I’ve done that for decades.” Stroble said. “But I do it out of love for the work, and really wanting everybody to succeed.”
Stroble’s time as chancellor has brought improvements to DEI policies, more scholarship opportunities for students, and improved enrollment rates. At present, enrollment is the highest it’s been in six years.
“Who we’re becoming, what our identity is, where we are in the world and what kinds of students we’re serving here, regionally, and what we’re preparing them to do next – that has changed, absolutely,” Stroble said. “Life keeps moving on, and the only way to be successful is to just sort of move with it and not resist it.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of trustees made the decision to increase executive compensation to align more with leaders at similar universities.
“At the time those compensation commitments were made, progress appeared underway and short-term goals were being met,” wrote board chair Sumit Verma in an email to students. “However, the pandemic and other challenges delayed the university’s financial progress.“
Pay still increased several times in the coming years, with Stroble among several in leadership roles to benefit from this change. Stroble was reported to receive a salary of over $785,000 in 2021, a raise of more than $324,000 since 2019. According to the board of trustees, the change was justified by an increase in workload.
A vote of no-confidence by faculty for both Schuster and Stroble was issued on Sept. 19. Prior to the move by faculty, a student-led protest publicly brought to light concerns over executive compensation and the university’s seeming lack of fiscal responsibility.
“The fact that the chancellor and the president and all these people are getting so many raises – up to almost a million dollars per year – is insane when we don’t have the facilities that we need,” student Max Florida said during the protest. “We don’t have the things that can make students safe and comfortable and exist here at Webster.”
Staff members shared a number of these frustrations, as well. In a letter to the board of trustees, the Webster Staff Alliance suggested the board conduct a comprehensive salary review, encourage transparency and consider more employee feedback.
“Learning that the administration continued to receive sizable salary increases during the same years that staff members saw little or no increase has only added to their frustration,” the Webster Staff Alliance board wrote in the letter.
Nearly a month after the faculty’s no-confidence vote, Stroble announced plans for a transition out of the chancellor’s role. Her sabbatical, a paid leave, is set to begin in the spring of 2024. Stroble and the board say plans for her succession began before the vote of no-confidence, with conversations about restructuring roles beginning in the winter of 2022.
“I will say that, for my part, I wanted to wait and see how the fall enrollment was going to go,” Stroble said.
Enrollment numbers did increase, up 27% from the previous year.
“I wanted to get back to those pre-pandemic numbers, and then I thought I’ll feel comfortable saying, ‘I’ve done my best,’” Stroble said. “But now, in this spring term, when I’ll be in the sabbatical role, I’ll keep helping the fundraising, because that’s what I think I need to do to contribute and kind of put a bow around this chancellorship.”
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