Mary Ellen Mazey, one of three candidates for the University’s next president, said she owes her entire career to higher education.

“I’m a first generation college student who was fortunate enough to attend public institutions through scholarships and fellowships,” she said. “I know how important this is to students, because higher education has been very good to me.”

Mazey, provost of Auburn University, hopes to connect with University students by making their educational institution efficient, affordable and accountable.

She spoke to a crowd of more than 100 in the Union theater Monday afternoon. Following a 10-minute presentation, Mazey answered questions from students, faculty and staff for nearly an hour.

“I see the role of president as an opportunity to work will all students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of this institution to build its future,” she said.

Mazey has been a leader at several universities nationwide, including West Virginia University and Wright State University. She has been provost of Auburn, one of the largest universities in Alabama, since Feb. 2009.

Mazey addressed the importance of implementing the University’s strategic plan and recognizing national higher education issues and addressing them at the University.

“We all have to think about what’s out there beyond our individual institutions,” she said. “We must preserve the quality of our programs and compete, whether that is within the region, state, nation or world, and make sure the strategic plan is our guide.”

A successful capital campaign is critical in this plan, Mazey said.

“I would like to promise state funding will come back, but I don’t think it will,” she said. “I know how difficult it’s been with funding being eliminated from our budgets … We’re becoming increasingly dependent on how we generate our own funding, so building that endowment is very important.”

Mazey also emphasized the importance of addressing the University’s low student retention rate by focusing on various demographic groups.

“We need to look at the factors and support services we can put in place for all of our students, but we specifically need to look at targeted audiences,” she said. “I would look at models from other universities and, as always, we need to continually access if we’re meeting a preset goal.”

Freshman Ryan Sowers attended the forum with the Presidential Honors Program.

“I really liked how she answered questions about student engagement,” he said. “A president has to be engaged and visible on campus and care about what the students want.”

Sowers said there were parts he liked and parts he disliked from Mazey’s statements concerning general education.

“Personally, I think our general education courses are mediocre and a gigantic overhaul needs to happen,” he said. “But I liked how she said she would like to institute critical thinking ideas and more effectively link our programming to the University’s learning outcomes.”

Pat Pauken, vice provost for governance and faculty relations, said it’s important for candidates to answer as many diverse questions as possible during their forums.

This has been made possible through the Internet, he said. Pauken asked Mazey questions submitted by students and faculty via e-mail before and during the presentation.

“We even were able to take questions from the Firelands campus, so [Mazey] could speak to her experience working with the branch campus at Auburn,” Pauken said. “The technology has been very helpful.”

The final forum will feature Gary Miller, provost at Wichita State University in Kansas, at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Union theater.

The presentation will be streamed live online. All candidate forums will be archived on the presidential search page of the University’s website.