University of Toledo President Sharon Gaber told an audience of business leaders that the university is committed to improving its national rank but cautioned it will take time to see results of that work.

Ms. Gaber spoke Wednesday to a group of about 75 at a Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce business luncheon at the Toledo Museum of Art.

She discussed methods UT is using to boost its place in the closely watched U.S. News & World Report ranking, in the most recent of which UT slipped to its lowest spot in at least 15 years.

The 2017 edition, released in September, compared UT among 310 universities that offer numerous undergraduate and graduate programs. The publication put UT in the bottom 25 percent, or second-tier. While U.S. News does not specify the numerical rank for lower-scoring schools, UT officials have said the university came in at No. 245, down from No. 232 the year before.

Ms. Gaber, who became president in 2015, has made improving UT’s national reputation one of her major goals.

She said it will take a couple of years for the university’s recent success in retaining more students to show up in better graduation rates — a factor that contributes heavily to the ranking system.

“We are paying attention. We will make improvement,” she said. “It won’t change overnight.”

Ms. Gaber said UT’s current six-year graduation rate is about 44 percent. She projected the rate will drop by another percentage point based on the number of students who left UT before earning a degree a handful of years ago.

After that decline, she expects graduation rates to go up because the number of freshmen who continued on to their sophomore year has been increased the last three years. The retention rate bumped up from 71.9 percent in the fall of 2015 to 74.1 percent this fall.

Other ranking factors include the university’s reputation, as assessed by peer institutions and high school counselors; student selectivity; financial and faculty resources, and alumni giving. UT’s current alumni giving rate is 3 percent.

Ms. Gaber said school rankings matter not just because people look at them, but also because they are based on important measures that indicate student success.

“I want you to feel confident and comfortable in what we’re doing to insure that the University of Toledo makes progress in U.S. News & World Report,” she said.

UT plays a role for Toledo-area businesses, said chamber president Wendy Gramza.

Students and parents likely look at rankings more closely than companies, she said, but it’s critical that the university continue to produce graduates who stay in the area.

“I think the university is more important now than ever in a tight labor market when our No. 1 challenge for all companies of all sizes in the region is to attract and retain talent. The university is that talent pool,” she said.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published December 15, 2016, 5:00 a.m.