Miami University, Oxford, OH
Garland became the President of Miami University in 1996. In 2002, his stated aim was to make Miami the "First in 2009", the University’s bicentennial year. To achieve this status, he developed a strategy to raise intellectual quality and apply quantitative benchmarking and best practice, and led Miami in a significant capital improvement and construction program. Endowments doubled, and student applications increased by sixty percent.
He equalized in-state and out-of-state tuition fees and provided scholarships for Ohio students based on need. In 2004, Miami became the first Ohio public university to offer students domestic partner benefits, while Garland publicly criticized the Ohio Issue 1 amendment to the State Constitution that defined the status of non-marriage relationships.
In 1999, Garland recommended to the Miami's board of trustees that four men's sports should cease to be supported to fulfil the university's legal obligation under Title IX; due to financial constraint he thought it difficult to meet gender equity without such cuts. A court action in the United States Court of Appeals was brought against Miami University in 2002 by Miami's sports clubs, claiming the cuts constituted gender discrimination; the action failed.
Garland completed his tenure as Miami President in 2006.
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