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Since opening its doors in Fall 2022, the Center for Advocacy and Student Experience (CASE) has continued to work hard to “ensure that every student has exactly what they need on campus,” according to Sara Clark, assistant dean of student experience and belonging. The CASE is committed to supporting the academic and personal successes of UToledo students, faculty, and family. The office consists of several areas of support within the Division of Student Affairs and partners with services across the University to provide resources and support for members of the UToledo community. The center’s office is in Thompson Student Union room 2518. It is intended to serve as a first line of contact for UToledo students and faculty in need. The office is staffed by employees from the Office of Student Advocacy and Support, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.  In an effort to create a “culture of belonging,” the Division of Student Affairs has appointed two assistant deans to oversee campus resources. Clark is responsible for student advocacy and support, student conduct, multicultural student success, career services, and the Center for International Studies and Programs. Demond Pryor, the assistant dean for engagement and success, is responsible for student involvement and leadership, operations for the Student Union and Recreation Center, Upward Bound, and Toledo Excel. According to Clark, in addition to CASE’s efforts on campus, the center is also working to strengthen connections with local Toledo resources to provide students with opportunities beyond the UToledo Campus. CASE is intended to be a hub for all student concerns and to provide convenient access to a variety of resources for students and staff. The center coordinates meetings with other campus offices in advance to a student’s arrival, and uses a five touch point system to ensure students in need are connected with at least five resources, on or off campus, to assist with their situation. The CASE office provides many resources for students in need. The office addresses academic issues and concerns, mental health crises, academic grievances, situations of sexual misconduct, withdrawal from the university, and other immediate emergencies.  With the appropriate documentation, if a student were to have a death in their family or a mental health emergency, CASE could notify all of their instructors of the situation, ask for the student to be excused from class for a period of time, and request instructors allow the student to make up any missed coursework. The decision to grant any requests, such as an extension on missed classwork, is solely the instructors decision. The Center also oversees the Rocket Fuel Food Pantry. The pantry is in SU 2514 and is available for all current UToledo students. Within the CASE’s first academic year, 4,000 students battling food insecurity have utilized the pantry.   Faculty are often the first to notice when a student needs help, and in these situations, the CASE can help. Faculty concerned about a student can initiate a wellness check through the CASE office. Upon assessment of the concern, a member of CASE can attempt to contact the student and determine if a long-term follow-up is needed.  The CASE website offers tips on how faculty can support students, but in the instance a staff member is unsure how to help a student, they can submit a “Rocket Care Report” through the CASE office to provide outreach and support to a student in need. Last year, during the Center’s first academic year, 520 Care Reports were made to help Rockets in need.  “We are trying to impact the community in two ways: through direct service to the students and by providing services and support to our faculty and staff members in the classroom,” Clark said.  The CASE Team is also available to present information to faculty, staff, and students who may benefit from the office resources. For more information, contact the office at 419-530-HELP (4357) or email CASE@utoledo.edu   If parents or family members are concerned about their Rocket, they too can contact the CASE office to offer consultation, resources, and outreach for their student.

The collegiate experience is more than just classes, labs, and research. A key aspect of college life is community, with clubs, fraternities, sororities, and other student organizations offering individuals of different backgrounds the opportunity to get together. The University of Toledo is no exception, with the school proudly boasting more than 400 active clubs and organizations. For both new and established students looking to become more involved on campus, the Involvement Network, commonly referred to as Invonet, is a handy portal to campus organizations. Invonet is a UToledo website campus organizations use to promote events and recruit new members. The main page list all the events being offered on campus in the near future while a sub-menu titled “Organizations” allows students to scroll and sort through all available campus organizations. UToledo organizations offer loads of services to students, and those services are the main draw for many of them. The International Student Association which manages many of of the school’s cultural organizations. For those students looking to go Greek, fraternity and sorority rush events are held throughout the year. There are also many other common interest groups active on campus, from the Hot Chocolate Club to BASH, just about anything to fit your niche. Looking for something more administrative? Organizations like Campus Activities and Programming or Student Government allow students to make change across campus. With more than 400 groups across campus, one would hope there is a place for everyone, but if there isn’t, the University has a streamlined process for starting a new student organization. Each year, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 and again from Jan. 1 to June 1, any student in good standing, along with six of their friends can create their own student organization. To get started, you need to come up with a unique organization that isn’t active on campus. Two of your members need to be trained as President and Treasurer. You will also have to submit your organization’s mission statement and constitution to Invonet. For more information on how you can get involved on campus, visit the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, on first floor of the Student Union around the corner from Frogtown Cafe and across from the Student Lounge/Game Room.

The Board of Trustees in June approved an $844.6 million operating budget for fiscal year 2024 (FY24), which started July 1 and ends June 30, 2024. It includes $348.1 million for the University, $50.7 million for auxiliary operations, and $409.5 million for the University of Toledo Medical Center. The new budget reflects a $21.8 million cut to UToledo general fund supported areas, which includes colleges. It also projects a $20.7 million decrease in revenues for the University, down from $397.8 million in FY23 to $377.1 million in FY24. Projected revenues are down due to a projected decrease in student enrollment, University officials said. Tuition is a key revenue for the University. In FY24 tuition and fees are projected to bring in $229 million while the state subsidy will bring in an additional $115.4 million. The number of students living on campus and those purchasing meal plans have fallen faster than the reduction in overall enrollment. The budget includes a 4 percent increase in meal plans and a 2.96 percent average increase in housing costs. Another issue officials had to address in the FY24 budget was an increase in expenses, due in large part to inflation. Salary increases on contractual commitments and non-bargaining unit employees were other expenses that had to be considered. Sabrina Taylor, the Associate Vice President of Budget and Planning, described the challenges in reducing the budget, saying “more than 80 percent of the academic budget is people.” When looking for areas to reduce budget expenses, the Office of Finance sought to preserve jobs and focus on current and upcoming job vacancies, officials said. Of the 19 people affected by the closure of the Center for Success Coaching, only three were not able to find employment elsewhere within the University. Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Meghan Cunningham, expressed optimism about an increase in new enrollment numbers as well as larger retention numbers. Taylor said the budget is a “very big and comprehensive budget,” and encouraged those who read it to “keep an open mind and think about the big picture.” The University budget is a collaborative effort across the institution, officials said. Budgets start at the department level, are then sent to deans and directors, who in turn get approval from the Provost or their area’s Vice President. These approved budgets are then sent to the finance office to be combined into the master budget which gets sent to the Board of Trustees for their review and approval.

A recent change to federal financial aid laws requires all courses to be part of a student’s declared program of study in order to be funded by federal financial aid programs. The Course Program of Study (CPOS) is a mandatory requirement set by the U.S. Department of Education, and went into effect this semester, according to the UToledo Office of Student Financial Aid. Federal financial aid includes an array of programs, ranging from Pell Grants to Work Study options. Federal financial aid will still cover declared majors, minors, concentrations, or aid-eligible certificates. Electives also contribute to a degree and are therefore still considered for federal financial aid. Students can still enroll in courses that aren’t a part of their program, assuming they still meet requirements for any non-federal financial aid they receive. According to Scott Molitor, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the program is intended to help students graduate with their degrees faster and avoid increasing student loan debt and other costs. The degree audit system, accessible via myUT, is a key resource for students to check if their courses contribute towards their program of study. In the case of any issues, students will be notified by email by the Office of Student Financial Aid. Students should keep in touch with their advisors to ensure their courses contribute to their program of study and reach out to Rocket Solution Central with any questions.

Located just inside the south doors of Carlson Library, the University Libraries South Gallery has a full slate of shows this school year. Opened in 2022, during its inaugural year the gallery’s programming was dedicated to the university’s sesquicentennial celebration. This year organizers have planned six different exhibits. The UToledo Employee Art Exhibition, a juried show of works by UToledo faculty and staff, is on display until Oct. 27. It features the works of 14 artists from various colleges and departments at the University including the University Libraries, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Disability Studies, Career Services, Honors, Department of Biological Sciences, Facilities, and the Department of Art. Upcoming shows include the Art Student Showcase from Nov. 6 to Dec. 8. In January, the “Art Weber Retrospective” will feature the work of Art Weber, Director of Photography at the Toledo Metroparks. His work has been featured in the UToledo Press book “Richness & Rarity.”

The first two installations of the University Libraries Gallery Series for the 2024-25 academic year are only available for viewing for a few more weeks. The first show is a local artist exhibition, “Life After Life,” featuring art by Steven Athanas. It runs through Oct. 16 in the south gallery of Carlson Library Athanas’ visual arts allows his imagination to move across various medias such as drawing, watercolor, and sculpture with look into the quirkiness of the English language. His work tries to allow others into his outlook on the world, with all the challenges involved. The second show, “Hindsight: Past Lives,” features the artwork of Ben Morales. It runs through Oct. 25, in the north gallery of Carlson Library. Morales’ photography strives to display the beauty and meaning of the world around us. The photographs featured in the gallery show his photographs of historic Toledo landmarks, seamlessly the past and present in tandem. Morales captures the natural and manmade environments that can be taken for granted. His goal is to connect us with the past and challenge our perceptions of the world. This year, the University Libraries Gallery Series will expand from six shows to eight shows that will be spread across two galleries in Carlson Library. The UToledo Employee Art Exhibition and Art Student Showcase are the next exhibitions in the series, starting Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 respectively.

The decision over the summer to move the management of the Student Union, Student Recreation Center, and Residence Halls from Student Affairs to Auxiliary Services may lead to noticeable improvements, officials said. “We want to do things like repainting and adding technology upgrades,” said Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Brian Kulpa. “[Student Union technology] has been woefully invested in for many years. A lot of these rooms are nice but haven’t been updated with technology. Students are demanding technology to make this a better experience [so] technology is what we’re really trying to push.” “We’re trying to raise the standard here,” said Mark Brooks, director of student union and building services. “We’re trying to upgrade some of the meeting rooms with monitors and technology so we can interface from place to place.” Brooks said they would be studying “peer school student unions to see what they’re doing to stay cutting edge and look at what the students want. We plan to get survey data from Student Government this year.” “We want to see more student activity here in the Student Union. We’re taking steps now to upgrade the South lounge … the new elevator going in will be a good thing for [students] too, and the second-floor restroom was renovated,” Brooks said. “They’re small steps, baby steps, but babies grow, right?” Other projects Kulpa hopes his division will tackle in the coming years include several deferred or preventative maintenance items. “We’re trying to put together a wish list, for example, the building needs a new roof,” Kulpa said. “We’re looking at the [auditorium], looking at replacing the flooring because so many orientations are in there. It’ll take some time, it’ll take some planning because everybody wants to use it.” The number of students living on campus and purchasing meal plans has decreased over the past several years, leading to a decrease in funds for projects such as those currently being undertaken by auxiliary services. In the 2024 spring semester, UT reported an enrollment of 13,951 students, with 1,976 living on campus and 2,175 purchasing meal plans. Conversely, in the 2017 spring semester, UToledo had an enrollment of 19,221 students, with 2,886 living on campus and 3,850 purchasing meal plans. This steady decline has led to a decrease in funds, so UToledo has been hosting various events on campus to supplement lost revenue. “So how do you keep funding all these things, bringing the right services to students? We want to get things really focused on students, but with less and less money. That gets harder and harder,” Kulpa said. “So, you try to look at bringing events to campus – concerts or weddings or camps. People to utilize the space when students aren’t using it during the summer.” “We’ve got people reaching out to us [to host] a lot of camps: band camps, soccer camps, athletic camps, pharmacy camps … getting potentially prospective students here to see the campus,” he said. This shift towards funding university spending through hosting alternative events on campus is not exclusive to UToledo, with both Bowling Green State University and Vanderbilt University taking a similar course of action on their own campuses, among others While Kulpa is working to help fund UToledo alternative sources of funding, he was quick to note “nothing changes from our mission and vision; it’s all about student success.”

Student leaders are taking issue with the University’s decision this summer to eliminate the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and to disperse its functions across the University. “It’s a step back for the university,” said Marquan Denby, vice president of the Black Student Union.  Some of the functions once performed by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have been redistributed under the Office of the Provost. The change is an effort to improve success rates for marginalized and underrepresented students, officials said. According to Interim Provost Scott Molitor, the goal is to shift any academic divisions that reported directly to the president, so they now reside under the Office of the Provost, allowing them to “work together in a coordinated fashion." “This was not anything that we did in terms of political pressure. This was looking at our student success, looking at the data and saying, ‘what can we do better?’” Molitor said. The position of Vice President for the Office of DEI, occupied by Dilip Das since 2022, was eliminated. Das was not moved into another position at the University. Efforts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful. Some students feel that they’ve lost a key advocate with Das’ departure. BSU was one of ten student organizations to post a letter to the public on Instagram in late August. The letter states, in part, that Das’ termination has “created a palpable void” within the Black community on campus and has “left a power vacuum that undermines the university’s commitment to critical diversity issues at a time when it is desperately needed.” “There are still students’ voices that need to be heard, that was the position Dr. Das had,” Denby said. “He provided a voice for the students directly to the president. He was there to amplify the voices of students who fall under DEI.” The letter went on to demand financial transparency from the university regarding potential reallocation of former DEI resources and criticized the lack of diversity in upper administration “across various dimensions.” This creates a blind spot to the experiences and needs of marginalized students, according to the letter. “DEI is not only for African American students on campus. It is for all students that fall under DEI,” said Denby. In addition to the vice president of DEI, the university also eliminated the vice president for student affairs and the special assistant to the president for community engagement. The functions performed by those individuals also now fall under the provost’s office. Sammy Spann, who was vice president for student affairs at the time, now holds the title vice provost of student affairs and retains his title of dean of students. Valerie Simmons-Walston is now special advisor to the president for community engagement. Aleiah Jones, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Success, said she was not aware of the change before it was enacted. “It was sort of a surprise to me. But, you know, I am not in upper administration, so I’m not sure what discussions were happening beforehand,” Jones said. “I feel it’s wrong, because diversity is very important,” said Aicha Conde, a social work major. “I just think they should make everybody aware about what’s going on and keep everybody updated.” “[The Office of DEI] had a number of different initiatives and efforts, many of which are still continuing, but they really didn’t have a focus or the ability to impact student success,” Molitor said. “I believe [the proposed changes to advising, student experience, and community engagement] are going to really affect all students."

For just $69.99 plus tax, anyone gets the chance to play football with the UToledo Rockets. When EA Sports College Football 25 was released July 19 – the first major update since 2013 – the UToledo Rockets were now part of the roster. The game is available on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. Kevin Taylor, UToledo’s brand and licensing manager, has been part of the process since the beginning. “The university received initial communication from our licensing agency [Collegiate Licensing Company] about the game in January of 2021, with us agreeing to participate,” Taylor said. Taylor spent three years providing details about Toledo Football and the University to EA Sports. Over 2,000 photos of the stadium were taken in the summer of 2021. “The developers asked for various assets over the course of three years leading up to the game release,” Taylor said. The additional photos were sent in June 2023, and included Blue Crew, Rocky and Rocksy, and more of game days at the Glass Bowl. Music assets were also provided, including the school fight song and the songs the band plays throughout game day in the Glass Bowl. Prior to the release, members of the Toledo football team, Interim President Matt Schroeder, Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan Blair, and any Rocket who pre-ordered the game had a chance to play. In a statement, Blair said “the attention to detail is outstanding. The Glass Bowl and game day atmosphere really comes to life.” “We are very excited about the release of the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game and the incredible exposure it will bring to our football program and our University,” Blair said. “The game is a cultural phenomenon and it’s amazing to see Toledo once again on this amazing stage.”

Starting this fall, Rockets will begin to see a fresh perspective on the Toledo they know. The University of Toledo has recently undergone a rebranding to connect the main campus and UToledo Health under the same brand. In the fall of 2023, the decision was made to rebrand, and in December of the same year, the University entered a $585,000 contract with Milwaukee-based firm BVK. The purpose of this contract was to conduct research including quantitative and qualitative data on the University, and to work with the University to develop the new brand. “We were really looking for an outside perspective who can come in and give fresh eyes to the things that we’re doing,” said Meghan Cunningham, vice president of marketing and communications at UToledo. Starting in January, the University and BVK began work on research, including surveys and focus groups which accounted for opinions of students, staff, and faculty as well as hospital patients, prospective students and parents, and the Ohio public. The University also conducted extensive stakeholder interviews, as well as input from student government and clinical leadership at UToledo Health. In creating the new brand for the University, Toledo has adopted the new slogan, “The Power To Do”, pulling ‘To Do’ from first two and last two letters in Toledo. This slogan will be used for the academic and clinical operations of the University, combining both under the same identity. The University also decided to refresh their secondary color palettes, using the color accent of magenta for academic operations and cyan for clinical operations. “Our colors are always going to be blue and gold. We’re the Rockets, we are blue and gold forever. But we also have secondary and tertiary palettes,” said Jen Sorgenfrei, executive director of marketing and communications. In addition to the new slogan and color palette, the University has refreshed their marketing material, including updates to both the University and Health websites, new admissions materials and billboards, and new social media templates, including updated business cards, fonts, and letterheads. The University as well as UToledo Health have also filmed multiple commercials and promotional videos to highlight the rebranding and the adoption of both sides of UToledo under the same brand. These videos were filmed at the end of June, and featured UToledo students, staff, and alumni. The videos can be found on social media, streaming services, and the Health and University websites. These various videos will be shown throughout the state, targeting local areas for healthcare, as well as parent influencer and prospective student audiences for academics. “I think it’s a step in a great direction… but I think that the traditional blue and gold are a better color palette,” said UToledo sophomore Makayla Richardson. The University has researched and received feedback on the rebrand, and according to Meghan Cunningham and Jen Sorgenfrei, initial reactions have been positive. “We’ve received really positive feedback about the brand, particularly those engaged on the healthcare side are excited to see them so well connected to the university side,” Cunningham said. The rebranding is far from simple, and new materials must be adopted to be up to brand standards for the University and UToledo Health, as well as general upkeep for the new brand and filtering through of old brand materials, which will take time and resources. According to the University, the additional investment for advertising assets which included the video and photoshoots, television commercials, and digital, print, and outdoor billboard materials was $1.3 million, funded by both the university and the hospital. These materials and cost are for both the University and UToledo Health, and will continue to be used for a few years. This step in a new direction for Toledo will affect both academic and clinical operations, and Rockets can begin to familiarize themselves with UT’s new look. “We are telling the story of who UToledo is,” Cunningham said.