The University of Toledo has a new “front door” in the Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff Welcome Center.
UToledo will celebrate the completion of the new facility, which welcomes current and prospective Rockets to Main Campus and anchors a new hub for student support services, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 18.
The Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff Welcome Center presents a new “front door” to the University near the intersection of Bancroft Street and Campus Road, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 18.
The ceremony will begin with brief remarks at 10 a.m., followed by tours and light refreshments. The Saloff Welcome Center, located near the intersection of Bancroft Street and Campus Road, adjoins and extends into the southwest corner of Tucker Hall.
“We’re proud to honor the legacy of two impactful alumnae with the Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff Welcome Center,” UToledo President James Holloway said. “This new facility will not only establish a front door to our University, where we can receive visitors and invite them to engage with all we have to offer, it also supports our students by bringing the resources they need to succeed together near the heart of Main Campus.”
The Saloff Welcome Center is named in honor of the late Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff, a pair of sisters who each began a more than four-decade career as a local elementary school teacher with a bachelor’s degree from UToledo in 1951 and 1962, respectively.
Their bequest, built on decades of philanthropy in support of their alma mater, accounts for one of the largest individual gifts in the history of UToledo.
The Saloff Welcome Center expands Tucker Hall, with the new construction complementing the older building’s collegiate gothic architectural style through a pitched roof and stone and glass facade. This new space anchors the new hub for student support services, extending into new and renovated spaces in Tucker Hall and the adjoining Scott Hall as well as the adjacent MacKinnon Hall. Each has been renovated to house student-facing offices that have been relocated from other campus buildings to streamline students’ access to key resources.
The Saloff Welcome Center anchors the new hub for student support services, extending into new and renovated spaces in Tucker Hall and the adjoining Scott Hall as well as the adjacent MacKinnon Hall.
These include Rocket Solution Central, a one-stop service location where students can receive assistance with financial aid, registration and more, the Military Service Center and the Academic Advising Center.
MacKinnon Hall now also houses the Division of Enrollment Management.
“The completion of this project is very satisfying,” said Jason Toth, senior associate vice president for campus planning and facilities. “The Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff Welcome Center will leave a lasting impression on current and future Rockets, just as these women have done with their generosity. I couldn’t be happier with the successful outcome of such an impactful project on our campus.”
MacKinnon, Scott and Tucker Halls were originally built as student and faculty housing in the 1930s, renovated to faculty and academic departmental offices in 1993 and renovated to again serve as residence halls in 2014. Scott and Tucker halls were also most recently home to the Jesup Scott Honors College, now located in University Hall, and the Eberly Center for Student Experience, now operating within the Center for Advocacy and Student Experience in Thompson Student Union.
The latest round of construction and renovation on the buildings began in August 2025.
The approximately $16 million project aligns with the University’s Campus Master Plan that aims to reinvigorate the core of Main Campus around Centennial Mall and invest in both clinical and student spaces on Health Science Campus. The project was partially funded by capital dollars from the state and University, including $10 million in state biennium allocations.
