A new bachelor of science degree in materials science was approved by the Board of Trustees, among other actions, at the March meeting.
The new career-focused degree in the UToledo College of Natural Science and Mathematics trains graduates with an understanding of the relationships between materials, properties and fabrication processes for careers in technological development to production lines. The program will prepare students for careers as material scientists in the region’s glass and solar industry as well as Ohio’s growing semiconductor industry.
The degree provides strong foundations in chemistry, physics and math with strong experiential learning and interdisciplinary problem-solving skills. The program will include current faculty and courses in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics and College of Engineering.
New collective bargaining agreements with the union that represents UToledo’s faculty were approved by trustees.
The three-year contracts with the UToledo chapters of the American Association of University Professors include agreements for the approximately 341 tenured and tenure-track faculty, approximately 142 lecturers and approximately 18 College of Law faculty.
The agreements are effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027, and include a retroactive 3% wage increase in 2024-25, a 2.5% base salary increase and a one-time payment of $1,000 in 2025-26 and a 2% increase in 2026-27. The tenured and tenure-track and lecturers ratified the agreement in January. The law faculty ratification occurred in February.
UToledo continued its practice of making room and board decisions ahead of the annual budgeting process to provide students and families more time to plan for the upcoming school year.
New housing and meal plan rates that work to balance keeping costs affordable while offsetting increased costs of operations were approved by the Trustees and are effective for the fall 2025 semester.
Housing rates will increase an average of 2.65%, depending on the student’s choice of residence hall, and meal plans will increase 3.2% for students in the incoming eighth cohort of the Toledo Tuition Guarantee and will remain the same rate for their four years at UToledo.
Under the new rates a standard double room will increase $120 per semester and the gold meal plan will be $75 more per semester.
In recognition of a $1 million commitment from Cenovus Energy, an integrated energy company that operates a refinery locally in Oregon, Ohio, the University is naming the high bay atrium in the recently renovated North Engineering Building the Cenovus Energy Hub.
Trustees approved the naming opportunity for a 10-year period to recognize the company for its support of various initiatives in the College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Acknowledgement of this commitment will be shared publicly in April.
Finally, trustees approved honorary degrees to be awarded at the spring commencement ceremonies.
Steven Klar, president of the Klar Organization, a diversified real estate development, building and brokerage firm, will receive the doctor of humane letters, honoris causa. He is the Commencement speaker for the spring ceremonies on Saturday, May 3.
Klar, who received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UToledo, supports his alma mater through the endowed Klar Leadership Academy in the Neff College of Business and Innovation that creates the next generation of leaders. Open to juniors and seniors across UToledo, the program offers a unique opportunity for students to engage with diverse perspectives and cultivate personal growth.
Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, emeritus professor of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery and former UToledo trustee, also will receive an honorary doctorate degree at the Commencement ceremony in recognition of his sense of community and commitment to UToledo. He is recognized as a top contributor to the University’s educational goals in humanities, literature and medicine.
Dr. Reshma Jagsi will receive a doctor of science, honoris causa, at the graduation ceremony for the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences in which she will be the commencement speaker. Jagsi received her doctor of medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Hawaii and her radiation oncology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is currently the chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and is an internationally recognized scholar and clinical trialist for her research in breast cancer, health services and bioethics.
