Choose Ohio First

Current Programs

choose ohio first- academic success through corporate engagement, networking, and training (cof-ascent)

The Choose Ohio First – Academic Success through Corporate Engagement, Networking, and Training (COF – ASCENT) Program was designed to enhance the learning experience, academic performance, professional preparation, retention, and graduation of academically talented students pursuing engineering degrees at the University of Toledo while providing financial support. The program will incorporate industry partnerships and evidence-based practices and will leverage support services already existing at the University of Toledo to accomplish its objectives.

Professional development is a central aspect of the program, and students will regularly interface with regional employers who are members of the University of Toledo Engineering Corporate Partners program.  Each scholar will be assigned an industry mentor from one of the COE corporate partner companies. Students will meet with their industry mentors individually at least once a semester, and industry mentors will be encouraged to invite their mentees to job-shadow them for a day. This experience will be especially beneficial during the first two years of study before the students begin their first co-op experience.

The Choose Ohio First ASCENT Program will serve to:

  1. Alleviate the financial burden for academically talented students for whom an engineering degree may not be accessible without the scholarship;
  2. Allow the College of Engineering to offer competitive scholarships to incentivize high quality students to choose Ohio and Toledo over out-of-state institutions and markets.
  3. Allow the recipients of the Scholarship to receive preferential placements with our supporting Corporate Partners for their Mandatory Co-op Placements throughout their educational careers, thus affording them high quality job training and professional exposure with leading companies in the Engineering and Technology Sector in Ohio.
  4. Provide support for scholars using a cohort model, peer mentoring, training, and evidence-based teaching practices to promote a sense of belonging among students in order to retain them in the engineering program through their graduation.
  5. Educate students in the many important skills necessary to be successful in the Engineering and Technology sector through an employer engagement program such as speaker series, instructional training seminars, and alternative educational break program that exposes them to workplaces earlier and more often.

Approximately eight (8) renewable scholarship awards of up to $7,000 each will be made to incoming freshmen each year. This scholarship combined with institutional merit scholarships means that selected COF- ASCENT scholars will have full coverage of all tuition and student general fees.

MORE INFORMATION and APPLICATION

Contact:
Bryan Bosch
Manager of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement
College of Engineering
bryan.bosch@utoledo.edu
(419) 530-8038

Lesley Berhan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement
College of Engineering
berhan@utoledo.edu
(419) 530-8200

Data, Environment, Energy, Entrepreneurialism and Sustainability (COD3ES)

The University of Toledo is excited to announce that we received a grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to increase the number of graduates equipped with the entrepreneurial training needed to translate innovative ideas in the solar, water quality, and sustainable technology sectors into economic growth for the State of Ohio. The five-year Choose Ohio for Data, Environment, Energy, Entrepreneurialism and Sustainability (COD3ES) scholarship program project provides financial support and an ecosystem of high-impact curricular and co-curricular activities to increase the success of academically talented students. Each scholarship amounts up to $5,700 per year for up to four years. 

A total of 14 students per year will be awarded the scholarship each year and they will gain work experience or research opportunities in the solar energy, water quality, and sustainable technologies fields.  The students will also be given advanced training in entrepreneurial minded learning (EML), equity training, leadership training, and participate in design challenges to make our world more sustainable. 

This program is a collaboration between the College of Engineering, The College of Natural Science and Mathematics, and the College of Arts and Letters at The University of Toledo.  Majors that can have a positive impact in the areas, such as solar energy, water quality, and sustainable technologies fields are encouraged to apply to the program.

Contact:

Dr. Matthew Franchetti
Professor and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies
College of Engineering
(419) 530-8040
matthew.franchetti@utoledo.edu

IMPROVING RETENTION AND STUDENT SUcCESS IN COMPUTING (COF-IMPRESS-C)

This program is for students that wish to obtain an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Computer Science in Engineering Technology (CSET) or Information Technology (IT). The goal of this program is to address a need in the State of Ohio, for a highly-trained Computer Science (and related fields) workforce with baccalaureate degrees. The project provides financial support and an ecosystem of high-impact curricular and co-curricular activities to increase the success of academically-talented computing students needed to support economic growth for Ohio.

 
Contact:
Nasser Alaraje, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Chair
Engineering Technology Department, College of Engineering
419.530.3129
Last Updated: 3/6/23