Master Plan Vision
The University of Toledo is not just Ohio’s third largest public university. We are a national leader in interdisciplinary instruction and research. We are one of the few universities in the nation that have colleges of business, education, engineering, law, medicine and pharmacy. This plan seeks to further integrate our colleges and disciplines.
INTERPROFESSIONAL CARE, INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Health Science Campus will remain the center of interprofessional medical care, education and research. Our teaching hospital, The University of Toledo Medical Center, will evolve to better serve the health care needs of northwest Ohio residents. Our medical and life sciences activity will be located both on Health Science Campus and at ProMedica Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital complex, as a result of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences’ Academic Affiliation Agreement with ProMedica.
To ensure that we reach our $80-million annual funded research goal, we will renew laboratories on Main Campus, Health Science Campus and at Lake Erie Center. Additionally, after we increase the pace of recruitment of highly productive researchers, we will construct a new research building on Main Campus.
CLASSROOM TRANSFORMATION
Academic instruction remains our top priority, and this plan expedites the improvement of core academic spaces that front our historic center, Centennial Mall. This plan recommends investments in classrooms and teaching laboratories in our core academic buildings so that they can easily host a wide variety of technology-rich and interactive teaching styles. Just as we are renovating Carlson Library floor-by-floor, turning book storage spaces into an interactive learning environment, we will incrementally modernize our core teaching spaces.
INVIGORATED STUDENT LIFE
Main Campus is the center of our student life, and this plan seeks to further strengthen student engagement. Through incremental renewal, Lancelot Thompson Student Union will continue to be the focus of student life, with newly renovated student meeting, service and gathering spaces. Our first dedicated outdoor recreational complex, adjacent to the residential neighborhood on the southwest edge of campus, will boost participation in club teams and recreational leagues. We will consolidate all athletics competition facilities into a compact athletics neighborhood on Main Campus, further boosting on-campus energy and Rocket pride.
New on-campus apartments at Dorr Street and Secor Road, a complete overhaul of Parks Tower and the removal of Carter Hall will make our residence halls more attractive, benefiting recruitment and retention. Students will increasingly want to live on campus since the University will offer a larger continuum of residential options. The restaurants and coffee shops at the expanded Dorr Street Gateway will provide a gathering place and social hub for the residents of the southwest residential neighborhood.
CAMPUS BEAUTY
University Hall, with Centennial Mall in the foreground, is our most iconic campus scene. This plan proposes several changes that will further increase the beauty of the campus. We will create new picture-postcard images – the reactivated Memorial Field House as the backdrop for a new quadrangle south of it, and the proposed research building framing a new engineering quadrangle. Using the newly extended, constructed and connected University/Parks and Chessie Circle Trails, Toledo residents will bike to Main Campus and stroll through our open spaces and along the completed Ottawa River Walk.
CONNECTED AND MULTIMODAL
We will make Main Campus more connected and welcoming of all modes. New bicycle trails will connect our campus to the region. A pedestrian bridge over Douglas Road will safely link our academic centers in Centennial Mall and the engineering neighborhood. New transit routes will connect our campuses and ProMedica Toledo Hospital. Our existing vehicle parking is underutilized. New parking regulations will increase its utilization and help manage the demand for the most convenient spaces. As demand warrants, the plan supports opportunities for parking expansion along Dorr Street.
REGIONAL IMPACT
Main and Health Science Campuses will continue to be supported by our affiliated centers. Our visual art instruction benefits from the resources of the internationally renowned Toledo Museum of Art. Natural resource research and programming at Lake Erie Center and Stranahan Arboretum will expand. After University activities are relocated off Scott Park Campus, options for the ownership and maintenance of the property will be explored.
ROBUST LEADER
Although exciting and comprehensive, this plan’s vision will be achievable despite stable or declining financial support from the state of Ohio for higher education. Academic renovation investments will create fewer but better classrooms. We will remove underperforming facilities such as Carter Hall, the Transportation Center and Westwood Building. Investments in University Hall, Lancelot Thompson Student Union and Parks Tower will extend the lives of those buildings. The new buildings will be flexible and sustainable.
We value our current partners including the state of Ohio. As we improve our campuses, we seek to identify opportunities to partner with adjacent neighborhoods, industry, institutions, alumni and athletics benefactors, enabling them to materially contribute to the University’s continued success.
We seek to be a transformative force for the world. In response, this plan seeks to renew our campuses so that the University will continue to serve the students who entrust us with their education.