Advance Ohio Higher Education Act - Senate Bill 1
The 136th General Assembly enacted the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (Senate Bill 1) signed into law by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on March 28, 2025. The bill is effective June 27, 2025.
The legislation requires the Board of Trustees of each state institution of higher education to take specific actions in order to ensure compliance. The UToledo Board of Trustees met June 25, 2025, and approved a resolution to adopt a Statement of Commitment and a resolution adopt a new Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs Policy.
UToledo Statement of Commitment
The University of Toledo is committed to educating students by means of free, open and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth. This commitment extends to creating a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the autonomy of each member, supports individual capacities for growth and tolerates the differences in opinion that naturally occur in a public higher education community. Further, the University is committed to not requiring, favoring, disfavoring or prohibiting speech or lawful assembly. The University’s duty is to equip students with the opportunity to develop the intellectual skills they need to reach their own informed conclusions. All faculty, staff and students will be treated as individuals, held to equal standards and provided equality of opportunity, without regard to those individuals' race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
UToledo Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs Policy
The Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs policy fulfills requirements under the law to affirm the University's commitment to ensuring the fullest degree of intellectual diversity and prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion offices or departments, orientation or training courses, and institutional scholarships. The policy was approved June 25, 2025, and goes into effect Sept. 25, 2025.
SB1 also calls for a process to submit complaints from any student, student group, or faculty member about an alleged violation of the prohibitions and requirements in the policy. Complaints can be reported through the Report a Concern website and investigations will follow the University’s standard process for personnel or student conduct issues.
UToledo Adopts Intellectual Diversity Policy, Updates Practices to Comply with Legislation
June 25, 2025
The University of Toledo has adopted a new Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs policy and updated several campus offices to comply with the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, known as Ohio Senate Bill 1, that was signed into law March 28, 2025, and goes into effect June 27, 2025, though several provisions in the bill have delayed effective dates.
The UToledo Board of Trustees approved today the new Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs policy, which fulfills requirements under the law to affirm the institution’s commitment to ensuring the fullest degree of intellectual diversity and prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion offices or departments, orientation or training courses, and institutional scholarships.
“Our commitment remains steadfast: to uphold laws and compliance obligations while fostering a supportive learning and working environment where every individual feels welcomed and empowered to succeed,” UToledo Interim President Matt Schroeder said. “As always, UToledo will comply with laws and regulations while supporting our Rockets. UToledo will continue to be a place that values our differences and promotes a culture of mutual respect.”
Aligned with the new policy and requirements of SB1, UToledo has disbanded the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Multicultural Student Success. The Office of Student Engagement and Connections will support programming for all student organizations and student events.
In addition, the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women has been redesigned into the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Student Experience, and will be housed within the Center for Advocacy and Student Experience. The new center will support all students at UToledo and provide programming in support of students with families and health resources.
The law also calls for a process to submit complaints from any student, student group or faculty member about an alleged violation of the prohibitions and requirements in the policy. The University’s Report a Concern website has been updated to provide that resource. The policy goes into effect Sept. 25, 2025, and investigations will follow the University’s standard process for personnel or student conduct issues.
UToledo continues efforts to update policies and practices to align with other components of SB1 that await additional guidance from the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Those include developing policies on faculty workload, annual performance evaluations, post-tenure review, and tenure and retrenchment, and financial reporting requirements.
Some aspects of the law go into effect later, including the public posting of course syllabi that will be required starting Fall 2026 and the establishment of a required American civics course for undergraduate students entering in Fall 2026 or thereafter.
UToledo has worked proactively to comply with requirements in the law that require universities to eliminate undergraduate programs that have conferred fewer than five degrees annually over any three-year period. UToledo will continue to evaluate undergraduate programs regularly.
A new online resource, utoledo.edu/legislation, has been created to communicate the latest information on recent legislation impacting UToledo, including SB1 and the University’s Intellectual Diversity and Controversial Beliefs policy and Statement of Commitment. UToledo is updating campus signage and website to comply with the legislation.
As published in UToledo News on June 25, 2025.
Additional Information
The Ohio Department of Higher Education provides additional information about the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (Senate Bill 1) on its Senate Bill 1 Information website, including frequently asked questions, forms and templates, and key dates and deliverables.