As danger looms in bodies of water globally where toxic algae blooms, a small plastic storage tub in Toledo sealed to protect against splashes, spiders and bird stool may contain a game-changing technology in the fight against the growing environmental problem.

Algae scientists at The University of Toledo are testing a real-time optical sensor at the Toledo Water Treatment Plant as part of its source water monitoring to protect the public drinking water supply during harmful algal bloom season.

Every 15 minutes the device takes a sip of Lake Erie water coming into the plant, reads the sample and puts the measurement data online for researchers and water utility managers to remotely access.

Its biggest value is the ability to tell whether tiny single-celled organisms known as cyanobacteria that compose harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie are fragile and starting to break open. If the cells break open, they release toxin. Dissolved toxin is more challenging for water treatment plants to remove because it can pass through filters and must be removed by chemical means before water leaves the plant for our faucets.

Since July, UToledo scientists have checked on the device’s wires and tubing to make sure it’s operating properly. They’re also doing laboratory experiments at the UToledo Lake Erie Center that are showing the technology is working the way it’s expected.

“Our work this summer with the PhycoSens device is the first test of this online algae monitoring system at a drinking water plant in the U.S.,” said Dr. Thomas Bridgeman, professor of ecology and director of the UToledo Lake Erie Center. “If we show success at the Toledo Water Treatment Plant and throughout the region to immediately detect and notify of toxin release, then it can be scaled up nationwide. So far it’s showing great promise.”

The test deployment of the advanced monitoring sensor system is part of a $1.4 million UToledo project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that began more than a year ago and focuses on early detection and management of harmful algal blooms.

Since the 2014 Toledo water crisis left half a million residents without safe tap water for three days, researchers have greater clarity that it’s not just the size and appearance of the algal bloom that matters, but what is happening in the cells.

Bridgeman’s devices made by the German company bbe Moldaenke use optical sensors to measure in real time how much and what kind of algae are coming into the water treatment plant, including cyanobacteria. More importantly, the sensors can provide a warning of the cyanobacteria cells breaking open and leaking their contents, including any toxins that they may contain, into the water.

“A large release of toxin can happen in a matter of hours, and it is critical for water plant operators to have this information so they can adjust their treatment levels quickly, before dissolved toxin can get through the plant,” Bridgeman said. “The data are produced every few minutes, which makes it a useful early warning tool for a potentially rapidly changing algal situation.”

Notable for researchers is data collected in late July showing the peak of the bloom and its decline.

“So far we have not detected any of that cell breakage at the water treatment plant or near the water intake out in the lake using the automated sensor, which is good news,” Bridgeman said. “However, UToledo crews on our research vessel taking water samples out in the lake throughout Lake Erie’s western basin — not near the water intake — have detected cell breakage using the manual version of the same device this season.”

Bridgeman said that cell breakage events leading to large releases of dissolved toxin don’t happen every year in Lake Erie.

“It happened in 2019 and possibly in 2014 but not to a large extent this summer, at least not near the water treatment plant’s water intake out in the lake,” Bridgeman said.

The Toledo Water Treatment Plant’s laboratory makes the most use of the data.

“The experimental optical sensors being tested at the raw water pump station are a useful source for both the changes and the severity of algae levels coming from the lake,” said Jeff Martin, chief chemist at the Toledo Water Treatment Plant. “We didn’t have remote access to the data until part of the way through the bloom season due to computer issues, but since then it has been a welcome tool in treatment decisions.”

Bridgeman has studied harmful algal blooms for two decades. His laboratory is one of the key locations for tracking and providing early warning of harmful algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie.

He said while the new instruments can detect the health, or physiological condition, of the cyanobacteria, they do not provide actual toxin readings, making them a supplemental weapon in a water utility manager’s arsenal to efficiently and economically adjust treatment to maintain drinking water safety.

“Measuring toxin still requires a separate, fairly time-consuming test,” Bridgeman said. “Therefore, the fast optical measurements will be coordinated with slower chemical toxin measurements to provide a complete picture of what is happening in the lake water that is entering the water plant.”

The device will be removed from the water treatment plant for analysis in October and then his team will study the results and potentially put it back in the plant next summer.

Bridgeman’s device monitoring tests are one part of a larger, wide-ranging project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that also includes faculty in the UToledo College of Engineering.

Dr. Youngwoo Seo, professor of civil and environmental engineering and chemical engineering, leads the three-year project to improve water quality from the source to the tap.

Some of the technology and techniques being tested by UToledo are new to water treatment plants in the western hemisphere.

The project features two different parts working together:

• Advanced monitoring sensors and molecular genetic analyses to enhance early harmful algal bloom detection and real-time condition diagnostic capability; and
• Nature-inspired biological treatment methods coupled with algaecides to attack cyanobacteria and degrade toxins it produces.

Dr. Dae-Wook Kang, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, leads a molecular approach to develop a robust detection method, and his analysis will help better understand what triggers the toxin gene production of cyanobacteria.

Seo is focused on mitigation and the treatment method for toxin removal. His laboratory is working on the biological degradation of cyanobacteria and their toxins using the naturally occurring bacteria and viruses from the lake and NSF-approved chemical treatments.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs through mid-October, The University of Toledo Office of Multicultural Student Success and the Global Latinx Student Union are celebrating Hispanic culture and heritage with several events including a watch party to honor the student organization’s 50th anniversary during the University’s annual Homecoming parade Saturday, Oct. 1.

Scheduled at 9:30 a.m. in front of University Hall on Bancroft Street, the Global Latinx Student Union’s watch party also will honor UToledo’s sesquicentennial.

“There are some great events lined up to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Aleiah Jones, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Student Success. “We are especially excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Latinx student organization now known as the Global Latinx Student Union. It will be a lot of fun to welcome alumni and students to campus during Homecoming to watch the parade with us. The library has also included a display of artifacts from the organization throughout the years.”

Campus events and activities planned for Hispanic Heritage Month include:

• Thursday, Sept. 15 —¡Bienvenidos! at 4 p.m. in Thompson Student Union Room 2582 to kick off the month.
• Tuesday, Sept. 20 — Loteria Night, featuring the bingo-like game loteria (Spanish for “lottery”) that uses images and a deck of cards instead of numbered balls, at 7 p.m. in Thompson Student Union Room 2500.
• Thursday, Sept. 29 — 30th Richard M. Summers Memorial Lecture at 6 p.m. in the McQuade Law Auditorium, featuring Dr. Lorgia García Peña, professor of Latinx Studies at Tufts University, the co-founder of Freedom University Georgia and the author of three books: “Translating Blackness,” “Community as Rebellion” and “The Borders of Dominicanidad.”
• Thursday, Oct. 6 — Smashing Machismo event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Thompson Student Union Room 2500; will include making piñatas and learning about sexism within Latinx cultures and how we can “smash” them.
• Tuesday, Oct. 11 —NAMI Greater Toledo 7th Annual Latino Leadership Forum from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center, 1222 Broadway Street in Toledo. The theme is “Recovering in the Messiness of Life in the Latino Community and How to Navigate the Mental Health System.” Register for the forum through the event’s webpage.
• Thursday, Oct. 13 — 33rd annual Diamante Awards at 6 p.m. at Bowling Green State University’s Bowen-Thompson Student Union Lenhart Grand Ballroom. Visit the event’s webpageto purchase tickets.

Also in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Latin American Studies has a free online library of documentaries and films available through kanopy, and the Office of Multicultural Student Success has links to virtual national exhibitions, events and tours. Carlson Library encourages students to check out books by Latinx authors and explore a different perspective.

For more information on Hispanic Heritage Month’s campus activities, visit the celebration’s Invonet website.

And for more resources on Hispanic Heritage Month, visit the Office of Multicultural Student Success website devoted to History and Heritage Months.

Dozens of people will become U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16, in the Law Center McQuade Auditorium on The University of Toledo’s Main Campus.

Judge James R. Knepp II of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio will return to his alma mater and preside over the ceremony, which UToledo holds annually in honor of Constitution Day. Knepp received his juris doctor from UToledo in 1992.

His wife, Judge Linda Knepp of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division, will administer the Oath of Allegiance. Knepp also received her juris doctor from UToledo in 1992.

Sarah Knepp, a UToledo law student and the judges’ daughter, will open the court.

UToledo President Gregory Postel and D. Benjamin Barros, dean of the UToledo College of Law, will give welcome remarks at the event, which will feature guest speaker Collins Onyia, an alumnus and graduate student from Nigeria who became an American citizen in January.

Onyia, who works in information technology as a computer specialist with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, graduated from UToledo with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering in 2020 and is pursuing a master’s degree in cybersecurity.

He also has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Lagos State University in Nigeria.

Onyia grew up in the city of Lagos and speaks three languages — Igbo, Yoruba and English.

Constitution Day is annually observed in America to commemorate the formation and signing of the Constitution of the United States on Sept. 17, 1787.

The free, public event is sponsored by the Office of Government Relations.

To help raise awareness of veteran suicide during National Suicide Awareness Month, The University of Toledo Military Service Center will host its fourth annual 22 Pushup Challenge on Monday, Sept. 12.

Scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the 22 Pushup Challenge will be located on the green between Memorial Field House and Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Participants will complete 22 pushups, symbolic of the Veterans Administration’s finding that, on average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day.

The University of Toledo Army ROTC is inviting the community to participate in its fifth annual Run to Remember 5k run and walk Sunday, Sept. 11.

Scheduled from 7 to 10 a.m. on Main Campus, the event is an opportunity for the Rocket Battalion to raise money for the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum and for the community to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

Registration and T-shirt pickup begins at 7 a.m. at the Health Education Center along Stadium Drive. An opening ceremony will follow at 7:30 a.m., and the run and walk will begin at 7:40 a.m.

University Hall’s bell tower will chime at 8:46 a.m., the time when the attacks began in 2001, and the event will conclude with a moment of silence.

Parking for participants will be free in lots 1S, 5 or 6.

A participation donation of at least $5 is recommended. Proceeds will benefit the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

To register in advance, visit the Run to Remember webpage.

Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony Kushner is coming to The University of Toledo next month in a free moderated conversation about his life and career followed by an audience Q&A.

Best known for “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” his two-part epic about the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s which received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for Best Play in 1993 and 1994, Kushner will share his story at the annual Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Doermann Theatre in University Hall.

Admission to the event is free. Doors open at 6 p.m. with first-come, first-served seating. Parking will be free in Area 1N off of University Hills Boulevard.

“Tony Kushner is one of America’s greatest living playwrights. He is, in many ways, our American Shakespeare — and I say this as a Shakespeare scholar,” said Dr. Joseph Gamble, assistant professor of English at UToledo, who teaches modern drama and LGBTQA+ literature.

“His work is monumental in its scope and profound in its empathy. It is also very, very funny. A Tony Kushner play has a special way of making you cry, and then laugh until you cry and then cry again. His plays are deeply grounded in history, but they are also enduringly relevant.”

“The College of Arts and Letters is so pleased to be able to bring such an important figure to the campus community and the city of Toledo,” said Dr. Melissa Gregory, interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “Kushner is not only the most well-recognized playwright in the United States but also a brilliant storyteller who brings a wealth of fascinating experiences to the table. This will be a highly engaging event.”

The annual lecture is made possible by the Shapiro endowment left by Dr. Edward Shapiro, professor emeritus of economics who retired in 1989, to provide opportunities for the University to bring world-renowned speakers to Toledo.

Past Shapiro Distinguished Lecture speakers include Elie Wiesel, Toni Morrison, Audra McDonald and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“This is an incredible opportunity for students at The University of Toledo to get to hear from one of our country’s most enduringly important artists,” Gamble said. “And this event isn’t just for theatre and English students. You could be studying nursing or engineering or business or astronomy, but if you care about what it means to be in the world with other people, about how to live a good life, and about the future of democracy both in America and abroad, then Tony Kushner has something to teach you. This event really underscores the vital importance of the arts and humanities to what we all do.”

“This also is a particularly meaningful event for LGBTQA+ students and community members,” he added. “Kushner is not only one of our greatest living playwrights, he is also one of our greatest living gay artists. ‘Angels in America,’ in particular, is the single most canonical piece of LGBTQA+ literature, as it chronicles the resiliency of the gay spirit in the face of unimaginable death during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country.”

Born in New York City in 1956 and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Kushner is a celebrated and acclaimed playwright whose works include “A Bright Room Called Day,” “Slavs!”, “Hydrotaphia” and “Homebody/Kabul,” as well as the musical “Caroline, or Change” and the opera “A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck.”

Kushner received an Emmy Award for his adaptation of “Angels in America” to an HBO miniseries directed by Mike Nichols and received a pair of screenwriting Oscar nominations for the Steven Spielberg films “Munich” and “Lincoln.” In 2021, he wrote the screenplay to Spielberg’s critically acclaimed remake of “West Side Story.”

Kushner also received a Spirit of Justice Award from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, and a Cultural Achievement Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

The University of Toledo Department of Political Science and Public Administration is hosting a series of community events featuring UToledo experts about American foreign policy during the next two months at the main branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan St.

Topics range from political science and climate change to trade policy and space exploration.

“We’re thrilled to bring our UToledo experts out of the classroom and into the community to discuss important foreign policy topics and interact with people who live and work in our region,” Dr. Joel Voss, associate professor of political science, said. “As faculty, we engage with students every day about critical issues in our world, and we look forward to answering questions and leading discussions in our community.”

The Great Decisions 2022 speaker series, which is free and open to the public, begins 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, with Voss discussing changing demographics.

“The world experienced remarkable demographic changes in the 20th century that continue today and have resulted in far-reaching social, economic, political and environmental consequences all over the globe,” Voss said. “These consequences are creating mounting challenges to development efforts, security, the environment, as well as the sustainability of human populations.”

Weekly events also include:

• Thursday, Sept. 8 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Jeffrey Broxmeyer, associate professor of political science, will discuss President Joe Biden’s foreign policy and the administration’s treatment of issues such as the climate, the pandemic and alliances.
• Monday, Sept. 12 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Paul Hong, Distinguished University Professor of operations management, will talk about industrial policy, trade issues, China and whether a more involved U.S. government will help revive the economy.
• Monday, Sept. 19 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Tom Megeath, Distinguished University Professor of astronomy, will discuss how the U.S. will fare in an outer space crowded with countries such as India and China and commercial companies such as SpaceX.
• Monday, Sept. 26 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Barry Jackisch, visiting associate professor of history, and Owen Lee, a graduate student, will address U.S. foreign policy toward Russia on issues such as arms control, cyberattacks, election interference and Ukraine.
• Monday, Oct. 3 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Jetsabe Caceres, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, will discuss drug control policies in Latin America, including the roots and bureaucratic logic behind them and whether it’s time to reconsider ones that disrupt supply chains and punish drug possession.
• Thursday, Oct. 13 — From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dr. Andy Jorgensen, associate professor emeritus of chemistry, will talk about the international dimensions of climate change and the role the U.S. will play in future negotiations in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The University of Toledo is welcoming students back to campus for the 2022-23 academic year.

As students move into on-campus residence halls, UToledo President Gregory Postel and Dr. Sammy Spann, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, will roll up their sleeves at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, to personally help students and their families unpack their vehicles and get their belongings into their Parks Tower rooms.

The following day Dr. Postel and other campus leaders will welcome new students into the Rocket family and share UToledo traditions at the New Student Convocation ceremony 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, in Savage Arena.

A variety of events are scheduled to celebrate the launch of fall semester, including the Student Involvement Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, on Centennial Mall. UToledo student organizations, campus departments and local campus partners will be on hand to connect with students and share information about opportunities for involvement outside of the classroom.

During the Student Involvement Fair, a pep rally will take place in front of the Thompson Student Union at noon.Classes begin at UToledo on Monday, Aug. 29.

For a complete list of events and activities to kick off the school year and that are planned throughout fall semester, visit the Welcome Weeks website.

A group of physicians and nurses from The University of Toledo will soon travel to Poland to lead a pair of Advance Trauma Life Support classes, training Ukrainian doctors and other healthcare providers how to better manage serious battlefield injuries.

Developed and managed by the American College of Surgeons, Advance Trauma Life Support is generally intended for emergency medicine physicians, surgeons and other doctors who regularly are confronted with trauma patients.

From left, Cristina Alvarado, Dr. Stephen Markowiak, Dr. Kristopher Brickman and Kristin Calkins are among a group of UToledo physicians and nurses traveling to Warsaw to train Ukrainian and Polish doctors in Advance Trauma Life Support.

In Ukraine and neighboring Poland, the need goes far beyond that.

The ongoing war has forced nearly every physician in the country to be at the ready for taking on trauma cases — something well outside the expertise of most doctors.

“You’re asking physicians who don’t typically specialize in trauma to start taking care of trauma patients and teach others to be prepared for it. They desperately need this training. They’re living it,” said Cristina Alvarado, a registered nurse and director of immersive and simulation-based learning at UToledo.

On July 16, Alvarado and the rest of the UToledo team will depart for the Medical University of Warsaw, where they’ll provide the training for a mix of Polish physicians, Polish paramedics and Ukrainian physicians who are traveling from Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, a city near the Moldovan-Romanian border.

“The goal of this trip truly is to give them the knowledge, training, education and the tools to not only handle traumas better but teach others how to handle them better as well,” Alvarado said.

The training to be provided includes how to establish an airway and initiate assisted breathing, addressing collapsed lungs and placing a central line. The course also focuses heavily on how to triage injuries, rapidly assess a patient’s condition and how and when to make decisions on specific interventions.

Among those who will participate in the training is Dr. Olena Korotun, a Ukrainian pediatrician and associate professor at Bukovinian State Medical University who Alvarado knew through the medical simulation community.

Soon after the Russian invasion, Alvarado connected with Korotun to check in and ask how UToledo might be able to help. Though Korotun’s university has an advanced simulation center, it had never focused on tactical medicine or trauma care — which she said has become the most essential skill for any Ukrainain doctor.

Korotun and Alvarado worked to put together virtual trainings that could be streamed live from the UToledo’s Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center to physicians in Chernivtsi, which has emerged as a key training site for physicians because of its relative safety.

An April trip to Poland to meet with Medical University of Warsaw leadership helped set the stage for the on-the-ground training the UToledo Team will be doing in July.

“When it comes to me personally as a pediatrician and medical doctor, I want — I need — to be ready and confident to face trauma. It is an essential skill in my country today,” Korotun said. “Too many children have gone during this war already. We need to do all that is possible to not increase that number.”

In addition to Alvarado, the UToledo team includes Dr. Kristopher Brickman an emergency medicine specialist and director of the Global Health Program in the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Kristin Calkins, a registered nurse and director of trauma services at The University of Toledo Medical Center, and Dr. Stephen Markowiak, a general surgeon at UTMC.

Dr. Stanislaw Stepkowski, a Warsaw native who is professor of medical microbiology and immunology at UToledo, and Dr. Ivan Kaspruk, an emergency medicine resident at UToledo who is originally from Ukraine, will join the team to assist in translation.

Once in Poland, UToledo’s team will be joined by physicians from Missouri, Cyprus and the Netherlands.

The project also is being supported by Gaumard Scientific, which is sending key simulation equipment to Warsaw to assist in the hands-on training clinicians will undertake. The Florida-based company is one of the leading producers of patient simulators and is providing the materials free of charge.

The University of Toledo’s participation in the national Student Experience Project has helped faculty revamp how they engage with students to enhance student support, retention and success, particularly for first-generation and underserved students.

The method built at UToledo now serves as a national model for how to do what are called Communities of Practice, which is transforming how faculty teach. Participating instructors at UToledo, who total 142 since 2020 and includes faculty, lecturers and graduate students, are called Equity Champions.

“The project is based on evidence regarding some of the reasons we lose students from the very beginning,” said Dr. Michael Prior, an associate professor of social work and Equity Champion. “We lose so many students through them not believing in themselves and not practicing habits that lead to success. But through specific techniques, we can adjust our service to impact both of those aspects of the students’ experience which in turn can make all the difference in the world for them academically.”

Research shows that social belonging and the cues students receive about their ability makes a difference in whether they persist or not.

For the past three years UToledo is one of six schools that has been working with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and Coalition of Urban Serving Universities on an equity-focused initiative to boost student achievement by fostering a sense of inclusion and belonging.

University partners in this project are UToledo, Colorado State University, University of Colorado Denver, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Portland State University.

The Student Experience Project also was a collaboration with other learning partners that included a group of social psychologists across the U.S. and Canada associated with the College Transition Collaborative and the Project for Educational Research that Scales.

As part of its work on the project, UToledo implemented a Community of Practice where each semester a cohort of Equity Champions are given a space to meet once a week, encourage each other and share resources that worked in their classroom.

“I joined Equity Champions as we were starting to come back to campus amid the pandemic, political discord and racial divisiveness because I knew I needed to focus on my students’ well-being if I wanted them to learn the content of my courses,” said Heather Robbins, senior lecturer in the School of Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Health and Human Services. “I never felt alone nor overwhelmed while doing the work. Quite honestly, it has sparked a new love for teaching as it reminded me why I got into this profession in the first place.”

The national results of the Student Experience Project, funded by the Raikes Foundation, will be released next month along with field-tested resources. Dr. Denise Bartell, associate vice provost for student success, will be part of a panel discussion and talk about what worked for UToledo so other institutions of higher education across the country can replicate the best practices. The virtual event is noon Wednesday, July 13. Register through the event’s Zoom website.

“The University of Toledo has been a leader in the work on the Student Experience Project and that speaks to the power of the faculty who have stepped up to adopt practices that make first-generation and underserved students feel welcome and supported while improving academic performance,” Bartell said.

The practices utilized by Equity Champions and designed by the Student Experience Project include revising syllabi and course policies to be more student-attuned, explicitly communicating the belief that all students are capable of success, sharing stories with students of times when they struggled with a sense of belonging in college, and highlighting the work of diverse scholars.

“For example, changing the tone or word choices in a syllabus is critical,” Bartell said. “Instead of it reading like a contract, convey that it is common to struggle in courses like this, we have resources to support you, we know you can be successful here, and reach out to me for support. And provide reasonable flexibility for students who need to work a part-time job or support their family. It truly changes the nature of students’ experience in the classroom.”

Data from UToledo show that implementing these innovative practices is increasing student academic outcomes. Equity Champions have collectively made gains in every key concept addressed by the Student Experience Project in each semester since the beginning of the project.

For example, sense of social belonging — the feeling that one belongs in the learning environment — jumped from 36% to 43% in Fall 2020 and 54% to 57% in spring 2021, and identity safety — in which students from diverse backgrounds feel welcome, valued, respected and recognized as having the potential to succeed — increased from 64% to 73% in fall 2020 and 76% to 80% in spring 2021.

Equity Champions measure the immediate impact of their course changes by using a free, data-driven survey tool throughout the semester called Ascend that enables the instructors to learn how their students are experiencing courses. They then use these results to identify evidence-based practices that can improve the student experience in their classroom in real time.

Students who report positive experiences across all categories in Ascend have fewer failing D or F grades or withdrawals from courses with participating instructors.

“I realize that through operationalized caring and believing in students, I can impact their success and academic well-being more efficiently each semester,” Prior said.

UToledo’s cohort of Equity Champions for the upcoming fall semester is 76, the largest since the project began. Half of the instructors have participated in a previous semester and half are new to the project — with some academic programs scaling it up to the department level.

“Our goal is to change the system of higher education and the way we do this is by empowering faculty to create equitable learning experiences and utilize their power and influence to move their institutions forward for student success,” Bartell said. “Higher education is inherently competitive. We created a space that feels different, modeling that we’re all learning together.”

“The lived experience in the program has done for me something akin to what we hope we can do for our students,” Prior said. “I realize that, even at the age of 67, I have not reached my potential as a teacher.”

Read UToledo’s semester reports about the Student Experience Project on the Office of the Provost website.

At the July 13 event the APLU plans to release resources for administrators and faculty across the country to improve equity in student experience, including the First Day Toolkit, a field-tested Classroom Practices Library and the Ascend measurement platform.