University of Toledo Cuts Student Success Centers

The University of Toledo is closing its undergraduate and graduate student coaching centers as part of a budget-cutting plan, WTOL.com reported.

The university announced last week that 20 student success coaches would be laid off as part of a 7 percent budget cut for the 2024 fiscal year, according to local CBS affiliate station WTOL 11. The news caught the affected employees, many of whom are graduate student assistants, by surprise.

“No one expected it,” Justen Bowser, a student success coach, told the station. “I know there’s been budget meetings as early as last month where we were told explicitly we were fine, that they’re not even looking at cutting us.”

Meghan Cunningham, a university spokesperson, said in statement to WTOL that the institution is moving away from the current success coach model and instead looking to better coordinate existing student support initiatives and identify new ones.

The university’s Board of Trustees is still finalizing the budget and is expected to vote on it on June 22, with the budget taking effect on July 1.