Divisional Updates and Structural Changes for Fall 2025

As we have navigated these legislative changes and restructuring to support these new programs, we have worked to align staff to ensure a team structure that best supports student needs and success as we go forward. We look forward to sharing more details about these new roles and how our staff can support you. 

We are working with University Archives and UC Art Collections to catalog and document artifacts, materials, and artwork from AACRC, EPS, the LGBTQ Center, and the Women’s Center to ensure these important parts of our history are appropriately stored and available for our campus community.  

Effective immediately, we have expanded our holistic student support and student advocacy services by growing our Dean of Students team. This team provides support as incoming students transition into their college careers and then further their educational journey, with a focus on fostering degree completion for students facing challenges due to life events, such as being the first in their family to attend college, those needing to find childcare, and much more.  Students can connect with this team by emailing deanofstudents@ucmail.uc.edu or calling 513-556-4119.

We have opened The Cultural Center at 60 W. Charlton Street (located in the former African American Cultural & Resource Center space). Programs housed in The Cultural Center offer leadership development programming, mentorship, alternative break programming, reservable meeting space, and community building opportunities for all students. The artifacts and decor from the AACRC remain in place and were added to the university’s art collection as part of the legacy of this important part of UC’s history.

The Center for Student Involvement (CSI), currently located in Suite 455, has relocated to the 8th floor of Steger Student Life Center in the former Ethnic Programs & Services, LGBTQ Center, and Women’s Center spaces. As a hub for student activities, this expanded space allows students to get connected to our vibrant campus community in new and meaningful ways that support their personal growth, experiential learning, and community building. Additionally, this space provides a collaborative environment for student organization leaders. 

In addition, two new community spaces in Steger Student Life Center – the Bearcat’s Den and the C.A.T.S. Lounge (located on the 5th and 7th floors, respectively) have been established. The Bearcat’s Den provides a welcoming environment focused on creating access to support and engagement, peer mentoring, small group workshops, and programs that promote wellness and community. The C.A.T.S. Lounge serves as a central gathering hub for students with the goal of supporting students as they Connect, Adjust, Thrive, and Succeed at UC. Designed with flexibility and comfort in mind, the space supports a wide range of activities – from student organization meetings and collaborative projects to informal gatherings and social events. This space is also a venue for student-led and departmental programs that promote leadership, campus engagement, and community building. 

The Closet remains open adjacent to the CATS Lounge on the 7th floor and is operated by the Dean of Students Office and the Bearcats Pantry and Resource Center.

We also continue to evaluate how we can enhance all student-centered spaces to promote connections among students and build a strong community at UC.

Our team of leadership development experts provide students with ongoing leadership training, mentorship opportunities, alternative break programming (across spring, summer, and winter breaks), and more. Through engagement in these programs, Bearcats grow their real-world problem-solving, teamwork, and decision-making skills, and foster adaptability and confidence essential for success in the professional world.

We have enhanced student success initiatives and invested in programming to support the transition to college in the form of coordinated services, success coaching, early arrival programs, and scholarship support services, among others.