Cleveland State University (abbr. CSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Ohio. It is part of University System of Ohio which was formed in 2007. The University System of Ohio has classified Cleveland State University under "The Urban Research Universities" while the Carnegie Foundation has designated it as "Doctoral/Research University".[4]
History
Cleveland State University traces its historical roots to 1870, when the Cleveland YMCA began to offer free classes. The YMCA program was formalized in 1881, reorganized in 1906 as the Association Institute, and later became the Cleveland Y.M.C.A. School of Technology. The Cleveland School of Technology was renamed Fenn College in 1929. Fenn College is named after Sereno Peck Fenn[1]. Fenn College expanded over the years, taking over several buildings in the area including Fenn Tower, Stilwell Hall, and Foster Hall. On December 18, 1964[1] the state of Ohio founded The Cleveland State University. After months of negotiations The Cleveland State University took over the faculty, staff, and programs of Fenn College on September 1, 1965[1]. Industrialist James J. Nance served as the first Board of Trustees Chairperson. The name would later be changed to simply Cleveland State University.
Beginning largely with the appointment of Dr. Michael Schwartz as President, Cleveland State transformed its role as an economic development engine in the region. Schwartz began implementing their vision to move the university from an overall fourth tier university in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, to a second tier university with world class research. CSU ended its policy of open admissions, instituted an honors program, began seeking funding to boost its faculty size and prestige, and created a campus master plan, rebuilding the university as a residential metropolitan campus in downtown Cleveland.
Administration
The President of Cleveland State University is Ronald M. Berkman, who was previously provost, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Florida International University in Miami. The Provost is Mary Jane Saunders, formerly the founding Dean of the College of Science at Cleveland State University.
Presidents
| Presidents |
| Person |
Years |
Person |
Years |
|
Dr. Harry Newburn
Interim President
|
1965-1966
|
Dr. John Flower
President
|
1988-1992
|
|
Dr. Harold Enarson
President
|
1966-1972
|
Dr. Claire Van Ummersen
President
|
1993-2001
|
|
Dr. Harry Newburn
Interim President
|
1972-1973
|
Dr. Michael Schwartz
President
|
2002-2009[5]
|
|
Dr. Walter Waetjen
President
|
1973-1988
|
Dr. Ronald M. Berkman
President
|
2009-
|
On April 26, 2009, Ronald M. Berkman Named Sixth President of Cleveland State University.
"The Board of Trustees of Cleveland State University voted unanimously on Sunday to appoint Ronald M. Berkman as the sixth president of the University, succeeding Michael Schwartz who will retire from CSU’s top post on June 30. In making the announcement, Ronald Weinberg, Chairman of the CSU Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, said, “I am delighted that after a diligent and thoughtful national search, we have come up with the best choice for our institution’s next president. The fact that we have been able to attract a very special individual of Ron Berkman’s caliber is testimony to the achievements of Michael Schwartz as President for the last eight years. It speaks well for Cleveland State University, the Greater Cleveland Region and the opportunities we can pursue. I am confident we have been able to attract the finest person to be our next president, and I look forward to working with him, as I am sure we all do.” Dr. Berkman, 62, is currently Provost and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Florida International University in Miami, where he has been since 1997. He has also served as Executive Dean of the College of Health and Urban Affairs at FIU. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1977. [6]
Colleges and academics
CSU offers many disciplines and research facilities, with 70 academic majors, 27 master's degree programs, two post-master's degrees, six doctoral degrees, and two law degrees. It also has research cooperation agreements with the nearby NASA Glenn Research Center.
The University is organized around eight academic colleges:
School of Music and Communication
Additionally, the Division of University Studies focuses on academic support services, and the Division of Continuing Education extends existing academic services beyond the campus.
Notable programs include the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, whose city management and urban policy program is ranked 2nd in the country by U.S. News and World Report, as well as the recently-formed School of Communication, ranked 8th in research productivity and as the top terminal MA-granting program in the United States overall[7]. The Nance college of Business Administration is also highly regarded and is ranked in the top ten nationwide in performance of its Certified Public Accountant graduate students. Additionally, CSU is the only university in Ohio to offer a master's degree in software engineering.
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law traces its origins to the founding of Cleveland Law School in 1897 as the first evening law school in the state and one of the first in Ohio (and one of the earliest in the U.S.) to admit women and minorities. In 1946, Cleveland Law School merged with the John Marshall School of Law, founded in 1916, to become Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Cleveland-Marshall became part of Cleveland State University in 1969.
One of the most famous alumni of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law was Tim Russert, host of television program Meet the Press. The college has also educated numerous highly esteemed judges and founders of prestigious private law firms. Due to its long tradition of providing evening education, the college has a large number of business and community leaders who are non-practicing attorneys as well.
Research
Cleveland State maintains a variety of research links with the Cleveland community. The following are the University's featured research collaborations:[8]
Science and Research Center
- Bio Ohio
- Case Western Reserve University
- Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute
- Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center
- Council for International Exchange of Scholars (Fulbright Scholar Program)
- NASA Glenn Research Center
- Great Lakes Science Center
- Museum of Natural History
- International Space University
- Internet2
- Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
- Ohio Department of Education
- Ohio Instrumentation, Controls & Electronics (ICE)
- Ohio Supercomputer Center
Notable faculty and alumni
Faculty
Staff
- Wally Morton, Head Swimming Coach
- Gary Waters, Basketball Coach
Alumni
- Cedric Jackson, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jerry Dybzinski, former professional baseball player
- Franklin Edwards, former professional basketball player
- Dick Lillie [9] (J.D., 1979), U.S. District Attorney, Common Pleas Judge, and partner Lillie and Holderman Law Firm
- Ed Feighan (J.D., 1978), U.S. Congressman
- Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle Inc.
- Tim Russert, (J.D., 1976), Author, NBC Washington bureau chief, moderator of NBC's Meet the Press
- Clinton Smith, former NBA basketball player
- Manute Bol, former NBA basketball player
- J'Nathan Bullock, NFL football player
- Frank G. Jackson, Mayor of the City of Cleveland
- Frank D. Celebrezze Jr., Ohio Court of Appeals Judge
- Donald C. Nugent, (J.D., 1974) Federal District Court Judge
- Lesley B. Wells (J.D., 1974), Federal District Court Judge
- Cheryl L. Waite, (J.D., 1985), Ohio Court of Appeals judge.
- Francis E. Sweeney Sr., (J.D., 1963), Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice.
- Maureen O'Connor, (J.D., 1980), Current Ohio Supreme Court Justice.
- Terrence O'Donnell, (J.D., 1971), Current Ohio Supreme Court Justice.
- Carl B. Stokes, (J.D., 1956), first African American mayor of a major U.S. city (Cleveland)
- Louis Stokes, (J.D., 1953), 15-term Democratic Congressman.
- Bert Wolstein, (J.D., 1953), real estate developer, owner of indoor soccer franchise and philanthropist.
Location
CSU's main campus in downtown Cleveland is bounded on the east and west by Interstate 90 and 17th Street, respectively; and by Payne Avenue to the north and Carnegie Avenue on the south. It also has satellite campuses in Westlake, Ohio and Solon, Ohio, both in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area in Cuyahoga County.
Campus and community
Faculty and student
In 2002, the student body consisted of 10,356 undergraduates and 5,618 graduate students.
CSU Enrollment Reaches 15-Year High
Freshmen, returning veterans, graduate students contribute to growth Cleveland State University announced on September 9th 2009 that Fall semester enrollment figures have reached a 15-year high, with total student headcount at 16,418 (a 4.2 percent increase over Fall 2008). The increase can be attributed to a number of positive factors at the University, including the ongoing completion of new campus facilities that make CSU an attractive residential choice for new freshmen, the Project SERV program that caters to returning post-911 veterans, and a surge in graduate students seeking professional degrees in a difficult economic climate. Highlights of the incoming Fall 2009 class at CSU include: New first-time CSU student enrollment is up 18.5 percent over Fall 2008; Overall enrollment has increased 4.2 percent over Fall 2008; Entering freshman class again carries a 3.0+ GPA; Undergraduate enrollment is up 1,000 students since fall 2007, after setting new admissions standards; 400+ new freshmen receive President’s Opportunity Award, created to help offset reductions to the state’s Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) program; New graduate student enrollment climbs 41 percent for domestic students and 54 percent for international students since last fall; Military veterans enrolled in the Project SERV Program, and receiving VA benefits, increased dramatically to 279 students.
[10]
Expansion plans
CSU recently unveiled a long-term plan to make the campus more amenable to residence and increase the number of students living on campus by building thousands of housing units, anchored by a new dormitory, Fenn Tower, a reuse of the school's most historic building. The university is working with private developers and the City of Cleveland to develop housing, retail, and "collegetown" amenities around Fenn Tower, particularly the main thoroughfare of Euclid Avenue, scheduled to be destroyed and upgraded as part of the Euclid Corridor Project, bringing bus rapid transit to the university and city.
The University has also recently completed a new state of the art student recreation center, as well as two new buildings for the Colleges of Graduate Studies and Education; there are longer-term plans to create a "Varsity Village" incorporating athletic fields and student housing into a green, residential area.
Fenn Tower formerly housed what was at one time the longest Foucault pendulum in the world; however, the pendulum has been inoperational since 1980 and was removed during the residence hall renovation in 2006. The pendulum currently resides in the Cleveland State University archives.
In 2009, Cleveland State University announced their plan to begin work on $65 million construction project, this project will transform the campus from a commuter school into a residential campus.[11]
Student life
The Main Class Room building
Cleveland State University offers a unique college experience for their students through the engaging activities on campus. The student life department in Cleveland State University provides a variety of quality services and programs to enhance the university experience and complements Cleveland State University's academic mission. A highly trained staff of professionals is available to support students from their first day on campus to the completion of their academic goals. Services include leadership training, support of recognized university student organizations, judicial affairs, campus activities, and many other programs and services that support the successful matriculation of all students. Cleveland State University has 145 student organizations that are supervised by the department of Student Life.[12][13][14]
Student media
The campus' student-run radio station, 89.3 WCSB-FM, has a 630-Watt transmitter on top of Rhodes Tower (formerly called University Tower). Additionally, Cleveland State is served in print by The Cauldron, an independent student newspaper, The Cleveland Stater, a laboratory newspaper in the School of Communication, The Vindicator, and The Gavel which won the 2005 American Bar Association's -Student Division's first prize for the best law school newspaper in the country. There is no student television station at this time, though the university offers a film production and video production major with courses through its Digital Video Communication Center.
Information technology
CSU is a member of the OneCommunity (formerly OneCleveland) computer network, an initiative of Case Western Reserve University that connects nonprofit institutions throughout Northeast Ohio, allowing large scale collaborations over a high-speed fiber optic network.
Intercollegiate athletics
The sports teams' nickname is the Vikings. The school colors are forest green and white. For many years the school mascot was the comic strip character Hägar the Horrible along with his wife Helga, and the couple appeared at sporting events as well as on University literature. A new mascot, "Vike" was introduced in 1997 and Hagar was gradually phased out by 1998. Another new mascot was introduced in August 2007. He was to be named either Magnus, Victor E., Vic Torious, or Vike. The winning name, which was announced on November 24, 2007 was Magnus.
Cleveland State fields varsity teams in seventeen sports. Most of the teams compete in the Horizon League. The men's basketball team achieved the greatest notoriety in 1986 when seeded 14th in the NCAA tournament, it upset heavily favored 3-seed Indiana and St. Joseph's before being beaten by Navy by one point, an unprecedented achievement for such a low seed.The Vikes made yet another NCAA tournament appearance in 2009, upsetting the highly favored 4th seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons before falling to the University of Arizona Wildcats in the second round.
On October 14, 2008 CSU President Michael Schwartz stated "he wants a blue ribbon panel to give him a recommendation on the football team before July 1, 2009, when he is scheduled to retire. He also said the program will have to be structured to pay for itself."[15]
School songs
|
Fight song
O hail the Green and White;
For our great colors we shall fight!
To battle, Vikings all;
We'll sound the Viking Trumpet Call!
We always will defend
The Pride of Cleveland faithfully;
For Cleveland State we'll fight on to a victory!
|
Alma mater
Near the shores of great Lake Erie, grand for all to view
Proudly stands our Alma Mater noble CSU
Lift your voices, join the chorus 'til our work is through.
Hail to thee our Alma Mater hail, hail all, CSU!
To educate, for future's sake, truth through knowledge is our goal,
Steadfast remains our Alma Mater, whatever the future holds.
Lift your voices, join the chorus 'til our work is through.
Hail to thee our Alma Mater hail, hail all, CSU!
|
See also
Adam Smith's Spinning Top, sculpture by
Jim Sanborn at CSU
References
External links
Coordinates: 41°30′06″N 81°40′30″W / 41.5017°N 81.6751°W / 41.5017; -81.6751
