Tuition Increase?

There are rumors swirling around campus that the Board can approve to increase tuition - again - by 3%. Does this affect you? What are your thoughts and opinions? LET US KNOW!

- Heidi Rose Vielhaber

For your information...

Here's the article from the Cauldron. Just to tide you over until I finish the last post... :)

http://media.www.csucauldron.com/media/storage/paper516/news/2010/02/22/News/What-Occurred.At.The.Board.Of.Trustees.Meeting.And.How.Does.It.Affect.You-3876450.shtml

- Heidi Rose Vielhaber

Board of Trustees Meeting - Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Hello everyone! I hope you are able to navigate your way around our blog with ease.

Last week on Tuesday, the Board of Trustees held their second full board meeting of 2010 in the Urban Building. One of the new initiatives for the 2010 year is to hold the board meetings in various buildings on campus, so as to expose the board to the various colleges and buildings on campus. The Dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Ned Hill, began the meeting with an introduction to the college. The urban college offers five bachelors, six masters, and one PhD program, in addition to a dual degree partnering with the college of law. These award-winning programs have earned the college the #2 ranking in the nation according to the US News and World Report in 2008.

The president's report summarized many of the important happenings on campus. President Berkman reiterated that Provost Mary Jane Saunders had resigned from her position a few weeks earlier, and the John Marshall College of Law Dean Geoffrey Mearns will be filling in as the interim provost while a national search is conducted. Additionally, Jerzy Sawicki stepped down as the president of the faculty senate in order to work more closely with Dr Walker.

One initiative the university is involved with includes building our corridor into a stronger entity. Our corridor, previously named the Quadrangle, has been renamed the Campus District. This organization is moving forward in a stronger direction by partnering with Tri C and St Vincents Hospital. Once the organization finds a new executive director, the President anticipates the corridor to take off in a positive new direction.

President Berkman, as well as the administration, has been working actively with the Chancellor to move forward with the initiative of placing a branch of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) at Cleveland State University. Presentations have been made to critical mass and community partners, and consultants are being chosen to make reports. The deans of colleges of medicine across Ohio will convene to discuss the impacts of an additional school on higher education and the state of Ohio. The program will be a traditional 4+4 program, with a focus on urban primary care with training in the Cleveland community. Additional focuses include cultural competency, minority health, and a population of students reflecting the population of Cleveland. Furthermore, focus will be placed in the community on preparing students for such an education, starting in primary and secondary education by developing a close relationship with STEM high schools in Cleveland and placing CSU in the forerunning as their early college experience. This program is the second priority of the president, the first being the K-12 school (which will be explained in further detail post).

Next was the report from the Academic Affairs committee, presented by committee chair, Vice Chair Robert Rawson. Vice Chair Rawson expanded on the NEOUCOM initiative, voiced CSU's official support for the Third Frontier, mentioned the clean-up changes with the faculty/staff on the consent agenda, and confirmed the vote for Dr Walker's tenure. Furthermore, VP of Enrollment Services, Mike Droney, had finalized numbers on the spring semester. For the sixth straight semester, enrollment increased, exceeding the target of 17,005 by 6. The head count is up 6.8%, and CSU is up 8.7% on recruiting.

The treasurer, Stephanie McHenry, presented the information for the Financial Affairs committee. Positive variances have been noted in all the right places, with no losses to report. CSU is making up for the $8 mil lost during the economic downturn as a result of decreased money from Columbus. Investment income has been in the positive since July. The Foundation will begin to make regular reports to the Financial Affairs committee. As a final note, bids on the Wolstein facility are to be taking place the week of the 22nd.

The Facilities Committee chair was not present, but Jack Boyle and crew filled in. Five bids have been placed on the North Campus plan. Three will be under review soon, and a recommendation will be made by the April meeting.

Lou Reed presented on behalf of athletics. A strategic plan is due, as part of the periodic assessment of the programs, team programs, community/corporation compliance, and NCAA compliance. There is to be a vote by the student body to determine if students will be will to pay $4 per credit hour in support of the creation of a football team. This project will be undertaken if the vote passes, as long as it can be guaranteed that none of the current programs will be affected.

I'll write a separate entry on President Berkman's K-12 initiative later. It'll be a good entry! :)

- Heidi Rose Vielhaber

The First Post!

Greetings to my Cleveland State Vikings!

My name is Heidi Rose Vielhaber, and I am one of the two student representatives to the Board of Trustees at Cleveland State University. The purpose of creating this blog was to create a better way to relay board information affecting the students to the students. Hopefully you will find this blog useful, and you'll allocate time to read our posts and respond. In order to better represent you, we need to know what you're thinking!

Look for more updates concerning the February 16th board meeting soon...

- Heidi Rose Vielhaber