A MESSAGE FROM
PRESIDENT BERKMAN These days, I’m practically bursting with Viking Pride. Why? For starters, enrollment, retention and graduation rates are climbing. CSU is bridging the gap between classroom and career through more than 3,000 student internships, co-op experiences and clinical placements facilitated by our downtown location and community partnerships. And we continue to receive national recognition for our achievements. Everywhere I look, I see progress and a deep commitment to student success. This issue of Cleveland State highlights just a few of the many reasons we are so proud, including our new Center for Innovation in Medical Professions (CIMP) and our Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College – both of which are taking engaged learning to new levels. With CIMP, CSU is at the forefront of a groundbreaking style of medical education. Future doctors, nurses, pharmacists, occupational and physical therapists, and other health-care professionals are training to work together by learning together, side by side, in an environment that truly replicates the hospitals and health-care facilities in which they will someday establish careers. CIMP also is the headquarters of the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health, which is training primary care physicians to work with urban populations. CIMP and the Partnership for Urban Health are strengthening and aligning our health programs to help students take advantage of abundant job opportunities in Cleveland, the health-care capital of the nation and perhaps the world. (See story on page 2.) Directly across Euclid Avenue at the heart of campus, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College in our Main Classroom building creates an outstanding learning environment for our honors students and marks the formation of CSU’s ninth
college. We deeply appreciate the $3.6 million investment in our Honors College by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation and the Mandel Supporting Foundations – an investment in intellectual capital that truly will pay dividends. (See story on page 14.) Complementing the teaching and learning taking place in these new facilities and across campus is the groundbreaking research conducted by our faculty. CSU ranks #1 in the country for both greatest increase in federal research dollars spent and greatest increase in total research spending. The breakthroughs taking place in our labs will have long-lasting impact on science, engineering, medicine and more. (See story on page 7.) In short, Cleveland State is providing a pathway for young intellectual capital in Cleveland to learn, grow and thrive. To help ensure that our students succeed, we launched our first-ever fundraising campaign – ENGAGE: The Campaign for Cleveland State University. (See story on page 8.) Investing in our students and in the future is what ENGAGE is all about. Our goal is $100 million – to provide students with scholarships and to expand and strengthen workforce and career preparedness initiatives. Simply put, ENGAGE will provide much-needed private dollars to teach, mentor and impact the lives of students who are the future of Northeast Ohio. Indeed, it’s a great time to be a Viking. I hope you share our pride.
Ronald M. Berkman PRESIDENT
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