CoEHS 2009 Partnership Conference gets Outstanding Reviews

By Faith Larraine

The Sixth Annual Partnership Conference titled Health Across a Life Span: Mind, Body and Spirit was held on February 20, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in Independence.

Hosted by Cleveland State University’s College of Education and Human Services, the event brought together approximately 400 people from CSU, multiple different schools, and surrounding areas. Every guest received a CoEHS computer bag full of goodies from the Education, Dean’s Office.

The planning committee consisted of Dr. James A. McLoughlin, Dean of CoEHS, Vida Lock from the School of Nursing, Sheila Patterson from HPERD, Ann Bauer from CASAL, Susan Bazyk from the College of Science, Nancy Carlucci Smith from Marketing and Public Affairs, Glenn Goodman from the College of Science, Elliott Ingersoll from CASAL, Kathy Judge from the College of Science, Suzanne Ortiz from CoEHS, and Mylion Waite from the Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio.

Ortiz, CoEHS administrative coordinator in the Dean’s Office, put much effort into making this event happen over a time span of 8 to 10 months. Ortiz had to do everything from contact the keynote speakers to setting up the registration tables at the conference.

The two keynote speakers, technology commentator Gina Smith and clinical neuropsychologist Paul Nussbaum, were both phenomenal and received gracious applause. Every conference participant received one of Nussbaum’s books titled “Your Brain Health Lifestyle”.

The conference included 3 sections of breakout sessions that focused on a variety of subjects such as psychology, health issues, therapy, technological advances, and much more. There were presenters from Cleveland State as well as the University of Akron, University Hospitals, Nettleton School District, Bernard Consulting, and Berea Children’s Home and Family Services.

Dr. Harry Eastridge and the Recovery Resources agency in Cleveland were both recipients of the 2009 Partner of the year award. Eastridge is a former superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County. Recovery Resources serves people in the community with mental illnesses, alcoholism, and drug addictions.

The alumni special achievement awards went to Father Kevin M. Conroy, Ph.D. and Joseph Micheller, Ed.D. Father Conroy works with HIV/AIDS positive children connected to the Maryknoll’s Seedling Program. Micheller is the director of Educational Services in Cleveland Heights – University Heights City School District.

Results from the conference evaluations revealed that the overall conference was very enjoyable and helped many people gain new knowledge that they didn’t have. Participants commented on how amazingly positive the environment was, how serious information was being brought up in a user friendly environment, how great the guest speakers were, etc. Overall, the conference was a complete success.

For more information about the 2009 Sixth Annual Partnership Conference, visit the website at http://www.csuohio.edu/cehs/partnershipconference.