A Message from the Dean
 Welcome to the first edition of the Connections eNewsletter. With an increasing and ever-changing global environment, the College of Education and Human Services realizes the importance of connecting with its alumni, students, local community, international partners, faculty and staff in a timely and “green” manner. In this and future quarterly editions, expect to find interesting and insightful articles and information regarding programs, partnerships, scholarships, grants, publications, awards and professional development opportunities, to name a few! If the content stirs a response in you, contact us at the address provided. Share the news with a friend.
James A. McLoughlin, Dean
Masters of Urban Secondary Teaching Program
Now in its eleventh year, the Masters of Urban Secondary Teaching (MUST) programs have been honored with national awards for the number of teachers hired into high-need school districts, for the substantial level of retention of those same teachers in urban districts, and for the quality of instruction in the program. MUST graduates are reflective, responsive teachers who are prepared to promote students' learning while consciously addressing the effects of race, class, and gender on student achievement. Selective and field-based, MUST recruits candidates who demonstrate commitment to urban schooling and community renewal. Admission requirements include a Bachelor's degree, above average grades in the subject area, and, through recommendations and an interview, competency or potential in communication, leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving. The program is 13 months in duration, including a 9 month school-based internship wherein the interns work side-by-side with their mentor teachers at an urban high school. The program accepts students with content-area preparation in science, mathematics, language arts, social studies, Spanish and art. For more information, please contact Nancy Ciganko at 216-523-7576.
Center for 21st Century Health Professions announced as
Center of Excellence
In response to Chancellor Eric Fingerhut and the Ohio Board of Regents, Cleveland State has announced its Centers of Excellence. Among these is the Center for 21st Century Health Professions. The School of Nursing is a key participant in this Center as it provides professional nurses, who are in great demand not only in northeast Ohio, but throughout the nation. The School of Nursing has increased enrollment in the BSN, Accelerated Option BSN, RN to BSN, and MSN programs, with plans to increase further as space and faculty needs are met.
Welcome School of Nursing Faculty
The School of Nursing is pleased to have recruited three new tenure track faculty-Maureen Mitchell, EdD, RN; Theresa Puckett, PhD(c), RN; and Pamela Rutar, EdD, RN.
Dr. Maureen Mitchell has served in executive management positions in public health at the city and county level in Ohio and has consulted internationally on developing higher education programs in medicine and nursing in Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. She has served as an independent consultant, operating an independent consulting firm meeting the needs of major health systems in Ohio and St. Petersburg, Russia,
primarily in the areas of strategic planning, program design,
implementation and evaluation.
Theresa Puckett, PhD(c), RN, CPNP, CNE is currently a doctoral candidate
 in nursing at the University of Akron. Her dissertation work examines the role of risk and protective factors in the development of health-compromising behaviors among incarcerated juveniles. The work is funded by three grants.
Ms. Puckett earned a MSN in Child and Adolescent Health nursing from
the University of Akron in 2002 and is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner. She has a masters certificate in nursing education from the University of Toledo and is a certified nurse educator. Her BSN is from Ursuline College.
Ms. Puckett is involved in several professional activities such as certification commissioner for the National League for Nursing (NLN), onsite evaluator for Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education , manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Scholarship and test item writer for the Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist - Board Certified Nurse Practitioner certification exam. She is one of five nurse educators in the country selected for the 2008-2009 NLN/Johnson and Johnson Faculty Leadership Mentoring program.
She authored Medical Mission to Romania: An Inward and Outward Journey, Trafford Publishers, and is currently co-authoring a core pediatric undergraduate textbook titled, Critical Components of Pediatric Nursing.
Dr. Pamela Rutar has clinical experience in Neonatal, Obstetrics, and
Pediatric nursing.  Her non-clinical experience includes over 8 years in
nursing management and in case management. Prior to coming to CSU, she taught for 6 years in a Diploma nursing program.
Dr. Rutar is interested in mentoring for both students and nurses. Her doctoral dissertation used a mixed methods approach to look at the effectiveness of a formal mentoring program for school superintendents in Ohio. She is interested in transferring this background and applying it to nurses.
Dr. Rutar has also done some qualitative research related to the experiences of minority nurses in a small community setting. Also of interest to Dr. Rutar is the use of technology to enhance learning experiences in student nurses. She hopes to combine interest in these three areas to identify and implement innovative methods to aid students and graduate nurses in transition to the professional nurse role.
Distinguished Alumni
Catherine Koppelman will receive the College of Education and Human
Services Award at the 2010 CSU Distinguished Alumni Award Ceremony
on Saturday, June 5th. 
Ms. Koppelman currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing
Officer at University Hospitals Case Medical University. In this leadership role, she is responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating nursing standards, practice, nursing education and research in all settings where nursing care is provided. Prior to University Hospitals, Catherine was employed at the Summa Health System, Akron, where she was Vice President of Patient Care services since 1997. Prior to Summa, she worked for 12 years at the former Mt. Sinai Health Care System, where she served in various roles including Vice President for Patient Care Cervices and Vice President for Nursing. She also has worked at MetroHealth Medical Center, the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, and early in her career at UH as a staff nurse.
She holds a nursing diploma from St. Vincent Charity Hospital, a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Cleveland State University and a master of science degree in nursing from Duke University. She also completed the Johnson and Johnson Nurse Executive Fellowship Program at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. She has received several awards for excellence in nursing and leadership.
We have been honored to have Ms. Koppelman as a speaker at the School of Nursing’s Recognition ceremony at which time graduates receive their nursing pins. Her very thoughtful comments, which perfectly fit the occasion, provide both congratulations and wise advice to new minted nurses embarking on their professional journey.
More importantly, she serves as an outstanding role model for our students, beautifully illustrating that the foundation that they have laid at the CSU School of Nursing is a strong and stable one, upon which they too can build vibrant professional lives which will continue to enrich society.
COEHS and Bedford City Schools Conduct
Study on College Readiness
Drs. Marius Boboc and R.D. Nordgren are working with Bedford City Schools to help their students prepare for college success. A survey was administered to a cohort of 11th graders identifying "non-cognitive" strengths and weaknesses that research suggests affect how well a high school student will perform in college. As a follow-up, Bedford City Schools collaborated with Student Life and Admissions to conduct a presentation and discussion with the schools’ students about college readiness. The discussion featured current CSU students who provided advice on how best to prepare for college in the areas of both academics and "life-skills." Boboc, Nordgren, and the district are seeking funds to ramp up the research to include all students at the high school.
Claudia A. Balach Teacher Research Award
Professor Diane Corrigan, along with Dr. Ron Beebe and Mr. Edward Weber, Principal of Cleveland School of Science and Medicine (CSSM), received the Claudia A. Balach Teacher Research Award. This award, sponsored by the American Educational Research Association, honors the true spirit of school university collaboration by supporting research conducted by school district personnel and mentored by university researchers. Professor Corrigan guided and coordinated classroom action research projects conducted with faculty and students of CSSM at the John Hay Campus. CSSM is one of the College’s partnership schools
Hot Off the Press…
Drs. Marius Boboc and R.D. Nordgren’s book, Case Studies in Elementary and Secondary Curriculum, has recently been released by Sage Publications. Practical and engaging, this book contains 21 case studies that help students apply curriculum theory to classroom reality. Each case is authored by an in-service teacher, who reflects on ways to improve instruction by making changes to various aspects of the curriculum. These real-life examples investigate up-to-date curricular issues including accountability in education; curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation; school reform; pedagogy; and decision making in diverse educational settings.
Drs. Marius Boboc, Brian Harper and R.D. Nordgren’s book, Psychology of Learning Applications to Teaching, has recently been published by Cengage Learning. This book is aimed at improving the way teacher preparation programs meet the needs of the 21st century schools. The textbook provides an innovative approach to teaching and learning that integrates the content of traditional educational psychology courses with general methods of teaching while placing a special emphasis on how the two areas blend together to support education for diversity.
FAST – Closing the Gap between Theory and Practice in
Formative Assessment
How many times have you left a provocative professional development workshop or finished a terrific educational article – chomping at the bit to try out the new method – only to be left scratching your head the next day at the classroom door, asking the question… But how do I implement the new method or idea?
The FAST (Formative Assessment Support Team) program transforms formative assessment for learning theory and research into concrete everyday classroom practices. Each FAST cohort brings 18-30 master teachers together for seven full days of assessment for learning training and exploration. These seven days extend over multiple months, allowing teachers the time to hone their new skills in their own classrooms and come back to discuss best practices. The success of FAST is that it models for the teachers the exact assessment for learning practices that teachers will implement in their classrooms.
The GCEDC has just filled four FAST cohorts and we are opening up fifth and sixth cohorts. By the end of the 2009/2010 school year over 130 teachers/administrators will have become members of our FAST fellowship. All FAST fellows receive Certificates in formative assessment, can earn up to 4 hours of graduate credit at CSU (in a course entitled Advanced Formative Assessment) and are welcome to join our yearly daylong FAST refresher and celebration sessions at no cost.
Contact Donna Snodgrass (216-523-7108 or d.snodgrass@csuohio.edu) with questions about future multi-district FAST cohorts beginning in February and May 2010 – or opportunities for FAST individual district cohorts.
International Partnerships
Dr. Kowalski Visits the Ukraine
During the Spring of 2008, Dr. Tetyana Lunyova from Poltava Pedagogical State University in the Ukraine visited Cleveland State. During her visit she observed some of the work at the Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center and sat in on one of Dr. Kowalski’s workshops. In a desire to network with each others universities, Dr. Lunyova arranged for Dr. Kowalski to visit her University to conduct several of the GCEDC workshops for the professors at Poltava to help them “understand the learning and enrich the engagement of the learner”.
Dr. Kowalski indicated the experience gave him an enriched perspective on education in general and a renewed appreciation for educators who do so much with less (the Poltava staff). Further, Dr. Kowalski was given the impetus to renew his focus on family, tradition, and camaraderie.
“I went as a teacher and returned a learner”.
Dennis Kowalski, EdD
Director, Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center
Fall 2009 Outstanding Student Teacher
Award Recipients
Jacinta Bader
Leah Brazynetz
Gina Jones
Lauren Jovanov
Piper Maas
Nikole Godenswager
Lynnette Henderson
Mackenzie Johnson
Karen Kropinak
Kimberly Markiewicz
Tara Murray
Beverly Ornas
Terri Persing
Tinasha Schuler
Congratulations to the interns for their hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm in the field!
Brian Yusko, PhD , Associate Professor, Curriculum and Foundation
,
DirectorOffice of Field Services
Professional Development Opportunities
MARCH 2010
10 – Global Education for the 21st Century
APRIL 2010
13 & 14 – Mentoring in the 21st Century
23 – Literacy Network
MAY 2010
4 – Dr. Janet Allen: Tools for Teaching Content Area Literacy
26 – Technology for the 21st Century
AUGUST 2010
12 – Tom Guskey: Developing and Reporting Systems for Student Learning
For additional information, visit www.csuohio.edu/cehs/gcedc or call 216-523-7112.
College of Education and Human Services
Student Government Association
Who is your Student Government Association (SGA) Senator, and why does it matter?
All of us are busy people, with a lot on our plates. As students of education, we are often pulled in several directions at once, and it can be hard to find time or energy to take on anything else. After all, we are shaping America’s future every day in every classroom for every child; what more can be asked of us?
Yet I ask my colleagues in education to imagine how we could benefit from easier communication with each other, our schools, and university administration. For example, you may have great ideas for improving the College of Education or concerns about a current program, class or professor. Or you may have a pet project that just needs a little help, some extra manpower or marketing on campus. This is your way to be heard!
There are students looking for local volunteer opportunities just like yours. Asking your representative is an easy way to find them. Your SGA representative has taken an oath to represent your voice, ideas and concerns. Contact your representative and let him or her know that you do expect great things for our College, share your own great ideas, and let’s see what we can come up with together.
Undergraduate students in the College of Education, contact:
Trenia Wicks at t.wicks@csuohio.edu
Office hours and location: Wednesdays 4-6 p.m. in SGA Office, MC 123
Graduate students in the College of Education, contact:
Ann Hillman at a.m.hillman38@csuohio.edu
Office hours and location: Fridays 1-3 p.m. in SGA Office, MC 123
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Senator Ann Hillman
Cleveland State University First in Ohio to Receive State Board
Accreditation for Master’s Level Chemical Dependency
Counseling Program
Cleveland State University is the first Ohio institution to receive Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board for its Chemical Dependency curriculum. The Board Accreditation of Behavioral Science Master’s Degree Programs is the first in a series of degree accreditations aimed at addressing the growing need for professionals in the field. The CSU program is unique in that it incorporates a partnership between the University’s School of Social Work and the Counseling, Administration, Supervision, and Adult Learning (CASAL) Department in the College of Education and Human Services.
The program has been three years in the making and is designed to provide master's level students in counseling or social work (as well as those in the field who already have the master's degree) with all the academic training required for licensure as a chemical dependency counselor. Chemical dependency counseling is one of the mental health workforce areas currently in need of professionals, and a recent Northeast Ohio task force predicted that the need will continue over the next ten years.
Accreditation is official endorsement of degree programs that ensures that persons who complete these degrees will meet educational standards for licensure. The Board’s accreditation assures that the program meets rigorous standards and is an official endorsement of chemical dependency counselor training based upon published standards and criteria. The state accreditation is important because it signals that the program is providing state-of-the-art training in addictions work with individuals, groups, and families. The counseling liaison at CSU is Elliott Ingersoll, professor in the Counseling, Administration, Supervision, and Adult Learning (CASAL) department; the social work liaison is Patricia Stoddard-Dare, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work.
In order to qualify for accreditation, a master’s degree program must include specific content areas and a specific number of contact hours. Accreditation assures that persons entering the field of chemical dependency counseling through an accredited education program have met the minimum requirements for formal education necessary for licensure.
About Cleveland State University. Cleveland State is a comprehensive metropolitan university committed to providing affordable education of high quality to students with diverse backgrounds, experiences, interests and needs. Located in downtown Cleveland with extended campuses in Westlake and Solon, Cleveland State offers degrees in hundreds of undergraduate and graduate programs and law, and professional development programs. Cleveland State reaches out to academically talented and highly motivated students through its Honors Program. And Cleveland State’s faculty is tops, with more than 90 percent holding the highest degree attainable in their field. Approximately 16,500 students attend Cleveland State.
About The Chemical Dependency Professionals Board. The Chemical Dependency Professionals Board is a state licensing board that certifies and licenses individuals who provide chemical dependency prevention and treatment services to individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. The Board’s mission is to ensure high standards of alcohol and other drug treatment and prevention for all citizens through the assurance of a competent, well trained and ethical workforce. This is accomplished through its leadership in: establishing and maintaining standards; enforcement of ethical standards; continuing education activities; workforce development; professional development.
Did You Know?
In Ohio during the 2007-2008 academic school year, there were:
- 4,053 primary and secondary schools
- 1,827,184 students enrolled
- 109,766 teachers employed
- an average teacher-to-pupil ratio of 16.6:1, consistent with national averages
Source: National Center for Educational Statistics, Department of Education
| 
