President

Championing Student Success

At Cleveland State University, student success has become our #1 priority. CSU is dedicated to helping students excel in their studies, graduate on time and move on to fulfilling careers. To this end, the President tasked the Provost and other Senior Administrators the responsibility of overseeing all of the student success initiatives. A faculty led Student Success Committee was also formed by Faculty Senate to evaluate policies and processes throughout CSU that affect student success. After extensive review, the committees have made wide-ranging recommendations that have led to a number of outstanding new programs. This university-wide collaborative approach has contributed greatly to our retention and graduation outcomes.

One of the most effective improvements has been an assertive new approach to academic advising, which monitors the progress of individual students. The process led to the development of a new online degree audit program that acts as a personalized roadmap toward graduation, allowing students to easily monitor their progress and allowing faculty to closely monitor students’ academic undertakings.

CSU is the first state university in Ohio to offer multi-semester registration, which allows students to plan their entire academic year in advance. A waitlist software program was also introduced, improving the chances for students to enroll in a class that is closed. This software also provides the mechanism for the academic departments to better monitor students’ class needs.

CSU also is in the process of capping most baccalaureate degrees at 120 credit hours and converting from a dominant four-credit-hour curriculum to a dominant three-credit-hour curriculum. When these changes take effect in Fall 2014, the end results will be greater flexibility in academic planning and a more streamlined pathway to graduation for CSU students.