Research, Public Service, and Training Centers
The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs provides applied research and outreach services to the community through a number of integrated centers and initiatives. The collective mission of these research centers is to serve as a source for the investigation of issues and challenges facing urban communities and to apply college resources to solutions.
Students have opportunities to work with faculty and staff in the research and public service centers, programs, and related initiatives of the Levin College. These include major programs in economic and neighborhood development, public finance, public management and capacity-building training. These activities support the academic programs of the Department of Urban Studies by providing opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to participate in ongoing research, training, technical assistance, and database development projects. Centers include:
Center for Economic Development
The Center for Economic Development conducts research and offers technical assistance on urban and regional economic issues of interest to local, state, and national policymakers. Primary focus areas include regional economic analysis, regional indicators, economic impact analysis, innovation and entrepreneurship, manufacturing competitiveness, and the role of urban universities in regional development.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Health Equity at Cleveland State University
The mission of the Center for Health Equity at Cleveland State University is to provide leadership to advance the understanding of health disparities and their resolution through interdisciplinary research, community partnerships, and multidisciplinary education; and to develop and implement strategies that promote health and well-being for residents of Greater Cleveland.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Housing Research & Policy
The Center for Housing Research & Policy studies critical housing supply and demand issues. In addition to undertaking a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the region's housing stock and its conditions, the center also identifies and analyzes housing directions and trends useful for neighborhood and regional revitalization.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Leadership Development
The purpose of the center is to create learning programs that fulfill the lifelong learning needs of both practicing and aspiring public leaders by developing their personal skills and organizational capacity for leadership. The center integrates theory, applied research, and models in order to advance the public leadership programming of the Levin College of Urban Affairs.Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Neighborhood Development
The Center for Neighborhood Development provides assistance to nonprofit, neighborhood-based development organizations, helping them implement a broad range of housing and economic development projects. The center also directs Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland, a program to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer neighborhood leaders.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Nonprofit Policy and Practice
The Center for Nonprofit Policy and Practice supports and fosters the health of the nonprofit sector in the region through training and technical assistance. It supports the role of nonprofits in civil society, scholarly and applied research, and undergraduate and graduate education in the leadership and management of nonprofit organizations.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Planning Research and Practice
The mission of the Center for Planning Research and Practice is to strengthen the practice of planning in the Ohio Lake Erie basin through research, education, service and technical assistance to local communities and to the planning profession. Emphasis is on creating sustainable, resilient communities through good planning practices. The center offers services in research assistance to communities developing land use and environmental resource planning, and technical assistance on land use and watershed issues. The center works with local governments, regional planning associations, and state government on land use and planning for sustainable redevelopment.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Public Management
The Center for Public Management is a multi-disciplinary applied research center that provides technical assistance, policy analysis, research, organizational and staff development, and training services to a broad clientele of federal, state, and local governments and not-for-profit clients. The mission of the center is to serve as a resource for Ohio's state and local governments and not-for-profit organizations by providing services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of governance and public policy. The center addresses its mission through work in five substantive areas—Economic and Fiscal Analysis; Performance and Efficiency Measures; Tax and Revenue Strategy; Organizational Development; and Economic Development Strategy.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Center for Sacred Landmarks
The Center for Sacred Landmarks provides information about Cleveland’s religious structures and organizations and their past and present roles in strengthening and maintaining communities within the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center (GLEFC)
The Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center (GLEFC) is one of nine university-based applied research and technical assistance centers established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help create sustainable environmental systems in the public and private sectors. The mission of the GLEFC is to assist communities in building innovative, cost-effective and high-quality strategies for environmental improvement and sustainable economic development. GLEFC services include providing financial and economic analyses and strategies, policy analysis and planning, brownfields community advisory services, and research and information services.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Levin College Forum
The Levin College Forum is a focal point and catalyst for thoughtful public debate, innovative thinking, new ideas, and timely action addressing the critical urban issues that impact Northeast Ohio, the state, and the nation. All Forum programs are open to the community and Cleveland State University students, faculty, and staff.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
NODIS
The Northern Ohio Data Information Service (NODIS) is a U.S. Census Bureau affiliate and provides census and other data resources to the public. It also provides mapping and GIS services, data, and training. Services include standard and customized community profiles, demographic analysis, census tract look-up guides, demographic and environmental mapping, geocoding, and database and Web site development. GIS training includes ESRI certified instruction as well as MapInfo workshops and customized training. It is one of the Census Bureau's three regional data centers in the state of Ohio.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service
The Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service was founded to promote the advancement of careers of women in public service within the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government at the national, state, and local levels. Key functions of the center are to produce research on the state of women's careers in public service, identify particular barriers to the movement of women into positions of authority and leadership, and devise strategies to address these barriers.
Return to Research and Public Service menu | Return to top
Unger International Center for Local Government Leadership
The Unger International Center for Local Government Leadership responds to the training, research and educational needs of local government leaders in emerging democracies. Its goal is to strengthen the management of public organizations and NGOs, to promote local governments that are transparent, accountable, responsive, innovative, efficient, and characterized by reliance on the rule of law and active citizen participation. The center is committed to facilitating sustainable government reforms that result in long-term impact and systemic change. The center works with university faculties and local government leaders in emerging democracies to develop and implement academic and continuing education programs in public management for future and incumbent officials and managers in local governments and non-government organizations.