Update on Partnership with Ideastream Public Media

October 29, 2025

Dear campus community,

Earlier this month, Cleveland State University announced a new partnership with Ideastream Public Media, Ohio’s largest public media organization. With this new collaboration, CSU is significantly expanding learning opportunities for students with an award-winning community organization located right next door to our campus. Today, I write to share a partnership update with you.

Representatives from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education have formed a steering committee with senior program leaders at Ideastream to steward the partnership in a manner that meets our academic goals in both colleges. This inaugural steering group will design specific partnership actions and student experiences (e.g., internships, capstone projects, media production, job site tours and job shadowing) that pair CSU scholarship and talent with Ideastream’s storytelling and media expertise, enhancing both in the process. Students will also receive benefits beyond internships and other applied learning experiences as they engage with the Ideastream professional community and build their networks. 

The inaugural partnership steering committee will meet regularly throughout the fall and winter to assess our progress and use what we are learning from the partnership to expand or develop new partnership opportunities for faculty and students as we plan for spring semester, the next academic year and beyond. These experiences will begin with our School of Communication and School of Film & Media Arts. Over time, I expect that these experiences will extend to students and engage faculty in academic programs across campus. 

Students who are interested in learning more about these experiences can indicate their interest using this form, and we will follow up with you directly.

You likely know that, as part of our strategic partnership, Ideastream has assumed programming oversight of WCSB 89.3 FM. Senior university leaders and I have met with the leadership of the XCSB student organization (formerly WCSB) as they look to the future. We have encouraged XCSB to explore streaming and other online multimedia platforms as a new path forward for student-led and student-governed work. We are prepared to support this student organization should they choose this approach.

Thank you to the members of the CSU and Greater Cleveland communities who have shared their thoughts on this new partnership and the opportunities it provides to our students. 

Sincerely,

Laura Bloomberg, PhD
President