Division of Student Belonging and Success

Campus Location
Student Center room 319
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm
Phone: 216.687.2048
studentbelonging@csuohio.edu

Mailing Address
Division of Student Belonging and Success
2121 Euclid Avenue
Student Center 319
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214

Anchor Institution

What is an anchor engaged institution?

An anchor engaged institution is at base defined by the permanence of its physical presence and economic impact in any given community, but that is not enough.
An anchor engaged institution is further defined by encompassing values such as creating economic opportunity (economic inclusion) and development in the community and region in which it is primarily resides and broadly in the world beyond.
An anchor engaged institution supports the growth and development of a stable democratic society through promotion of cultural and artistic expression, intellectual inquiry, and community and leadership development.
An anchor engaged institution harnesses the power of knowledge creation to promote economic and social innovation that improves both the quality of proximate community life and human betterment broadly.

What does it mean for a university to have an Anchor Strategy or Anchor Mission?

A commitment to intentionally apply an institution's place-based economic power and human capital in partnership with community for long-term mutual benefit.*

An Anchor Strategy/Mission encourages a university to:

Buy from local vendors;
Hire from local residents; and
Encourage employees to live close to campus.

What role do I play in this effort?

Cleveland State University has recently updated its mission and vision statements as a part of Path to 2020 Program, its strategic planning process. The new vision for the University asserts that CSU will be an anchor institution and as such, a committee has been created and charged to engage the entire campus community in the effort to accomplish our anchor mission. The committee will embark on a series of activities, including meetings, forums and surveys to collect and disseminate information regarding this important work. We are looking to involve the entire CSU community in this effort.

Why does this matter?

Often local residents are excluded from wealth building opportunities because of discriminatory education, criminal justice, employment and financial lending policies. Universities that leverage hiring, procurement and investing along with scholarship, research and public service resources can help address inequalities while creating stronger, reciprocal community relationships.