For Cleveland State University, 2024 may go down as one of the most pivotal chapters in the university’s 60-year history.
There was no shortage of news coming out of the Euclid Avenue campus. Headlines included the potential acquisition of another college, budget woes, and buyouts offered to faculty and staff.
The challenges facing colleges nationwide – declining enrollment, financial pressures, and changing attitudes about higher education – served as a backdrop.
Cleveland State’s challenges came as colleges nationwide faced declining enrollment, financial pressures and changing attitudes about higher education. In addition to being an educational institution, it’s also a landowner, an employer of about 1,750 part- and full-time workers, and an arts and culture hub.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest moments:
- Jan. 26: Signal Cleveland broke the news that Cleveland State leaders had met several times with their counterparts at South Euclid’s financially struggling Notre Dame College. Officials said the conversations aimed to “explore the feasibility of CSU potentially absorbing Notre Dame College.”
- Jan. 31: As the university eyed a budget gap, public records obtained by Signal Cleveland showed the university was set to pay about $900,000 to work with accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young. Several months before, Cleveland State’s board of trustees approved tapping into its reserves to balance its operating budget.
- Feb. 27: President Laura Bloomberg reaffirmed her commitment to Cleveland State after losing out on becoming the University of Minnesota’s next leader. Bloomberg, a Minnesota native, was one of three finalists in an unusually public presidential search.
- Feb. 29: That potential Cleveland State and Notre Dame deal fell through as Notre Dame announced it would close at the end of the spring semester.
- April 9: The university’s board charged ahead with buyout offers for employees with a decade of service or more. The move aimed to stave off a projected budget gap of up to $40 million.
- May 23: The 144-page report from Ernst & Young dropped. Consultants recommended lots of changes, including cutting faculty and staff roles and eliminating some academic programs. “When we are in an environment where we see these massive [enrollment] declines, we need to be more responsive,” Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Nigamanth Sridhar told Signal Cleveland.
- Aug. 26: More than 50 faculty and staff members agreed to take buyouts. The university’s trustees estimated the upfront buyout costs might reach as high as $16.2 million.
- Nov. 20: Trustees approved a new strategic plan for the university. The plan, called “Cleveland State United,” will guide the university for the next five years.
