By Dave DeNatale and Neil Fischer

Major changes may be coming to two Northeast Ohio colleges.

As first reported by Amy Morona of Signal Cleveland, Cleveland State University and Notre Dame College have met on several occasions to discuss CSU potentially absorbing the struggling Roman Catholic school.

In an email to 3News, Cleveland State University confirmed that it met with Notre Dame College officials three times to explore the feasibility of CSU potentially absorbing Notre Dame College. Per Morona, the first conversation happened Sep. 7 at Cleveland State. On Oct. 2, Cleveland State officials met at Notre Dame’s South Euclid campus. The parties then met via Zoom Dec. 11.

In an email to Morona, Notre Dame officials confirmed the talks.

“One of the options we are considering is a partnership with Cleveland State University,” Notre Dame officials told Morona. 

“The fact that we have these two institutions on the record saying, ‘Yes, we’ve met; yes, we’ve talked,’ you can’t underscore what a big deal that is,” Morona said in an interview with WKYC.

Notre Dame College says no decision has been made yet, and as Morona reports, it is unclear what “absorbing” could look like for either institution or how long the process could take. However, several NDC faculty and staff members, who did not want to be publicly identified, told Morona that a decision will be coming on or by Feb. 15.

Changes at the top

In November, Notre Dame College President Dr. J. Michael Pressimone “voluntarily” resigned to pursue other opportunities. Amid concerns that the resignation was indicative of an insecure future at Notre Dame College, the school gave the below statement to 3News:

“It is important to acknowledge the challenges that colleges and universities across the country are facing. Notre Dame College is not exempt from these challenges, which include a shrinking pool of college-aged students and growing costs. In response to these challenges, we have been engaged in strategic planning and thoughtful discussions with our stakeholders regarding our future. We want to assure you that our primary focus remains on our mission, which we have upheld for the past 100 years, and on serving our students in the best way possible. We expect to have more information to share by the end of this academic year.”

Morona says COVID-19 hurt colleges and universities, especially smaller schools. NDC’s enrollment is less than 2,000.

“Small colleges in here Northeast Ohio, big colleges here in Northeast Ohio, and their peers across the country really saw a lot of issues and problems amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Morona explained. “I’m talking enrollment challenges, financial challenges, but those really hit small colleges — particularly ones like Notre Dame — very hard.”

There are still plenty of questions that haven’t been answered. How would this impact both schools’ students, staff and respective athletic departments? One notable fact – Cleveland State has never had a college football program, while Notre Dame’s team has made the NCAA Division II playoffs multiple times.