Increasing Degree Attainment

CSU is part of a statewide partnership, led by College Now Greater Cleveland, selected to join Degrees When Due. This national initiative, sponsored by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, seeks to assist students who have some college credits to complete their degrees.

Ohio is one of 20 states participating in Degrees When Due, which disseminates best practices in degree reclamation and provides targeted support to reengage students who have paused or “stopped out” of college. This includes helping higher education institutions audit students’ previously earned and transfer credits to determine the most efficient pathway to graduation. The program will benefit the more than 136,000 individuals in Ohio who have been identified as having some college credits, but no awarded degree.

CSU currently partners with College Now on the (Re) Connect to College initiative. The program works to identify former CSU students who have “stopped out” and help them address their financial and academic needs so they can return to school and complete their degrees. Students are also provided with follow-up support to ensure that they are successful upon returning to college.

Innovation Portal

To more easily connect with the community and revamp the way it interacts with industry, the University has launched a new Innovation Portal — and is inviting businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors to engage on research projects.

The web page offers a keyword search function that lets users access CSU’s catalog of research results and publications, explore its faculty expertise database and obtain information for partnering with faculty, staff and students at any stage of product development.

“CSU wants the Innovation Portal to generate new ideas and help us connect with the communities we serve,” says Jerzy Sawicki, vice president for research. “The portal’s resources support industry and community innovators from the spark of an idea to launching a product or company with a sound business plan.”

With its collaborative approach, the portal ties together a broad range of resources and facilities at CSU that support new idea generation (Weston Ideation Lab), prototype creation (Dan T. Moore Makerspace), technology spin-out and early commercialization (Technology Transfer Office), and small business growth (Small Business Development Center).

Building on its experience leading statewide innovation and technology transfer for the Ohio Federal Research Network, CSU is also deploying the Innovation Portal to help established companies meet their research and development needs through the school’s broad knowledge base and connections to Ohio’s research institutions.

This article was originally published by the Greater Cleveland Partnership