Kirby Date, AICP presented two sessions on Friday, November 6. At the Northwest Ohio Planning and Zoning Workshop in Toledo, she spoke on "Planning for Renewable Energy in Your Community" to a group of business leaders and local elected officials. In the afternoon, she coordinated a session at the Bioneers conference here at Levin, speaking about the connection between food production, water resource protection, and Lake Erie. Co-presenters were Jim White, director of the Cuyahoga River Community Planning organization, and Darwin Kelsey, director of the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy.

Dr. Ronnie Dunn was recently on a panel at the Sound of Ideas about the aftermath of the Imperial Ave. murders and the community response to the tragedy.

Nancy Meyer-Emerick presented a Morning Forum on "Sustainable Cleveland 2019 - Building an Economic Engine to Empower a Green City on a Blue Lake" on Sunday, October 11 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River. On Monday, October 12th she presented "Teaching and Living in Presov, Slovakia: My Fulbright Experience" to Cleveland - Bratislava Sister City, Inc. in Independence.

Virginia Benson attended an international Sacred Landmarks conference at the University of Quebec in Montreal on October 6-9th and presented a paper on the conversion of Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland along with graduate Kathleen Crowther and Sister Rita Mary Harwood of the Catholic Diocese.

Virginia Benson also traveled to University of Toledo to present a paper on waterfront planning in September.

Patrick Sweeney was part of a panel of five members that spoke on WCPN's Sound of Ideas September 22. The subject was "Has the corruption investigation hampered the governance".

On October 2, Christine Ledvinka is scheduled to present a paper entitled, "County Managers’ Knowledge of Law and Allegations of Employment Law Violations" at the Public Management Research Association Conference.

On September 23-25 the Ohio chapter of the American Planning Association held its annual statewide conference in Cuyahoga Falls. Kirby Date, AICP and Dr. Wendy Kellogg spoke at a double session addressing the Ohio Balanced Growth Program. Kirby Date also presented a session on "Citizen Driven Comprehensive Planning for Small Communities".

On September 16, Kirby Date, AICP presented two sessions at the Ohio Land Use Conference in Columbus. The first, Watershed Planning for Stormwater Protection, was part of an Ohio Balanced Growth program session, and addressed Best Local Land Use Practices. The second, Planning for Renewable Energy in Your Community, was an introduction to renewable energy facilities, and related zoning, planning, coordination, and citizen involvement recommendations for local governments.

On September 5, Christine Ledvinka presented a paper entitled, "Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: Human Resources Innovations in City Government" at the American Political Science Association Conference.

Dennis Keating spent September 1-4 in Glasgow, Scotland at the HOUSING PEOPLE, HOUSING ASSETS conference hosted by the Urban Studies Department of the University of Glasgow and organized by the Research Council 43 (RC43) of the International Sociological Association. Dennis is President of RC43. He presented papers on the foreclosure crisis in the United States and on the future of Cleveland's reuse of vacant land resulting from the foreclosure crisis.

Nick Zingale will also be the keynote panel moderator for the 4th Annual Northern Ohio Energy Management Conference. It will be held in Akron at the John S. Knight Center on October 7.

Nick Zingale was asked to judge the Cleveland Crain's Emerald Awards that recognize "Northeast Ohio's 2009 Champions of Sustainability - the triple bottom line of Profits, People and Planet". The ceremony was held September 22.

On September 10, Nick Zingale was a panel member for the Cleveland Crain's Ideas at Dawn series. The topic: ecoSMART Manufacturing and Sustainable Strategies.

Jennifer Alexander gave a lecture in spanish for the University of Concepcion in Chile on "Current Trends in Public Administration and their Relevance for Chile". There were nearly 100 people that included faculty and students who attended the lecture.

On July 14, Kirby Date, AICP met with Homer Township trustees, zoning commission members, comprehensive plan committee members, and local residents (Amish and English), to discuss implementation options for development and agricultural preservation policy in their new draft comprehensive plan.

On July 16, Kirby Date spoke to the Lorain County Township Association on "Citizen-Driven Comprehensive Planning for Small Communities". The group consisted of Trustees, Clerks, Zoning Commission members, and others representing Lorain County's townships.

Kirby Date, AICP presented to the summer conference of the Ohio Association of Planning Directors on "The Ohio Lake Erie Commission's Balanced Growth Program and Best Local Land Use Practices" on June 1 in Columbus, Ohio.

Steven A. Minter delivered the commencement address at Clark University on May 17. Minter's speech contained three themes: unanticipated consequences may bring unexpected opportunities; central cities and their neighborhoods are once again becoming places of choice; and persistence, resilience and passion pay dividends. Read more...

Dr. Michael Spicer presented a paper entitled "Openness to the Agon: An Examination of the Character of Politics and its Relationship to Public Administration" at the Public Administration Theory Network Conference held in Frankfort, Kentucky on May 29-31.

Kirby Date, AICP, Center for Planning Research and Practice, presented on "Best Local Land Use Practices" at the Ohio Stormwater Conference in the Cincinnati area on May 15.

Kirby Date, AICP, Center for Planning Research and Practice, and Dr. Wendy Kellogg, Professor of Urban Planning, both presented at the annual conference of the International Association of Great Lakes Research in Toledo, Ohio, on May 19, 2009. IAGLR is an organization of academic and agency researchers whose work focuses on the science and policy aspects of large lake management, primarily the Great Lakes Basin of North America. Ms. Date presented on research and technical assistance for the Best Local Land Use Practices programs she runs for the Ohio Balanced Growth Program of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission. That research has been conducted as part of the multi-year contract with the Center for Planning Research and Practice at the Levin College. Dr. Kellogg presented on research analyzing several collaborative watershed planning processes, another part of the Balanced Growth Program In addition to her individual presentation, Dr. Kellogg organized the session in which these presentations appeared. The session, which included thirteen papers over one day of the conference, was entitled Local and Regional Collaborative Environmental Policy, Planning and Management Initiatives to Protect the Great Lakes.

Dr. Richard Klein and Ms. Janice Ziegler of the Western Reserve Historical Society are pleased to announce that the students at the School of the Creative Expressions at East High School successfully completed the first of a two-year special education program. Funded by the Thomas H. White Foundation, this year's program enabled participating students to conduct primary research at CSU's Special Collections and to establish a permanent on-site museum dedicated to the history of their school and neighborhood. The second part of the grant will produce a time line highlighting the school's alumni. It also will be used to create a cognitive neighborhood map and to update the current museum collection.

UUP Forum in Columbus-"What is going on? The macroeconomy in a turbulent time," Tuesday, May 5
See details at http://urban.csuohio/edu/uup.

DR. EDWARD (NED) HILL will present an overview of the macroeconomy in a presentation entitled, “What is going on? The macroeconomy in a turbulent time.” The presentation is an update on the causes of the current recession, the impact of the recession on industries that are critical to Ohio, and a discussion of public policy challenges that face our state and the nation. This presentation is an update of a presentation that was given by Dr. Hill to new legislators in November 2008. The presentation will be followed by comments from a panel and audience questions and discussion.

The Leadership Academy presented "Strategic Management" on May 1 and 2. The session was facilitated by Dr. Stuart Mendel and was held at the Levin College.

Congratulations to Grace Drake, Stuart Mendel and Steve Minter who were participants in the Cool Cleveland State University party on Wednesday, April 22 at Fenn Tower. These three led discussions focusing on ideas for the NEO region’s healthcare, nonprofit and private partnerships, and economic development. Other executives-in-residence moderated discussions on education, science and technology, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Vera Vogelsang-Coombs gave welcoming remarks and Melanie Hmada was available to answer questions from potential students. The event was co-hosted by CSU and CoolCleveland.com

Dr. Ned Hill was an invited speaker for the Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce. Read the News-Herald article "Economist mixes humor with facts in his address to Mentor Area Chamber".

NEO SMART for Public Managers is working in the City of Wooster and presented the workshop session "Ethics" at the City Hall on April 30. Dr. Jennifer Alexander was the facilitator.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Ph.D., Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, will moderate a panel session on “Compliance, Resistance, and Innovation,” at the Second Annual Symposium on “Combining Practice and Theory to Improve Nonprofit Accountability and Governance,” at Case Western Reserve University, Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Cleveland, OH, April 16, 2009.

UUP Forum in Columbus-"More than Money: Prospects for Health Reform," Wednesday, April 1

Join the Ohio Urban University Program (UUP) for the third in a series of discussions with experts on timely topics affecting the State of Ohio's fiscal future. Registration at www.urban.csuohio/edu/uup

Moderator:
John Begala, Executive Director, The Center for Community Solutions, and Senior Fellow, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University.

Panelists:

• Greg Moody, Senior Consultant, Health Management Associates, an independent national research and consulting firm specializing in complex health care programs and policy issues.
• William Wilkins, Former State Director for the Office of Budget and Management, Former Tax Commissioner for the State of Ohio, and Former President and CEO of OhioHealth, a major central Ohio health care system.
• Mark M. Redding, M.D., Mansfield area pediatrician and a leading proponent of systems changes to improve access to primary health care.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, gave a presentation on “Outcome Assessment: Making The Case For Your Program” at the 67th Annual Human Services Institute at the Cleveland Convention Center on March 13, 2009. In addition, Dr. Brudney and Danielle Wonkovich, Masters of Urban Planning, Design, and Development candidate (2009), prepared a report on “Resources for Volunteer Administration and Management” that was distributed to participants at another Human Services Institute panel session on Volunteer Management.

Center for Public Management Assistant Director Claudette Robey presented study findings at the 2009 statewide conference of Habitat for Humanity of Ohio on Friday, March 27, 2009. The PM conducted a study on the impact of FirstEnergy's corporate investment in Habitat for Humanity's home construction program on its communities, businesses, and partner families. The PM partnered with TeamNEO to conduct the study and for the presentation. TeamNEO's Vice President for Research Dr. Jim Robey presented the economic impacts of the study, while Claudette presented the other impacts and outcomes of the research.

The Cleveland International Film Festival showing of PolyCultures: Food Where We Live features Urban Alumnus Brad Masi ('02 MS in Urban Studies). Interim Dean Ned Hill is also in the film. For more information, visit the CIFF page or the PolyCultures Blog.

Dr. Sanda Kaufman was invited by the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School to be part of a distinguished panel of three experts from the fields of planning, law and international relations entitled, “Mainstreaming Mediation Pedagogy.” The Mediation Pedagogy Conference will be held on May 15-16, 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dr. Richard Klein was invited to serve on the Board of Judges for the History Day contest scheduled for March 21, 2009. The event is being sponsored nationally by National History Day and locally by the Western Research Historical Society.

Kathy Hexter, Dennis Keating, and Mark Rosentraub made presentations at the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Conference in Chicago March 5-7, 2009.

Dr. Richard Klein conducted two sessions for the Levin Chair Seminar the week of March 16.  The first one "The Entrepreneurial Spirit and Nonprofit Volunteer Management" offered practical managerial suggestions to help nonprofits better utilize their volunteers.  The second one, a facilitation session "How to Cope with a Volunteer Emergency," challenged participants to come up with new managerial strategies to counter an emergency shortage of volunteers for an event.

---

Cleveland State University and Siegal College Special Seminar: Traditional Jewish and Muslim Legal Attitudes Towards Mortgage Lending, and its Application to the Current Mortgage Crisis
Led by Robert Simons, Ph.D., CSU. The panelists included: Rabbi Moshe Berger, Ph.D., Siegal College; Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum, Jewish Learning Connection; Mark Sundahl, J.D., CSU; Zeki Saritoprak, Ph.D., John Carroll University; Mitchell C. Schneider, J.D., Legacy Capital; and Fareed Siddiq, Financial Advisor, Smith Barney

This 2-hour panel explored the traditional lending practices of Judaism and Islam. Ribbis (interest) under Jewish law (Halacha); and Riba (interest) and market rules (usul al-mua'malat) under Islamic law (Sharia) are quite similar in principle, yet differ in application, both from each other and from current secular lending practice. Panelists also discussed the current lending crisis, mortgage defaults and foreclosures, securitization of pools of assets and derivatives and discussed if adherence to these traditional lending/business models have prevented or changed outcomes.

---

Inivted Levin College faculty and staff participated in The Center for Community Solutions 67th Annual Human Services Institute: Creating community solutions together! on March 13 at the Cleveland Convention Center.

Health Equity: Exploring the Root Causes of Health Disparities at the Regional Level  (Organized by Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University)Economic and racial inequities are well documented as leading causes of health disparities for persons across all socio-economic status. This interactive roundtable discussion will increase understanding and explore steps to address health disparities through health equity. Compelling segments of the documentary Unnatural Causes will be coupled with Northeast Ohio data illustrating regional health challenges. This session will be a catalyst to engage nonprofit leaders and other critical thinkers in an important community dialogue.

• Terry Lenahan, Policy and Planning Associate, Community Solutions
• Najeebah Shine, Director of Community Health Services, Cuyahoga County Board of Health
• Moderator: Peter Whitt, Associate Director, Center for Health Equity, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University

Research
What We Can Learn from the 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey
The Ohio Family Health Survey (OFHS) is a rich source of information about the perceived health of adults and children, their access to care, and their utilization of health care resources.  Earlier surveys have provided essential data for a variety of applications that have helped community and public health organizations and health service providers better understand and document the health-related needs of the community.  The session will describe what data are included in the new OFHS, conducted in the fall of 2008, and how it has been and will be used in Northeast Ohio.

• Joe Ahern, Policy and Planning Associate, Community Solutions
• Heather Beaird, Ph.D., Epidemiologist, Office of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Summit County Health District
• Moderator: Mark Salling, Ph.D., Williamson Fellow for Applied Research and Director of Research, Community Solutions; Director, NODIS, Cleveland State University

Fund Development/Using Data
Using Social Indicators and Related Data for Grant Applications
Human service providers seeking grants to support delivery of services must effectively document community needs with sound and relevant data. This session will provide information about data resources and issues, examples of how the data have been used in successful grant applications, and recommendations and cautions about how to use and pre

• Rick A. Kemm, MNO, Executive Director, May Dugan Multi Service Center
• LaTida Lester, Senior Program Officer, Saint Luke’s Foundation; Chair, AIDS Funding Collaborative
• Jeffrey L. Brudney, Ph.D., Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
• Moderator: Mark Salling, Ph.D., Williamson Fellow for Applied Research and Director of Research, Community Solutions; Director, NODIS, Cleveland State University

---

Dr. Mark Salling will be a speaker in a panel discussion with the Census Bureau and other members of the National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC) at the Monday, March 2, 2009 event "Preparing for the impact of the new Census changes on community planning" in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Ziona Austrian presented "Northeast Ohio Economy and the Regional Dashboard of Economic Indicators" to the Cuyahoga Community College Executive Cabinet on February 4, 2009.

Steven Minter is noted in the Sun Press article “Minter champions Cleveland, the east side” on February 5, 2009.

Dr. Larry Keller and Dr. Tom Bier are highlighted in the Sun Press article “Without change, UH future cloudy: experts” on February 5, 2009.

Kevin O'Brien is presenting "The Nuts and Bolts of Public Finance" for the Medina Chamber of Commerce on February 23, 2009. The event is open to the public at the new Medina Public Library Main Branch and is scheduled from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, (10-11:30 a.m.) three members of the Croatian Parliament will meet with Tom Cozzens, Director of the Unger International Center for Local Government Leadership, to discuss the accomplishments of the Unger Center in Croatia over the last decade and the center's future plans for working with the Croatian Association of Cities. This visit is sponsored by the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA).

The Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service participated in a kickoff event for the Columbus Success Legislative Internship Program. The luncheon was held on February 4th, at the Statehouse in Columbus. The Columbus Success Legislative Internship Program is a partnership between the Levin College of Urban Affairs and the University of Akron's Bliss Institute for Applied Politics. Through this partnership, Cleveland State University students may participate in the Bliss Institute's existing program, which offers semester-long legislative internships in our state capitol. CSU's first participants in the internship program will be in Columbus over the Summer 2009 term. For more information on the Legislative Internship Program contact Rachel Singer at 216-687-2388.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, will participate at the international Invitational Symposium on Involved Learning, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on January 23-24, 2009. Dr. brudney will give a presentation on "Volunteer Management and the Different Modules of Involved Learning."

Nancy M. Emerick, Levin College Fulbright Scholar, has reached Presov University in Slovakia to begin the spring 2009 semester. Both Nancy and her cat Abby arrived safely and are looking foward to this new experience.

ARNOVA Conference in Philadelphia: Dr. Jennifer Alexander, Dr. Jeffrey Brudney, Dr. Stuart Mendel, and Dr. Jessica Sowa participated in the ARNOVA Conference in November 2008.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, presented five research papers. He co-authored one paper with Dr. Gina Weisblat and one with Dr. Vera Vogelsang Coombs. Brudney also served as chair and discussant on two ARNOVA panels, and was the discussant on a third panel on “Measuring Volunteering Globally," whose results will be considered for implementation cross-nationally by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Dr. Stuart Mendel served as a discussant for three international papers involving the "Structure, Capacity and Activities of Nonprofits;" served as chair of a panel of distinguished scholars delivering papers on the topic of "Distinctive Board Challenges and Dynamics Across the Sector;" Chaired a second panel of distinguished scholars who presented papers under the topical heading of "Nonprofit Boards as Building Blocks of Civil Society," and presented a scholarly paper entitled, "Paths to Success: The Critical Role of Nonprofits in Developing the Leadership in the African American Community of Cleveland, Ohio."

On Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Ziona Austrian participated in a meeting of the EDA University Centers' Directors in the Great Lakes region. Ziona gave a presentation on the research being conducted by the CSU's Center for Economic Development.

On Friday, November 21, 2008 Joel Elvery and Ziona Austrian participated in the Kauffman Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Data 2008. Joel Elvery (with James Spletzer of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) gave a presentation on proposed new data sets from the Quarterly Census on Employment and Wages and the Business Employment Dynamics. Ziona Austrian chaired a session on two national surveys: the U.S. Licensing Activity Survey by the Association of University Technology Managers and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in the United States.

Dr. Mittie Jones attended and delivered remarks at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Master of Urban Planning Program at Wayne State University and the retirement one of the faculty members, Dr. Gary Sands (November 21, 2008). Mittie is a 1979 graduate of the program.

Professor Dennis Keating presented at the New Strategies in Fair Housing Conference on November 14, 2008. Since the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) forty years ago, there has been extensive research, education, and advocacy aimed at combating housing discrimination and segregation. Yet housing patterns, complaint data, and testing evidence has shown that, in many areas of the country, discrimination remains widespread in the rental, sales, lending, and insurance markets. This conference aims to pose critical questions about the degree to which the FHA has succeeded (or failed) in achieving its aims and to think broadly about new strategies for ending housing segregation and discrimination in a systemic way. Dennis participated on the panel called “Fair Housing: A Historical Perspective”. The conference was presented by Housing Research & Advocacy Center. More information is at http://www.thehousingcenter.org.

Dr. Richard Klein was a guest lecturer at an American Studies class at Success Technical Academy on November 11,2008. His topic was "The Evolution of American Public Housing and its Impact on Cleveland."

Iryna Lendel, Center for Economic Development, attended the Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) November 6-8, in Los Angeles, California. While at the conference, Iryna organized the panel "Science and Innovation Policies: What are the Next Decade Challenges for State Governments and Universities?" and presented the paper "Mapping Public Choices of Science and Innovation Policies Involving Universities: Past Performance and Future Challenges."

Iryna Lendel was invited to present "Enhancing the Innovation Ecology: Role of Universities" for a Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Economic Prosperity on How Universities Engage Our Non-University Partners to Enhance the Innovation Ecology at the 121st Annual Meeting of NASULGC (The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges). The meeting was held on November 10, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.

The Center for Health Equity presented two oral presentations and a poster at the American Public Health Association Conference in San Diego October 26-28, 2008. The presentations highlighted on the accomplishments of its NIH/NCHMD project focused with working with residents of the Central community to understand their concerns about obesity and its consequences and to use Community-Based Participatory Research methodologies to develop effective obesity-related health interventions. Peter Whitt and Kendra Daniel along with Mary Motley and Kenneth Sparks from HPERD will present in conjunction with representatives from our community partners.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, and Danielle Wonkovich, MUPDD candidate, are carrying out a series of training sessions for the American Red Cross of Greater Cleveland to reorganize the volunteer programs of the organization. They are working with a team of Red Cross officials to identify and implement improvements in agency recruitment, management, and retention of volunteers.

Approximately 50 students from John Marshall, Lincoln West, Rhodes and Max Hayes visited the Urban College on September 23, 2008. The students were part of the Exploring College event sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Area high school students explored the College and career options through an interactive workshop. Dr. Brian Mikelbank’s presentation was titled "Cris-atunity: How the College of Urban Affairs Mobilizes Around Local Policy Issues". James Wyles provided an interactive presentation on GIS. Both presentations provided real-world examples that students could relate to and were followed by a question and answer period.

Kirby Date, Coordinator, The Countryside Program, was an invited participant in a national roundtable on conservation development held at the Land Trust Alliance national conference in Pittsburgh on Friday, September 19, 2008. She presented information on Northeast Ohio's cluster of conservation development projects, and discussed the possibilities for land trust involvement with experts from across the country. Yale University, Cornell University, the Minnesota Land Trust, Natural Lands Trust, Brandywine Conservancy, the Conservation Fund, and other representatives from Colorado, California, Maine, Florida and Tennessee were involved.

Norm Krumholz spoke at a panel on Community Development convened on August 23 by CWRU's Neighborhood Leadership Development Program.  Other panelists were:  Professor John Grabowski, and Arnold Pinkney.  Former Mayor Michael R. White heads the program.

Dr. Richard Klein and Ms. Janice Ziegler of the Western Reserve Historical Society along with Hawken School will conduct an urban archeology dig for 12th graders this fall, 2008. It will be held at the Ferris House at University Circle.  This new partnership represents the first in a series of programs and events we are planning with the Hawken School.  Dr. Klein is pictured to the right.

Senator Grace L. Drake was invited by the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine & Pharmacy to participate in the annual mock “Legislative Hearings” portion of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine’s BS/MD Community Health Practicum course.  The Practicum is the first course in the College’s nationally recognized curriculum in community health.  Students prepared proposals to improve northeastern Ohio’s response to health threats in five areas (gambling addiction, teen use of performance enhancing drugs, adolescent obesity, uninsured persons’ access to medications, and adolescent sexually transmitted disease prevalence).  Other invited participants included former Ohio Senator Harry Meshel and Representatives Kathleen Chandler and Tom Letson.  Senator Drake was the chair of the hearings that took place on Friday, July 25, 2008.

Dr. Ned Hill will be a guest speaker at the conference "The Next Washington: Growing Jobs and Income in a Global Economy" on September 3 and 4 in Lynnwood, Washington. The posting from tricityherald.com that announces the conference is here.

Dr. Richard Klein recently hosted a seminar and a series of tours the week of July 21st as part of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs Summer Exchange Program with business and government leaders from the City of Perm in Russia.  Dr. Klein acknowledges Tom Bier, Dennis Keating, Norman Krumholz, and Kevin O'Brien for lending their expertise to the two day event.

Dr. Brian Mikelbank spoke as part of the CSU Summer Series on June 25 at CSU's West Center. His topic is "Cris-atunity:  How the College of Urban Affairs Mobilizes around Local Policy Issues."

The Center for Health Equity hosted dialogues withVernellia Randall, author of “Dying While Black.”  Guest speaker, Vernellia Randall, J.D., is a Professor of Law at the University of Dayton.  The topic of discussion is the health care system in America:  the impact from slavery to Jim Crow to Medicaid and beyond. The event was held in April.

The Center for Health Equity also hosted a "Works in Progress" Series in collaboration with Metro Health Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities. These one hour lectures were held monthly and rotated from CSU and CWRU’s campuses.  Speakers for the series included:

• Kenneth Sparks, Ph.D., Director of Human Performance Lab and Associate Professor, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Department, CSU. "The Effective Community: Education on Disease Risk in Hispanic Females" held October 2007.
• Peter Whitt, MSW, LSW, Associate Director, Center for Health Equity and Lena Grafton, MPH, CHES, Director of Community Outreach, St. Vincent Charity Hospital. "Key Elements Essential for Training Community Health Workers" held December 2007.
• Georgia Anetzberger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nance College of Business Administration, CSU. "Elder Abuse: Framing the Issue" held February 2008.
• Roxanne B. Sukol, M.D., M.S., Rockside Internal Medicine. "Insulin is the Key: Lowering the Risk of Developing Diabetes and Obesity" held in April of this year.

Interim Dean Ned Hill presented “Cities, the Economy and the Search for a New Social Contract” program on Tuesday, June 17 in O’Fallon, Illinois.

Win Weizer spoke to the NASA summer program students who used the Urban Building this June and July 2008 for their classroom activities.  Win spoke to the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders about the Levin College’s program in environmental studies.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, presented a workshop on, "The Volunteer Center Impact Study: What it Says About Your Organization and the Network," at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, Atlanta, GA, June 1-3, 2008.

Dr. Ziona Austrian and Dr. Afia Yamoah gave a presentation during the 2008 Pennsylvania WIB Symposium on "Building an Innovative System for Pennsylvania" that was held on June 25, 2008 in State College, PA. The session, "An Innovation Best Practice: The Fund for Our Economic Future and Dashboard Indicators," was very well attended.

On Tuesday, May 27, Kathy Hexter and the Forum program hosted five students from Solon High School who are doing their Senior Project with the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.  They watched a video of the forum program, A Community Conversation with Mayor Frank G. Jackson and Chief Operating Officer, Darnell Brown on the City's Operations Efficiency Task Force, followed by a discussion about local government issues.   They also had a brief presentation about the College's degree programs from Levin College's admissions recruiter Melanie Hmada.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration held a conference in Cleveland on May 12-14, 2008 "Beyond Innovation: Partnerships and Comprehensive Strategies for Transforming Our Regional Economies."  Ziona Austrian presented at a session titled "Leveraging the Capacity and Expertise of Our Colleges and Universities for Economic Development Initiatives."  Ned Hill introduced the keynote speaker, the Honorable Sandy Baruah, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, and facilitated the discussion following the presentation.

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, presented a public lecture entitled “An Introduction to Evaluation,” at the Cleveland Bicycle Week Conference, Cleveland, OH, May 15, 2008.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, presented a paper, “Measuring the Impact of the Affiliated Organizations of the Points of Light and Hands On Network,” at an invitational conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 24-25, 2008.  The Conference on “Volunteering Infrastructure and Civil Society” brought together spokepersons from eight countries on the topic of volunteer centers.

On April 19, Dr. Mittie Davis Jones delivered forum opening remarks and moderated a panel on neighborhood change for CSU's 12th Annual Urban Community Forum titled "Empowering African Americans for Change in Our Neighborhoods and Schools" at the Cole Center for Continuing Education, sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. 

On April 16, 12 students in the Spring semester Planning Capstone Studio co-taught by Professor Dennis Keating and Kris Hopkins of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, presented their research findings and recommendations on several issues in the Union-Miles neighborhood of Cleveland. The PDD 611 class was assisting in updating the Union-Miles Development Corporation’s (UMDC) neighborhood plan. The audience included the UMDC staff and board, City Councilman Robert J. White III, and Union-Miles residents. 

Professor Norman Krumholz was the keynote speaker for the National City Scapes Conference on Friday, March 28.  Professor Krumholz spoke on "Looking at Cleveland's Future." The conference focused on images of the city, urban design, urban history, representation and urban spaces, and other related topics. 

Dr. Mike Spicer presented a paper titled "Value conflict and legal reasoning" at the March 2008 American Society for Public Administration annual conference in Dallas.

The Center for Sacred Landmarks sponsored “Spring:  Rebirth, Ritual and ReCreation: An art exhibit, presentations and workshops, and a community calendar of events connecting us to the promise of spring.”  The exhibition was held at Lorain County Community College.  For information visit:   http://www.lorainccc.edu/Stocker+Arts+Center/gallery/default.htm. 

Dr. Jeffrey L. Brudney, Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies and Public Service, chaired and moderated a panel on “Governance Processes for Tackling Tough Issues” at a Symposium entitled, “Combining Practice and Theory to Improve Nonprofit Accountability and Governance.”  Later he participated in a round-table discussion to synthesize and present the key ideas and themes of the Symposium for nonprofit leaders and researchers.  The Symposium was held at Case Western Reserve University, Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, on Thursday, March 27, 2008. 

Dr. Ronnie Dunn is listed in the Who’s Who in Black Cleveland, fourth edition.    This publication highlights more than 400 influential and community-minded African Americans in Greater Cleveland whose contributions positively affect the city and its people.



Dr. Vera Vogelsang-Coombs, Mr. Patrick A. Sweeney, and 23 students were in Columbus in March for the 2008 Columbus Seminar.  The students also completed Cleveland-based events with Senator Grace Drake, Dr. Larry Keller, Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Madeline Cain, Tom Hayes, State Auditor Mary Taylor, Joseph Nanni, and Linda Pfaff (CSU Career Services).  Columbus-based events included meetings at Ohio Public Radio, the Office of the State Auditor, The Success Group, the Ohio Municipal League, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Ethics Commission, the Office of the Secretary of State, The Ohio Supreme Court, the Public Utilities Commission, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, the Legislative Service Commission, and the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). The group from the seminar are pictured above with Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner.

Dr. Ned Hill was a guest on Feagler & Friends on WVIZ.   The Friday, March 28 show is available here http://www.wviz.org/index.php/WVIZ/feagler/10334/

Dr. Richard Klein and Ms. Janice Ziegler, Education Director at the Western Reserve Historical Society presented a breakout session entitled "Lives of Immigrants Reflect Democracy" at CSU's College of Education and Human Services’ 5th Annual Partnership Conference held February 29 at the Wolstein Center.  The session focused on how high school teachers might use urban archeology to illustrate Cleveland's immigration and migration experiences.

Dr. Helen Liggett was the featured artist at Heights Arts Studio this past Spring.  Her show “Let All God’s People Say Amen” is a community art project of photography by Helen in collaboration with Morning Star Baptist Church, Cleveland.  Liggett was welcomed by the church as an observer over a period of five years.  This show presents broadly the worship experience of Morning Star, including many activities that bring church members together. 

Professor Norman Krumholz gave a lecture for the Jewish Secular Community of Cleveland,“Looking at Cleveland’s Future,” on February 15.

Dr. Ronnie Dunn spoke at the Heights Community Congress on Wednesday, February 20, as part of The Perception vs. Reality Dialogue Series on Race, Class & Diversity.  His presentation was titled “Hip Hop for Dummies:  Demystifying the Culture and Closing the Generation Gap!”

Interim Dean Ned Hill was a speaker at the Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum 2008.  

Dr. Michael Wells was named President of the Friends of the Cleveland State University Library.  Dr. Glenda Thornton, Director of the Library, anticipates that the Friends will continue to grow and offer exciting programs to the CSU community and beyond under Dr. Wells' leadership.

Dr. Richard Klein was a guest speaker at the Cleveland Bridge Builders Class of 2008 day session on January 24th.  The topic of his power point presentation was "The History of Entrepreneurship in Cleveland.”

Dr. Hill presented information about Northeast Ohio's economy to the Board of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation (January 11).   He also collaborated with the 2008 class of Leadership Akron (January 16) on regional development issues.

Interim Dean Ned Hill spoke at the Youngstown Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forecast Day on January 23.  The talk was the focus of an article in the Youngstown Vindicator titled “Exporting has big role in Valley, expert says.”  The Vindicator’s story is available here:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/jan/24/exporting-has-big-role-in-valley-expert-says/

Dr. Helen Liggett and four Urban Affairs students presented papers at the CSU symposium “Crossing Over:  Learning to Navigate the Borderlands of Intercultural Encounters.”  Dr. Liggett chaired the session called “Diverse Neighborhoods:  Social and Physical Borders.  Separation or Integration.”   Participating students were Timothy F. Kobie (’05 MUPDD), “Reconceptualizing Diverse Neighborhoods: What Makes a Neighborhood Diverse”;   Wasim Al-Habil (’08 PhD), “The Image of the Apartheid Wall in Palestine”; Akram M. Ijla (’08 PhD), “Does Public Space Create Social Capital?”; and Uday B. Kandula (PhD student), “Globalization:  Does it Erase Borders?”

Dr. Sanda Kaufman gave three invited talks as follows: October 25, 2007 at the ESSEC Business School, Paris, "How to put the public in public decisions"; November 27, 2007 at Sabangi University, Istanbul: "Public decision negotiations: Research and teaching challenges"; and November 29, 2007 at Koc University, Istanbul: "The Kth generation negotiator."

Frances Hunter was selected as a member of the Grant Making and Monitoring Committee, Neighborhood Connections program.  Neighborhood Connections is a program of the Cleveland Foundation that provides grants of $500-$5,000 to Cleveland neighborhood groups who are working to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.  Fran will represent the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland in a three-year term. 

The Levin College was ably represented at the Urban Affairs Association meeting in Baltimore, Maryland April 23-26, 2008.  A number of our faculty, staff, and students collaborated on research and gave presentations.  Participants included:  Dr. Mark Rosentraub, Mijin Joo (PhD student), Dr. Edward W. (Ned) Hill, Dafna Sholomovich (’08 PhD), Eugene Choi (PhD student), Sunjoo Park (PhD student), Dr. Jessica Sowa, Molly Schnoke (Levin College Forum Program), Kathy Hexter (Levin College Forum Program), Dr. Dennis Keating, Gil-Hwan Park,  Dr. Brian Mikelbank, and Wasim Al-Habil (’08 PhD). 

Professor Sylvester Murray was appointed Chair of the Governance Steering Committee of The World Bank's African Diaspora Mobilization Program (ADMP). The World Bank held an Open House on November 29, 2007 at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and announced that it was establishing the ADMP to "support the Africa Union and African Governments' agenda of harnessing African Diaspora expertise and resources for the region's development.” The effort is being led by Dr. Richard Cambridge, Director of The World Bank's Capacity Development Management Action Plan.
The ADMP website is:  www.worldbank.org/afr/diaspora

Dr. Ned Hill participated in the American Assembly's panel on the future of former industrial cities (November 2007).  Also on the panel were Cuyahoga County’s Director of Economic Development Paul Oyaski, and WIRE-Net's CEO John Colm.  The Assembly recently released the panel's report: “Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Older Industrial Areas.”   The PDF may be downloaded from the Assembly's web site:
http://www.americanassembly.org/programs.dir/report_file.dir/WEAKMKTS_report_report_file_Retooling%20Report%20FINAL.pdf
This report used a working paper released by the Fannie Mae Foundation this past summer by Hill and his co-authors at George Washington University's Institute for Public Policy: “States and their cities: Partnerships for the Future” www.knowledgeplex.org/showdoc.html?id=236675