Levin News, produced by the Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs, is designed to share information on programs and activities, grants, publications, and other news of interest about Levin College faculty, staff, students, and alumni. 

On June 19, Joseph W. Mead, Assistant Professor at the Levin College, took students enrolled in Levin's summer Advocacy and Policy Change course to the Ohio Statehouse. The group celebrated Juneteenth with Representatives Jim Boyd and Juanita O. Brent; met with Senators Nickie J. Antonio (MPA '92) and Kirk Schuring, who offered tips to the students on how to effectively engage with legislators; talked with Ohio Chancellor of Higher Education Randy Gardner; and met with legislative aides, lobbyists, and advocacy groups. The group also attended both the House and Senate sessions, as well as three committee hearings where representatives were debating concealed weapons laws; discussed whether undocumented immigrants should be excluded from workers compensation; and considered whether to provide funds to First Energy to allow it to keep two nuclear power plants open.
 
Senator Antonio recognized Professor Mead and his students on the floor during the Senate session, saying "I'd like the Senate to give a welcome to Professor Joe Mead and students from Cleveland State University...The thing I love about Professor Mead is that he doesn't just teach theory in the classroom, he packs up the car and brings his students to the Statehouse so they can see firsthand how policies are created."
 
This trip gave the students an opportunity to see Levin graduates working in or adjacent to the Statehouse. Additionally, legislators, the Chancellor of Higher Education, and others informed the students they remembered them from previous visits and said their visits make an impression. The trip was funded through Professor Mead's fellowship with the ENACT program.

Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, Professor at the Levin College, and Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Student Success at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, was interviewed by public radio reporter and host Kara Holsopple for The Allegheny Front regarding differences in the ways Ohio and Pennsylvania regulate the oil and gas industry and, in particular, hydraulic fracturing technology. The interview, titled  "How Ohio Compares to Pennsylvania for Oversight of Gas Industry" is available here.
 
This and an earlier interview with reporter Julie Grant were also used as background for another story in the same series. The earlier story, "Some Ohio Citizens Who Complained about Oil and Gas Feel "Abandoned" by the State", aired on public radio in Pittsburgh and will be broadcast more broadly in the region. It is one of a five-part series entitled "Who's listening?" examining claims made by Ohio residents and how state regulators have responded.

A paper titled "Cleveland Heights, Ohio: Combating Suburban Decline," by Dr. W. Dennis Keating, Emeritus Professor at the Levin College, has been accepted for the 2019 Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH) Conference in Arlington, Virginia this fall.

The paper shares how the City of Cleveland Heights in recent decades has seen its population decline, a rise in the poverty rate, the decline of its historic mall and some of its commercial centers, a less favorable image of its public schools, and an aging housing stock. In 2017, Cleveland Heights adopted a new Master Plan. The paper analyzes the plan and the city's efforts to combat these issues.

Crain's annual "Twenty in their 20s" selection recognizes active, driven young professionals who will help steer the course of Northeast Ohio into a positive future. Among them this year is Keniece Gray, Master of Public Administration student at the Levin College. "Keniece is a rare find," said Dr. Tatyana Guzman, Associate Professor at the Levin College, who nominated Gray for the selection. "She is thoughtful, ambitious and passionate about her work and her communal life."
 
Gray said she believes in getting involved in organizations at an early age. In addition to her day job as a performance auditor in Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's Office of Quality Control and Performance Management, she's involved in several nonprofit groups and is in the process of founding an organization she's calling Journey to the Board.
 
"I'm starting it because I believe that the youth have the ability and capacity to serve on boards and executive committees, but they may not have the training or skill set they need," she said. "And so I really want to help train the next generation to be prepared to serve in those roles that will give them a seat at the table to really help change the structure and change the direction that organizations are taking."
 
In nominating Gray, several people mentioned her commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. She said that while growing up, she first went to a neighborhood school where everyone was like her: African American. Then, she had an experience at a Catholic school before going to the private Hawken School for high school. At Hawken, she saw well-maintained football fields, guidance counselors with ample time to help each student prepare for college, and a 10:1 student-teacher ratio, unlike what her neighborhood friends had.
 
"So in my 12th-grade year I started to understand what educational inequities look like and how that could really change the direction of somebody's path in life," she said. "At Hawken, I was one of maybe eleven or twelve black students in my class, so out there I was definitely the odd girl out. Then, when I came back home, I was the oddball out because I didn't go to school with everybody else."
 
Before taking the job at the city of Cleveland, Gray worked as an auditor at the Cleveland office of the Deloitte US public accounting firm. In her current job, Gray said, she evaluates programs, makes sure they are in compliance with all regulations, and looks for ways to improve them.

The Center for Community Solutions has announced the winners of their inaugural Ohio Health and Human Services Journalism Grant, and Levin PhD student Hannah Lebovits has been selected as one of the grant recipients.
 
Lebovits' research at Levin focuses on "the social and spatial inequities tied to metropolitan areas and the tensions between and within central cities, suburbs, and rural areas." She serves as a freelance reporter for Cleveland Scene magazine where she covers regional and suburban policy.
 
The Center for Community Solutions noted they were inspired to see the number and quality of applications from journalists all across Northeast Ohio who responded to the proposal. Reporters from across the region applied with original, unique, and compelling reporting projects. Due to the quality of the applications, and the varied story ideas, they decided to award four grants to reporters from different newspapers this year. The winners will use grant funds to assist in their coverage of important health and human services topics.

Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, Professor at the Levin College, and Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Student Success at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, was featured in the 50th episode of the CAP-Impact podcast. CAP-impact provides information, advice, and analysis to help people understand and shape the rules around them. In this episode, Professor Robertson discussed community bills of rights; in particular, Toledo's Lake Erie Bill of Rights, and the rights of nature movement more broadly.

Levin alumni are invited to join us on Sunday, July 14, 2019 at 10:00 am for the 2019 Cleveland Tall Ships Festival, where you'll get to board and tour the ships and engage in sail training programs with the crew and captains. We're planning on a great time for you and your families to enjoy live entertainment, historical exhibits, food, and fun.
 
Discounted tickets are available, with rates at $13 per person and $10 per child (5-14). Children under 5 get in free. You won't want to miss this rare chance to catch a glimpse, step aboard, and even set sail on some of the grandest ships of yore!
 
Levin alumni are encouraged to gather at CSU's alumni table in the Marketplace at North Coast Harbor (601 Erieside Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44114) at 10:00 am on July 14 to kick off the day. The first ten alumni to visit the table will receive a free Levin mug.