Education

b-w continues commitment to sustainable practices with state’s first MBA in sustainability
Studying "the ways businesses incorporate sustainable practices into product design and manufacturing, supply-chain relationships, marketing, customer relationships and operational efficiencies" is how Baldwin-Wallace professor David Krueger defines the new MBA in Sustainability program at Baldwin-Wallace (B-W).

The two-year sustainability program is the first of its kind in Ohio. B-W was also the first higher-education institution in the state to offer an undergraduate major in sustainability, which began in 2008.

Krueger, professor of business and director of the Institute for Sustainable Business Practice, says that the MBA in Sustainability program is designed so that students learn by doing and by observing how sustainable practices are applied in the workplace.

For its part, B-W has been putting sustainable practices to work on campus for the past few years. These have included installing geothermal heating and cooling systems in buildings, instituting an industrial-scale waste composting program and campus-wide recycling and constructing a wind turbine.

B-W's Institute for Sustainable Business Practice, which serves as a resource to businesses, recently received $100,000 from the Cleveland Foundation for its Sustainability Plan Clinic.


SOURCE: Baldwin-Wallace
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
cleveland public library earns top spot in library journal index
Boasting the highest score and largest circulation in its expenditure category, the Cleveland Public Library snagged top honors in the annual Library Journal Index of Public Library Service (LJ Index). Crunching numbers in the categories of library visits, circulation, program attendance, and public Internet usage, the index ranks more than 7,400 library systems around the nation.

"This is great news for our Cleveland community," said Felton Thomas, director of Cleveland Public Library. "Our goal is to provide our patrons easy access to our collections, programs, and computers, and we're honored to receive this recognition."

In the liner notes, however, the Journal warns that recent cuts in state library funding will doubtless impact the standing of Ohio libraries in future rounds of the LJ Index.

Check out all the winners here.
cleveland’s overdrive has 20th consecutive quarter of profitability; announces major investment
OverDrive distributes one of the world's largest catalogs of e-books, audiobooks and multimedia, with more than 500,000 premium copyrighted titles. Founded in 1986, OverDrive has built a reputation for hosted solutions of digital media, and has gained partnerships with major publishers like Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Hachette and McGraw-Hill.

The Cleveland-based company is poised for even more dramatic growth thanks to a major investment from Insight Venture Partners of New York City. Subject to regulatory approval, the investment will provide additional resources and capital to expand OverDrive's presence in the United States and abroad.

Larry Handen, managing director of Insight Venture Partners, noted that its investment announcement coincided with OverDrive's 20th consecutive quarter of profitability.

"Insight values OverDrive's partnerships with leading libraries, educators, publishers and authors," says OverDrive founder and CEO, Steve Potash. OverDrive currently reaches out to 11,000 retailers, libraries, schools and other digital channels around the globe.
pittsburgh's pop city spreads the word about fresh water
In last week's issue of Pop City (yes, it's a sister IMG publication), writer Deb Smit reported on our dear publication.

"Fresh Water launches this month with the goods on Cleveland, news as it pertains to innovation, jobs, healthcare, lifestyle, design and arts and culture," she writes." The bubbly, blue homepage comes to life each Thursday with a fresh issue featuring vibrant photography and stories on the people shaking things up and the great places to visit."

Smit even encourages smitten Pittsburghers to subscribe. Thanks, Pop City!

Read all the news that's fit to pop here.
brookings institute says great lakes metros like cleveland are ideally suited for next economy
In this paper by Brookings Think Tank fellows Vey, Austin and Bradley, the Great Lakes region is described as being uniquely suited for growth in the New Economy.

"As the American economy works its way slowly out of the Great Recession, a consensus is developing among public and private-sector stakeholders that simply re-constructing our old economy, one based on highly-leveraged domestic consumption, would be a serious mistake," the report argues. "The nation must instead focus on building the next economy, one that is oriented towards greater exporting, powered by a low-carbon energy strategy, driven by innovation, and that creates opportunities for all. The Great Lakes region... could show the rest of the country the way forward to the next economy."

Citing the following factors, the report finds that the Great Lakes region, particularly its metropolitan areas, has significant resources essential to creating the next economy.

- Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois are among the top states in terms of green tech patenting, focused on new technologies in battery power, hybrid systems, and fuel cells.

- The 21 largest Great Lakes metros are home to 32 major public and private research universities, which attract substantial federal research investment. The region produces approximately 36 percent of America's science and engineering degrees each year.

- The region is rich with community colleges, which help the region's workers develop skills and credentials necessary to secure jobs in the region's industries, and in so doing maintain a pool of skilled employees to attract and support them.

Read the report here.
cleveland state gets an A+ for new student center
There's no guarantee that they'll study any harder, but those who attend Cleveland State University (CSU) will no doubt be spending more time inside the new and ultra-friendly Student Center. The $44-million building was officially unveiled to new and returning students at the beginning of the fall semester.

The Student Center features three lounges and several terraces for reading and relaxing. Dining options include the Viking Marketplace and Chop'd and Wrap'd. The Atrium Cafe serves local treats, such as Phoenix Coffee and Bialy's Bagels. A convenience store, a CSU bookstore and a 6,000-square-foot ballroom are other highlights of the Student Center.

Gwathmey Siegel & Associates of New York designed the facility to enhance the image of the overall campus and create an open connection with the city. The interior is bright and open, with plenty of areas to view the bustling cityscape.

"The Student Center will become the hub of campus life, the nexus where all of us – students, faculty and staff – come together to form a community," says Ronald M. Berkman, president of CSU. "Its importance cannot be overstated."

The Student Center is the latest in a series of construction projects on the CSU campus over the last few years. Led by the vision of former CSU president, Michael Schwartz, CSU has a long-range plan to make the school an integral party of the city.



SOURCE: Ronald Berkman
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
i live here (now): marc canter
When we talk about "big thinkers," Marc Canter ranks right up there with Jobs, Gates, and whomever it was that invented the Buffalo chicken wing. Tech nerds of a certain age may not know him by name, but we most certainly know his work: Director, the first computer authoring tool that enabled people to create multimedia content. Now Canter wants to save Cleveland by creating high-tech jobs. He also wants a little nosh.