Higher Education

Students and parents are invited  to visit the Cuyahoga Community College Westshore Campus on Saturday, Feb. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon for “Your Future Continues, Transfer Options for Tri-C Students.” 

The event will provide students and parents with information about how credits earned at Tri-C will transfer to four-year colleges/universities along with information about Cuyahoga Community College’s Honors Program and scholarships. Tri-C has over 80 scholarships for fall 2016 which will cover full tuition costs for new students.

College Club West is offering tuition grants for the 2016-2017 academic year. A minimum of $2,000 will be awarded to qualified women applicants. A woman must be at least 25 years old, currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, and reside in the counties of Cuyahoga, Lorain or Medina. Scholarships will be awarded based on financial need, scholarship, career goals and community service..

Visit our website at collegeclubwest.org for details and application forms. Applications are due by March 15, 2016. (Completed applications must be postmarked by March 12, 2016.)

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will launch a new session at Corporate College West in Westlake on Jan. 19.

The free program uses education and training to empower women at a life crossroads. Participants build confidence and self-esteem through classes on personal development, career exploration and financial and computer literacy.

The course is designed to assist women in transitional periods of their lives, such as a career change or return to the workforce. The eight-week, non-credit program is free and open to the public.

A year in Tennessee brought Alex Pavlo home to find academic success at Cuyahoga Community College.

The Westlake resident will receive an associate degree in business marketing at Tri-C’s Fall Commencement. She will be among 1,500 graduating students in line for degrees and certificates.

“Tri-C has affected my life in such a positive way,” said Pavlo, 20. “Looking back from when I first enrolled, I have matured as a student and as an adult. I have a better grasp of who I want to be and what I want to do.”

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will launch a new session at Corporate College West on Oct. 26.

The free program uses education and training to empower women at a life crossroads. Participants build confidence and self-esteem through classes on personal development, career exploration and financial and computer literacy.

The Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will explore topics such as health and wellness, personal finance, and arts and culture during its “Learning for Life” lecture series this academic year.

The free educational series offers evening lectures and brown bag lunch discussions at Westshore Campus and Corporate College West in Westlake. Tri-C faculty members and local experts will lead the sessions.

“The ‘Learning for Life’ lecture series enhances the College’s mission of providing high quality and accessible educational opportunities – not just for our students, but also to members of our community,” said Robert Searson, dean of academic affairs at Westshore Campus.

Case Western Reserve University’s Off-Campus Studies program is offering a course on "The Search for Meaning in a Secular Age" this fall. In an earlier age, Dante's "Divine Comedy" provided mankind with a transcendent sense of the universe. Alternatively, in our modern times, Melville's "Moby Dick" wrested that profound sense of the universal from man.

The class will discuss the book, "All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age," by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly. In this broad survey of some of the world's greatest thinkers and writers, the authors argue that the malaise of contemporary society, beset with violence and selfish preoccupation, is the result of man having forgotten the aspirational aspect of life.

This fall, a book discussion course in Bay Village will take a look at China: From Concubines to Communism. Sound interesting? Come join us and see for yourself.

In the course, our leader/teacher, Enid Kurtz, will guide us through our readings and discussions. There will be eight classes, every Monday beginning on Sept. 21, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, featuring two books. The first is "Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China" by Yung Chang, published in 1991. This book has the intimacy of a memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history as it follows three generations of women whose lives and fortunes mirror tumultuous 20th century China. Our second book, "Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World," by renowned historian Margaret MacMillan, is a nonfiction book covering the famous meeting between these two world leaders.

Baylee Briggs and Jenna Haas of Bay Village have been selected for Cuyahoga Community College Honors Program Fellowships, which offer high-achieving students scholarships to cover tuition, fees and books as they work toward an associate degree.

Briggs and Haas signed commitment letters with the College during an Aug. 5 ceremony at the Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts at Metropolitan Campus in Cleveland. The scholarships — funded by the Cuyahoga Community College Foundation — are valued at up to $4,250 per academic year.

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will launch its first fall session at Corporate College West on Aug. 24.

The free program uses education and training to empower women at a life crossroads. Participants build confidence and self-esteem through classes on personal development, career exploration and financial and computer literacy.

The course is designed to assist women in transitional periods of their lives, such as a career change or return to the workforce. The eight-week, non-credit program is free and open to the public.

Adam Tepper of Bay Village claimed academic all-conference honors from the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference while enrolled as a student-athlete at Cuyahoga Community College.

Those honored maintained at least a 3.30 GPA while completing at least 24 credit hours during the 2014-2015 academic year. Fifteen Tri-C student-athletes earned spots on the Academic All-OCCAC Team.

“These student-athletes reflect Cuyahoga Community College’s commitment to excellence,” said Tri-C President Alex Johnson. “They made us proud both in the classroom and on the field.”

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will launch its first summer session in Westlake on June 16 at Corporate College West.

The free program uses education and training to empower women at a life crossroads. Participants build confidence and self-esteem through classes on personal development, career exploration and financial and computer literacy.

The course is designed to assist women in transitional periods of their lives, such as a career change or return to the workforce. The non-credit program is free and open to the public.

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter at the Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College in Westlake was recognized with multiple awards at this year's PTK convention.

Westshore’s Beta Upsilon Beta chapter won two prestigious Hallmark Awards while being named a Top 100 Chapter in the nation. The convention – known as NerdNation – took place April 16-18 in San Antonio, Texas.

Cuyahoga Community College baseball player Tom Keaney has been named Pitcher of the Week by the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference for his performance April 6-12.

Keaney pitched Tri-C to a 1-0 victory over Owens Community College on Saturday, April 11. He held Owens to just one hit over six innings while striking out four. On the season, Keaney is 3-2 with 23 strikeouts in 31 innings.

The second-year player from Westlake is a graduate of Westlake High School.

Aswin Bikkani of Westlake was one of seven students from Cuyahoga Community College named to the All-Ohio Community College Academic Team, which comprises top students at the state’s two-year schools.

The All-Ohio Academic Team recognizes student excellence in academics, leadership and community service. Fifty-three students from across the state were selected for this year’s team on the basis of their outstanding records. Tri-C had more students named All-Ohio than any other school.

The Case Western Reserve University Off-Campus Studies program is offering “O Canada, Glorious and Free” with Joseph Jacoby on Thursdays, March 26-May 14, 10-11:30 a.m., at Westlake United Methodist Church, 27650 Center Ridge Road.

We are less than 30 miles from the American-Canadian border, but most of us know virtually nothing about Canada. The awarding of the 2013 Nobel Prize to Canadian author Alice Munro renewed interest in the richness of Canadian literature.

Jeffery Mader of Bay Village will be part of the Cuyahoga Community College team competing at PLANET Student Career Days, a national collegiate landscaping competition taking place March 12-15 at North Carolina State University.

More than 850 college students from 65 of the nation’s top horticulture and landscape programs, including Tri-C, are expected to attend the three-day competition to test their skills in 28 events.

Students will compete in 3-D landscape design, irrigation techniques, hardscape installation, plant identification, small engine repair and many more events requiring the expertise needed to work in the industry.

The Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will host a free financial aid workshop on Thursday, March 26, at 6 p.m., to show the resources and options available to help pay for college.

The “Everyone Can Afford College” workshop will include panel discussions covering topics such as available scholarships, student loans, savings plans and financial aid eligibility requirements.

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will launch its first eight-week session at Corporate College West on March 17.

The free program uses education and training to empower women at a life crossroads. Participants build confidence and self-esteem through classes on personal development, career exploration and financial and computer literacy.

College Club West is a non-profit group of women college graduates living in the Greater Cleveland area. This club is again pleased to offer a minimum of $2,000 scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year. Information regarding these scholarships along with eligibility and application requirements can be found on our website, www.collegeclubwest.org. Deadline for all applications is March 15.

The Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will extend its “Year of the Brain” lecture series into spring semester given the success and popularity of the free program.

The educational series features brown bag lunch discussions at Westshore Campus and Corporate College West, plus a pair of interactive evening lectures focusing on a variety of brain-related topics.

The series is based on "Charlie Rose: The Brain Series" on PBS, which explores the final frontier of neuroscience research while examining advances in brain science.

Cuyahoga Community College will again offer free personal income tax filing service at Corporate College West in Westlake in 2015. The tax clinic is open to qualified taxpayers filing a simple return with a 2014 earned income of less than $60,000.

Walk-in assistance is available on a first-come, first-served basis between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 4 through April 1 (closed March 11). The tax clinic will be held in Room 203 of Corporate College West, located at 25425 Center Ridge Road.

The Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will host a Campus Visitation Day on Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 16.

The open house provides prospective students with an opportunity to discuss academic programs with faculty and counselors; learn more about enrollment, financial aid and scholarships; explore student services; and tour the facilities.

Case Western Reserve University's Off-Campus Studies program will offer a group discussion of the novel "Middlemarch" on Thursdays, Jan. 15 to March 5, 10-11:30 a.m., at Westlake United Methodist Church, 27650 Center Ridge Road.

Nine characters in George Eliot's masterpiece traverse from being single to being married – one does it twice – and a tenth begins the journey but never completes it. In exquisite detail, the author paints a canvas showing how each character seeks answers to major intellectual and emotional questions.

The Women in Transition program at Cuyahoga Community College will make its Westshore Campus and Corporate College West debut with free December workshops.

The “Love Jar Workshop” will help participants acknowledge their positive characteristics while providing an introduction to the Women in Transition program, now entering its 37th year at Tri-C.

The free hour-long workshops will be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in Room 132 at Westshore Campus. The workshops will be held at the same times Tuesday, Dec. 2, in Room 119 at Corporate College West.

Mireille “Miro” Tabanji, the 2014-2015 Board Student Scholar at Cuyahoga Community College, can tell you all about perseverance.

In 1980, when Tabanji was 18, she fled war-torn Lebanon with her family and took refuge in Jordan. She left her homeland without graduating from high school, as the fighting often forced her to abandon class.

Now, a quarter-century later and half-a-world away from the turmoil of her youth, Tabanji is working toward an associate degree at Tri-C.

Mariam Ghanem from Westlake and Connor Hazeldine from Bay Village have received Honors Program Fellowships from Cuyahoga Community College. The fellowship offers high-achieving students scholarships to cover tuition, fees and books as they work toward an associate degree.

The inaugural fellowship class features Ghanem, Hazeldine and 11 other area students who graduated high school with at least a 3.5 grade point average and stellar ACT/SAT test scores. By entering the scholarship program, they commit to being full-time students and earning a degree from Tri-C within two years.

The Case Western Reserve University Off-Campus Studies program returns to Westlake this fall. This session's topic is "F. Scott Fitzgerald: His First Three Novels Revisited" and will be held Thursdays, Sept. 25 to Nov. 13, 10-11:30 a.m., at Westlake United Methodist Church, 27650 Center Ridge Road.

The Cuyahoga Community College board of trustees voted recently to place a 1.2-mill renewal levy with a 0.9-mill increase on the Nov. 4 ballot. Collection of the levy would begin in 2015 and run 10 years.

The proposed levy is meant to sustain Tri-C’s vital educational and economic impact in Northeast Ohio. The request asks Cuyahoga County property owners for an additional investment of $2.63 per month on a $100,000 home.

Cuyahoga Community College announced that Dr. Terri Pope has been named president of the Westshore Campus in Westlake.

Pope had served as interim president of Westshore Campus since October. She replaced Dr. J. Michael Thomson, who is now president of Tri-C’s Eastern Campus in Highland Hills.

Pope brings a unique perspective to the position forged through experiences as a Tri-C student, instructor and leader.

Beginning on Thursday, March 27, Case Western Reserve University, in collaboration with the Association for Continuing Education (ACE) will be offering "Masterpiece: Thomas Mann’s 'Buddenbrooks'." Experience this magnificent chronicle with leader/teacher Joseph Jacoby.

Thomas Mann, a Nobel laureate, is generally considered Germany’s greatest novelist of the 20th century. His extraordinary first novel, "Buddenbrooks," burst on the scene in 1900. It chronicles the lives of four generations of a North German mercantile family with profound psychological insight and a deep understanding of this complex society. The elegant, relatively new translation by John E. Woods is a requirement.

Bay High School graduate Adam Tepper earned second-team all-conference honors this fall while playing soccer for the Cuyahoga Community College Challengers. The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference recently recognized Tepper for his performance during his first season with Tri-C, where he played midfielder. He was one of four Challengers to receive post-season awards from the conference. The team ended the season with a 1-18 record.

Cuyahoga Community College President Dr. Alex Johnson has named Dr. Terri Pope interim campus president for the Westshore Campus in Westlake. Pope replaces Dr. J. Michael Thomson, who has been reassigned as campus president to the Tri-C Eastern Campus in Highland Hills.

Pope holds a doctorate in philosophy with an emphasis in physiological chemistry from The Ohio State University, Department of Food Science and Nutrition and a Bachelor of Science in nutrition from Case Western Reserve University. She attended Cuyahoga Community College for the first two years of her undergraduate studies.

Cuyahoga Community College AmeriCorps completion coaches will hold a cold-weather clothing drive as part of ServeOhio’s “Make a Difference Day” on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with drop-off sites at all Tri-C campuses. The Tri-C Westshore Campus is located at 31001 Clemens Road, Westlake.

The drive will benefit the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, which will distribute the donated items through its new Community Resource and Referral Center at East 70th Street and Euclid Avenue. Tri-C students and members of the Tri-C Veterans Initiative will join AmeriCorps staff to collect new, unopened clothing, blankets and toiletries – a complete list appears at the end of this article.

Beginning on Thursday, Sept. 26, Off-Campus Studies, under the auspices of Case Western Reserve University’s Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program, and in collaboration with the Association for Continuing Education, will be available in Westlake. The group meets on Thursdays, 10-11:30 a.m., at Westlake United Methodist Church, 27650 Center Ridge Road. There will be eight sessions, extending through Nov. 14.

Our topic is Steinbeck’s America. John Steinbeck is a familiar name to all of us. His voice is that of the ordinary working class person facing both internal and external challenges in life. He takes on the human struggle in a timeless and universal language. His characters are richly developed and reach into our very souls.

The Cuyahoga Community College Westshore Campus announces an ongoing lecture series on the brain for the 2013-14 academic year. The Westshore Campus will host a conversational brown bag lunch series, as well as an evening interactive lecture series. Please note some lunch series conversations will occur at Corporate College West. All are free and open to the public.

The lunchtime lecture series is based on the "Charlie Rose: The Brain Series" program, which began airing on PBS in 2009. "The Brain Series" is a multi-part program hosted by Nobel laureate Eric Kandel, M.D., which explores the final frontier of neuroscience research examining current advances in brain science.

Beginning this semester, Cuyahoga Community College is partnering with Lake Erie Nature & Science Center for its 14-week astronomy course. The Thursday afternoon class, taught by top-notch Tri-C faculty, will take place at the Schuele Planetarium at the Science Center in Bay Village. The three-credit class begins online Sept. 9.

This exciting new course option for students interested in astronomy is a blended learning course, where parts of the lecture and laboratory will be delivered online through recorded lectures, digital simulations and online activities. Class time will utilize the resources at the planetarium and focus on developing problem-solving skills.

The Cuyahoga Community College Westshore Campus hosted its board of trustees meeting on Thursday, June 27. And what an historic board meeting it was. The new Tri-C college President Dr. Alex Johnson was sworn in, and outgoing President Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton received president emeritus status.

“Thank you for your support of my presidential leadership and guidance you provided me as we worked to achieve the mission, vision and values of Cuyahoga Community College,” said Thornton to the board members.

Megan See, an art student at Bay High School, was the first recipient of the BAYarts Ruth Purdy-Leslie Scholarship. The $500 award is for a student attending college in the fall for a career in an art field. Megan is a multi-award winning ceramic artist going to Cleveland Institute of Art in the fall who won the judges over with her passionate and focused application.

The scholarship is the first of its kind through the Ruth Purdy-Leslie Scholarship. The fund was created by friends and family of former Bay Village art teacher and resident Ruth Purdy-Leslie. Ruth's mother, Marianne, was one of the founders of the original Baycrafters, and Ruth continued to teach and take classes at BAYarts in her adult life. A colorful memorial garden on BAYarts campus features stones and sculptures created by her former students. A mural created by the Rustbelt Monster Collective is the backdrop.

Cuyahoga Community College’s Westshore Campus is hiring to fill daytime and evening teaching and tutoring positions for the Summer Session and/or Fall Semester 2013. There will be two information sessions on Tuesday, May 14 – the first from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and the second from 5-7 p.m.

During the information sessions, interested parties will talk with faculty, tour the campus and learn more about being an adjunct faculty member or tutor.