Notre Dame College is coming back to school with an unprecedented number of new and improved academic, career-focused and campus life enhancements, especially for students.
From renovating nearly 50,000 square feet of space into the first College campus student center to establishing and expanding several career and advising service centers to updating the technology and lab space of a dozen different classrooms, Notre Dame has seen the start—and for most of these projects also the completion—of nearly 20 different advancements during this one summer.
And the excitement doesn’t stop with the start of the on-campus semester. The College also plans to host its first Community Day, to feature an art and craft fair among other activities connecting the campus, especially with its South Euclid, Ohio, neighbors, on September 26.
Notre Dame also will expand its annual Founders’ Week, Homecoming and Alumni Reunion Weekend celebrations at the start of October during this school year.
Experience it all, beginning with Welcome Weekend for new and returning students August 28-31.
Campus Life
Notre Dame is opening its first and a brand new student center located on the ground level of the Clara Fritzsche Library building adjacent to the Falcon Café.
Exercise facilities; games, like pool, air hockey and arcade offerings; relaxation-media-TV lounge spaces; study space and computers; student art displays; student affairs offices; and a conference room will all be part of this new space—created just for students.
The center will be open extended evening and weekend hours, too: until midnight on weekdays and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Career services, residence life and the library have moved upstairs to the second level, making the building a one-stop service area for many of students' academic and social needs.
The Falcon Café has undergone an exciting transformation of its own this summer. With new menu items and new space for evening entertainment and additional spirit and school supplies for sale items, the café, like the Student Center, will be open 8 a.m. until midnight weekdays and 8 a.m. until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The campus dining hall also will be open extended hours until 8:30 p.m., beginning this fall, to better accommodate students participating in sports and other extracurricular activities during the evening hours.
A Zagster bicycle sharing station is now on campus between the new student center and Keller Center, with five bikes available at reasonable rates for up to 24 hours of use.
For students’ traveling needs, a new agreement with RTA to offer deeply discounted rates for unlimited student access to the transit company's buses and rapid transit cars also is in the works.
Additionally, the College is establishing a health and wellness center medical clinic facility in Harks Hall with BowTie Medical that will be staffed by a nurse practitioner 20 hours per week and accessible to students who are enrolled in the plan.
Across campus, establishing headquarters in Regina Auditorium, the co-directors of Northeast Ohio’s established Mercury Theatre Company have agreed to assume direction of Notre Dame's theatre program. In the coming school year, they will be producing plays featuring Notre Dame students.
And the auditorium has improved air conditioning.
Career Preparation
In addition to the campus Career Center moving to enhanced space on the second floor of the new student center, the Nursing Division lab, previously on the third floor of the Administration Building, is now located in the state-of-the-art Nursing Division on the third floor of Regina Hall.
The first floor of Regina Hall is being remodeled into a new center combining teaching, learning and technology to better support students, and faculty, advancing their education and careers through online courses.
Notre Dame also is creating the Enterprise Development Center, to be called EDC@NDC, on campus this year with funding awarded from the Cleveland Foundation. Over the next two years, the $150,000 Fenn Educational Fund grant will help create more than 100 paid, on-campus internship experiences for Notre Dame students in all majors. The Fenn Grant provides students up to a $500 stipend and three class credits per internship experience working with more than 40 high- and low-tech startups and small businesses.
The College expects to start its own first entrepreneurial enterprise, Campus Composters, this year. The College-owned composting company, started in the spring, will recycle organic waste and deliver nutrient-rich fertilizer to South Euclid residents. The business plan is for student employees from various majors to collect the waste, first from just on-campus sources but then to expand to area businesses. Transport will be handled by bicycle to stay sustainable.
Academic Achievement
Academic services on campus are advancing beyond the new career-focused centers and an enhanced library and study areas in the student center.
The College’s Student Success Center in the Administration Building has expanded to include improved space, still on the second floor of the building, adjacent to the Dwyer Learning Center. Additional area, better accessibility and more flexible hours make the Center an even greater asset to help students with academic advising and all their studies.
Notre Dame also is launching the first phase of its FirstGen Center programming to support students who are Pell Grant-eligible and the first in their families to attend college with advising, mentoring and additional support this fall
Renovated classrooms and updated computer labs, including nearly 10 different areas in the Administration Building, will make learning more comfortable and accessible.
The video gaming design program even has a central space on the third floor now.
The College’s Abrahamic Center, which develops educational programs for Notre Dame and the Greater Cleveland community fostering mutual respect among all peoples and celebrating religious, racial and cultural diversity, also has newly remodeled and dedicated space—on the second floor of the Administration Building.
Meanwhile, Counseling Services has moved from the second floor of the Administration Building. The center has expanded and is now located in newly remodeled space in the Connelly Center, where students will discover new staff and a new service dog, Penny.
About Notre Dame College
For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.
Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master's degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.
Notre Dame College is located at 4545 College Roade in South Euclid. For further information contact Brian Johnston, chief communications officer, at 216.373.5252 or bjohnston@
ndc.edu.