Identifier,500010
Interviewee,Timothy Cosgrove
Date,7/21/14
Interviewer,"John Horan, II"
Abstract,"Timothy Cosgrove, a two-time alumnus of Cleveland State University (CSU), discusses a dear subject to him: CSU. He talks about his time attending the university and working full-time throughout his eight years there. Cosgrove began his undergraduate degree in 1979, completed it in 1983 and went immediately on to attain his law degree, which he received in 1987. After graduating he went to work for George Voinovich in different capacities, all the while, either directly or indirectly, keeping track of his alma mater. Then in 1997, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees, where he served until 2007 when his full term expired. Throughout the interview, Cosgrove talks about how the university has made great strides to improve, but it must never let its guard down. Ultimately, he concludes with a brief discussion about the CSU Foundation, and how important it is in keeping the university viable for students of all economic backgrounds."
Tags,"Collinwood, ethnicity, Cleveland, segregation, Cleveland State University (CSU), Collinwood High School, Mather Mansion, tuition, Main Classroom, TKE Fraternity, George Voinovich, Dr. Michael Schwartz, Board of Trustees, Coliseum at Richfield, Convocation Center, Woodling Gym, Law School, Urban Affairs, Peoplesoft, Cleveland State Foundation, controversy, Radiance Fund Raiser"
Special Notes,43rd minute his assistant comes in and gives him a note - marked in the log
0,"Introductions, Born May 21, 1961 in Cleveland and has been here his whole life; grew up in Collinwood and lived there until he was 40; talks about growing up in Collinwood"
1,"Says there was an ethnic background in Collinwood - divided up into ethnic sections, but even though they were Irish they lived in the Slovenian section - interesting perspective; Talks about Collinwood High and the racial conflict; says his neighborhood was very blue collar and typical, but it also had its quirks"
2,"Gives an example about an abnormality - E.152nd street was divided whites on one side, blacks on the other - he thought that was normal, found out that wasn't true; "
3,"He attended a seminar at the University about desegregation in Cleveland during the 1970s; he says that he learned that in Memorial School African Americans were segregated and put in the basement - he went to that school and did not realize that was going on, but looking back he thinks of how different things were; did not go to Collinwood High because of the racial tension"
4,"He went to a Catholic School until the 7th grade and because his parents could not afford it, he went to work and while working he met someone from Bratenahl who told him he should go to Bratenahl High and he did - says it was a diverse environment and a different experience then he went to CSU"
5,He talks about that first job he had - a florist shop on E152 and Waterloo - he worked 7 days a week his whole time in high school; He then waited tables at all of the downtown hotels - he got more professional experience waiting tables than anything else;
6,"Lists the hotels he waited tables at - favorite was Stauffer's; Educational background: Memorial School for Kindergarten, then St. Jerome Elementary, Bratenahl High School, CSU for undergrad (1979-1983) and then Marshall Law (1983-1987)"
7,"Describes why he picked CSU, his graduating class took public transportation to take a tour of CSU and he fell in love - talks about Mather Mansion - first time he was on a college campus"
8,"He applied to CSU for financial reasons and because he had to take care of his mother; he still remembers getting the acceptance letter -he did not realize it was open enrollment, so he was very nervous; only place he applied - says he is very blessed to go to CSU"
9,"CSU changed his life, it opened up the world to him; He has been college visiting with his kids and would not trade his experience for any other"
10,"Talks about the first class he walked into, 4th floor of Main Classroom - twice as many students as his whole high school - overwhelming but very exciting; he was a commuter and finding parking was a major problem; says that it was a very different campus, and he worked a great deal"
11,"He worked for the florist shop, waiting tables, then went to work for George Voinovich in succession throughout his undergraduate career; His experience in the first 2-3 years was school than work not much social; he eventually joined a fraternity (TKE) he lived on campus for a while; says that in the 90s, there was a decline"
12,"The 1980s things were different, much more active than the 90s, and it is coming back stronger; talks about the inntown which was an old hotel that was used for dorms - talks about rascal house and fat glenn's"
13,He was part of the fraternity and became president- still friends with many of those people to this day; Talks about the decline in the 90s and why it happened - says CSU is counter-cyclical: when the economy is doing well CSU does not do well
14,Thinks CSU sells themselves short; in the 90s people had more money and better alternatives; talks about his job with the governor for a bit - job was with education; talks about the Winbush Affair and how that was toxic
15,Continues to talk about the Winbush Affair and the fallout from that event; Gives a third reason for why there was a decline -did not develop undergraduate programs
16,"Says that the institution chased the easy money - shortterm results - increased graduate programs, at the expense of the undergraduate; says that the core of any university is the undergraduate population; Says that until Michael Schwartz - there was no Sophomore class"
17,"Describes this dilemma - says that freshman dropped out for various reasons and that transfers were coming as Juniors and Seniors - no sophomores - ""good students attract good students"" Michael Schwartz"
18,Quality and access are mutually exclusive but they are not; talks about programs and policies that were put in place to create a better campus; talks about building the rec center and student center and the controversy 
19,"Says that graduate classes are shrinking, but undergraduates are not - which are the group that will sustain CSU; talks about his tuition when he went to CSU"
20,"Talks about Tri-C and how during his time no one thought that they were interchangable, but that somehow they became interchangable and CSU lost quality"
21,"Says that Schwartz created an entirely different path, says that his plan was successful, but must continue to strive to change the notion that CSU is countercyclical"
22,Continues to talk about Schwartz - who said that a university needs 2 or 3 good presidents to get things on the right track
23,Shifts to talking about how social life has changed; says that in the 80s there were things to do - if you wanted them; now the involvement has been taken to a new level
24,Says that there is a critical mass of students on campus to make a university thrive; says that in the 90s the university did not capitalize on the city's boom - but that has shifted entirely - model was the University of Cincinnati 
25,"Talks about 1st generation college students - need to cater to them, without losing sight of attracting 2nd and 3rd generation college students"
26,"Talks again about his fraternity experience, all of the brothers worked full time; would go off campus as a group to hangout"
27,"The biggest difference between his fraternity and fraternities on other campuses was the fact that they worked jobs in addition to going to school, but they still knew how to have fun; Fraternities became the center for social life on CSU campus; discribed the board of graduates at his fraternity, which was different"
28,"Says that his fraternity began under Fenn and then continued on into CSU - he talks about the board and the man who ran it; says that the chapter had massive alumni support that was not evident at other ""more traditional"" schools"
29,"Says that as the university had more events, fraternities started to decline; talks about how they lost their houses because of expenses"
30,Talks about some of the events that his fraternity put on and things they did to have fun - broke some world records - needed to be creative
31,He became involved in politics in 1979 - with the mayoral race between George Voinovich vs Dennis Kuchinich; Volunteered for Voinovich because he was in the neighborhood
32,"Voinovich got elected and went to an event where Cosgrove was waiting tables - and he told Cosgrove to come work for him; Worked for Voinovich and kept waiting tables until 1987; He says that he had always worked while going to school, but this time he wanted to expereince a ""summer off"""
33,He continued to wait tables on the weekend while studying for the bar; Voinovich lost the senatorial race but three months later Cosgrove was roped back into working at the mayors office from 1987 to 1989 - he was then given the job to run his legislative agenda when Voinovich was elected governor
34,Talks about the legislation for the convocation center; controversial because the university wanted to build something bigger - to compete with the Coliseum at Richfield 
35,Says that there was a lot of debate around building this building; says that the Gund brothers who owned the Coliseum at Richfield hired a lobbyist to change legislation to shrink the building; says that it is the worst of both worlds
36,"It was too small to be very effective, it was not big enough; but if it was bigger the Q may not have happened; at the same time another debate raged about building the Law Library and whether it should be built"
37,Talks about how being on the board gives a different perspective from being on the legislative side; thinks that if the board was to do it again they wouldn't have built such a big building; compares it to Woodling Gym
38,He thinks that they would have built something smaller that was just for the team - the idea that leasing the building out was not as good as advertised; an arena for CSU basketball is what they should have done; one group wanted to put it at Public Hall
39,"Says that by the time that Voinovich started as governor the plan was already in place; stopped working for Voinovich in 1993 and began working for Squires, Sanders, and Dempsey where he has been since; joined the board at CSU in 1997; talks about the various boards and committees that he was on - urban and law"
40,Describes what a visiting committee is and does - he worked on the visiting committees at the Law School and Urban School; It's supposed to be an advisory group to the college
41,"Says that its an advisory committee that the dean uses - bridge between the college and the people they should be serving; urban school and law school use them the best, in his opinion; his term on the board of trustees expired in 2007"
42,Says that when he joined the board it was a troubled time - talks about Peoplesoft Fiasco - calls it the most dangerous thing; says that a lot of people were rotating off the board; but then there came a lot of stability
43,Biggest complaint: not enough CSU alumni on the board [brief interruption] - says it is unusual (no undergraduate alums on the board)
44,"He wants to create a more demanding alumni base (says that the current board is good, but advocates for a mix in the future); a lot of other universities have it written into their charter; goes back to Peoplesoft and describes what it is"
45,"Calls it a ""total fiasco""; a letter came from the US department of financial aid threatening to revoke their ability to have aid; says that it set the university back immensely "
46,Another major decision was the selection of the president - picking the right person was critical for the university - many interesting candidates; talks about who the board was at the time; needed a good manager because that is what the university needed
47,"They met with Dr. Schwartz and made him the interim and made him full-term president; some risks needed to be made to enhance the vision - describes some of them, including saving Fenn Tower"
48,"Majority of the board wanted to rip down the Tower - an alums perspective is important in this situation - they voted to tear it down, but they couldn't pay for it so it stayed up; Dr. Schwartz understood the importance of connecting to the history and community; Another tough decision implementing academic standards and creating an honors college"
49,Talks about the Cleveland State Foundation - what it does and its origins; Talks about the beginnings of CSU and how people were opposed
50,"Says that dorms were discouraged, but more than that Fenn had an endowment that did not roll over to CSU (unlike Akron); the foundation's job is to raise money for the university and it has had peaks and valleys and he thinks its reaching a peak these days"
51,Talks about some of the programs and intiatives to raise money for scholarships and endowments; Need to be more aggressive in raising private dollars because of the decline of public funds; they raise money from other foundations
52,Most come from private and business community; Talks about Radiance a fundraising event - says that there is not much philanthropy at CSU
53,"The foundation raises money for a series of things not limited to scholarships, can buy buildings, equipment, endow chairs, etc"
54,"The next few years, he thinks, will focus on scholarships however; He joined the foundation board after his term on the board of trustees - describes what he does for the board"
55,Most of his time goes towards Radiance and he describes it - an annual reception to convince contributors to donate - 100% goes towards scholarship
56,Mentions his one lasting memory of CSU: his father came to visit him when he was named the top TKE in his final year - it was a surprise
57,Thanks and he thinks it is a great institution; END OF INTERVIEW
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