President Bloomberg announced as presidential finalist for the University of Minnesota – The Cauldron

Cleveland State University President Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., is off to the University of Minnesota this week following an announcement last Friday that she has been selected as one of three finalists for the school’s presidency.

This announcement comes halfway through Bloomberg’s second year as CSU president after taking the helm in 2022, succeeding former President Harlan Sands after he suddenly stepped down.

“Please be assured that even while I will be spending time this coming week in Minnesota, I remain singularly focused… on the important work underway right here at CSU,” shared Bloomberg in an email last Friday, first reported by the Cleveland Stater.

Also in the backdrop is quite the bustling state of affairs at CSU, from discussions on potential future absorption of a struggling Notre Dame College, a persistent budget deficit and decline in enrollment and safety concerns within on-campus housing. 

Heightened geopolitical tensions on campus involving the presence of the infamous Alec Popivker and the conflict in Israel and Palestine also remains a pertinent issue at CSU’s forefront.

Bloomberg Ties to Minnesota 

Bloomberg, born and raised in Minnesota, earned her doctorate through the institution and previously served as a researcher, professor and dean of its public affairs school. Indeed, the school is quite close to her, as she expressed in an email to Signal Cleveland, the local news outlet reported earlier this week:

“There is only one other position at one other institution that could possibly speak to my heart as much as CSU does, and that is my alma mater, the University of Minnesota.”

What’s next for CSU?

If Bloomberg prevails over Minnesota’s other candidates–which is quite possible, given her substantial credentials and previous experience at the school—CSU will appoint an interim leader and the presidential search will ignite for the University’s third president in two years and ninth overall.

Bloomberg’s short term has been defined thus far by the launch of a new University marketing campaign and the finalization of college realignment, both of which make up part and parcel of the billion dollar “CSU 2.0,” an “aggressive, growth-oriented plan” first introduced and implemented by Sands. Low enrollment and budget issues, as previously mentioned, have also been frontline issues for CSU’s second woman president.

The selection process is projected to end in two weeks’ time, according to Bloomberg.
Several forums for each finalist will take place throughout the University of Minnesota’s five locations, the first two of Bloomberg’s being on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Dates, times and livestreams of these forums can be found here.