CLEVELAND — While students are returning to Northeast Ohio colleges and universities, the grounds at Notre Dame College are quiet. After more than 100 years, the final classes were held last spring, leaving students to look elsewhere.
More than a dozen institutions entered a Teach-Out agreement with Notre Dame College. This means transfer students from Notre Dame College received some protections, including automatic admission if they were in good academic standing, guaranteed the same time to degree completion and comparable net tuition.
3News reached out to each institution Notre Dame College listed as a Teach-Out partner. Of those who responded, preliminary figures show the following number of Notre Dame transfer students enrolled in classes this fall:
- Kent State University: 106
- Walsh University: 103
- Cleveland State University: 49
- Lake Erie College: 47
- John Carroll University: 43
- Baldwin Wallace University: 29
- Hiram College: 29
- Ursuline College: 29
- University of Mount Union: 14
- Point Park University: 2
“I think what’s really nice is we’re in close proximity to where their institution was,” said John Carroll University’s VP of Student Experience and Campus Belonging Naomi Sigg. “So, a lot of that is going to be really easy for them to transition here because they’re familiar with the surroundings.”
Each institution 3News spoke with is doing something slightly different to welcome Notre Dame College transfer students. At John Carroll University, this includes a student-led initiative.
“Our student government president Morgan Anderson is going to be reaching out individually to all of the Notre Dame transfers just to welcome them and to let them know they’re part of our community and we’re here to welcome them in any way we can,” said Sigg.
Another institution that accepted dozens of transfers is Walsh University.
“It’s definitely contributed to one of the highest enrollment years for us of new students in almost over a decade and so we’re really excited about that,” said Walsh University’s Vice President for Enrollment Management Rebecca Coneglio. “Mostly, we’re just really excited to welcome so many students to campus.”
Walsh University is also taking on a new adventure as they accepted Notre Dame College’s nationally recognized rugby teams.
Jason Fox, who moved with these teams from Notre Dame College over to Walsh University, said some students were approached by other colleges and universities, but ultimately the students decided they wanted to keep their teams together.
“At the end of the day, I think I owed it to this group of students to really find a safe spot,” said Fox, who now serves as the Director of Rugby Operations at Walsh University. “I think everything I’ve done in rugby over the years would be for not if I didn’t continue the program, grow it and leave it in a better spot than when we started.”
For students like Abigail Dickerson, who moved from California to play for Notre Dame College, the entire team moving together has helped her through yet another time of change.
“It’s been hard, I’m not going to lie; but the faculty and everyone at Walsh has made it as smooth as possible,” said Dickerson. “For me, personally, I only have one semester left, so it would have been really sad if we would’ve parted ways before we needed to, so it’s nice that we’re sticking together.”