"Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." The Dalai Lama
I am very pleased to share that earlier this week CSU President Laura Bloomberg and Provost Nigamanth Sridhar announced that Associate Dean Carolyn Broering-Jacobs and Associate Dean Brian Ray have been appointed Co-Interim CSU Law Deans, effective July 1, 2025 (My last day as Dean is June 30.) Carolyn and Brian will serve as Co-Interim Deans for one year, and a national search for a new Dean will commence in fall 2025.
Carolyn, Brian, and I have worked very closely as a team, and I’m very grateful for their outstanding leadership. As a result, the transition will be seamless, and I could not be happier with the University’s choice. The Dean has many responsibilities, but none are more important than a constant positive attitude and constant, deep engagement with students not only in the classroom but also outside the classroom, as well as with staff, faculty, alumni, and community stakeholders. Carolyn and Brian have joined me every year at every orientation, social sidebars with students, student and faculty-led forums, countless student organization events, staff meetings, every faculty meeting and retreat, alumni meetings and events, Board of Visitors meetings, the annual Hall of Fame celebration, and, of course, every Commencement. Their work ethic and selfless dedication to the law school’s success is second to none, and this made them the clear choice. Please join me in congratulating Carolyn and Brian!
This past week we had our Spring Board of Visitors Meeting, the CSU Law Alumni Association Annual Recognition Luncheon, and yesterday’s 2025 Commencement. It was quite a week! Next Monday, I’ll tell you about these major events that capped a very successful academic year.
In the meantime, I want to share some more positive thoughts about the extraordinary service of our faculty and staff.
At the recent 2025 Staff Awards Ceremony, Cleveland State University recognized several of our faculty and staff for significant career milestones. Senior Legal Writing Professor Karin Mika and Outreach & Instructional Services Librarian Laura Ray both celebrated 35 years at CSU Law. Professor Mark Sundahl has taught for 20 years, and Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich has taught for 15 years. Jill Natran, Administrative Operations Manager, who also was selected by the SBA as Staff Member of the Year, has been with us for 10 years. The longevity of faculty and staff like these is a testament to the strong culture that CSU Law has maintained throughout our history. The Law College truly is a special place to work.
Faculty
Professor Emeritus Peter Garlock
“Professor Garlock, I am a student in your Criminal Law class, and I wanted to thank you for a great semester. I learned so much and appreciate your commitment to helping us learn the material. I always left class with a better understanding of the topics and the review sessions were extremely beneficial to my understanding. I really enjoyed your class.” -1L student
“Professor Garlock, I am reaching out to say thank you for your course. I much appreciated your teaching style. Coming from a background in philosophy, I enjoyed that your course did not shy away from the theoretical aspects of the subject.” – 1L Student
“Professor Garlock, I want to thank you for a great semester. The material was tough for me, but your questions and informative lectures allowed me to engage with the cases and concepts on a deeper level. I even enjoyed the cold calls because I feel like they helped to prepare me for the pressure of a law school exam. I am very grateful to have had you as a Torts professor!” -1L Student
Professor Carole Heyward
“Dean Fisher, I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how much I've appreciated Professor Carole Heyward over this semester. She's been wonderful all semester, but especially with the final -- she had it open for 24 hours. She's explained it's because we all work well at different times of the day, which we all appreciate. My older daughter's last soccer game of the season was last night at 6:00 pm, the exact time the final opened. I am so grateful for her having it open for a 24-hour period, because it allowed me to take it this morning and be there for my daughter last night. This final is just an example of how flexible and helpful Professor Heyward is.” – 1L JDO Student
Visiting Professor Debbie Hoffman
“ I want to sincerely thank you for your guidance and dedication throughout this course. Your passion for property law/real estate law and commitment to us has made a very meaningful impact on my learning. I truly appreciate the insights you’ve shared and that you challenged us to think critically and deeply about the law.” - 1L Student
Professor Heidi Robertson
“Professor Robertson, thank you for playing a significant role in mentoring me through the bar exam process. I started this week as a prosecutor in Lorain County!” – 2024 Graduate
Professor Brandon Stump
“Dear Dean Fisher, Professor Stump is a professor unlike any I have ever had. Unconventional to say the least, yet effective, straightforward, and impactful. Professor Stump’s unconventional teaching style brought the real world to the classroom—every lesson had some real world connection, every assignment built on a real world scenario. Stump’s own real world experience, coupled with his mastery of creative writing brought each handout, homework assignment, paper, quiz, and exam to life.” –-4L Part-time Student
“Prof. Stump is one of the most responsive professors I've ever encountered. At the same time, he allows freedom in his classroom to make decisions and "practice" being a lawyer. He also has made himself available to talk to any of his students who just need to vent a frustration or hash out an internal conflict. He does this with extreme patience and kindness and compassion. I find myself wanting to make him proud and working harder just because I don't want to let him down.” – 1L JD Online Student
Staff
Jaime Gay, Assistant Director, Student and Career Services
“Dean Fisher, Jaime has been such a tremendous help to me throughout my time at CSU. I wanted to write to you to recognize her unwavering support for students and her genuine care that we all succeed. This past semester, I have been to her office a few times unsure of what my future career choices would be. By the time I would leave her office, she always made me believe I could accomplish my goals. I truly believe Jaime is one of CSU Law's greatest assets.” – 2L Student
Patricia Riley, Coordinator of Online Education
“I have said many times, especially in our first year when we were navigating multiple challenges, that I would’ve quit my job running the JDO if I didn’t have Patricia as a partner. She is that important.” – Associate Dean/ Professor Brian Ray
“As a student in the first cohort of CSU Law’s innovative JDO program, I’ve experienced firsthand how deeply Patricia Riley is committed to our success. She’s the go-to person for nearly everything – technology, scheduling, course planning, you name it – and if by chance she doesn’t have the answer (which is rare), she knows exactly who does.”- 2L JDO student
CSU recently recognized Patricia Riley as the recipient of this year’s New Viking Award, which “recognizes a newcomer who has one to three years of service with CSU. This individual has made significant contributions and shared innovative ideas to the department and to the CSU campus community.” Patricia was among only six staff members selected for a University-wide award.
Patricia joined Cleveland State University in August 2023 as the Law School’s Coordinator of Online Education right as we were preparing for the first cohort of nearly 40 students in the brand-new online JD (JDO) program. She came to CSU with an impressive record working in undergraduate student life at several different institutions but with no background in legal or graduate education. In spite of this, Patricia hit the ground running and, from the start, became an essential asset to this incredibly complicated new program and the law school.
Throughout her time at CSU Law, Patricia has gone above and beyond her job description to ensure the success of the JDO program. She has immersed herself in all aspects of the program and works with each of our stakeholders including our partner Keypath, staff, faculty, CSU administration and, most importantly, our students. Several of our faculty and staff supported Patricia’s nomination with testimonials and a group of our second-year JDOs joined together to draft a joint support letter – a rarity for staff award nominations. As the two quotes above illustrate, Patricia serves as a critical resource for each of these groups and often as the primary point of contact. We literally could not run the JDO program without her. Our warmest congratulations go out to Patricia for this well-deserved award.
Bobby Stevenson, Academic Support Specialist
“Dean Fisher, I have really enjoyed working with Bobby. He is very informative, easy to work with, and very encouraging. He is one of those people that truly want to help others, I'm very grateful to have a resource such as him here at the school. I've learned a lot about how to structure my thoughts in a manner that enable better written results.” 1L JD Online Student
Have a great day and a great week!
The views and opinions expressed in my Monday Morning Message are solely my own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the law school or the university.
For copies of past messages, please go to this link: Monday Morning Messages
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My best,
Lee