Director, Center for Civic Education
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

k.hexter@csuohio.edu

Kathryn Wertheim Hexter, director of the Center for Civic Education, joined the Levin College of Urban Affairs in 1986. A planner and public policy analyst, Ms. Hexter has over 25 years of experience managing and directing projects and evaluating programs in the areas of housing policy, neighborhood development, low-income energy assistance, city and regional planning and civic engagement. She has worked extensively with federal, state and local governmental, philanthropic and non-profit organizations.

She is the founding director of the Levin College Forum Program, recognized by Northern Ohio Live (2005) as "a springboard for economic and social progress throughout the region" and recipient of the national 2003 CivicMindTM award. The Forum brings together the university and the community to address critical public policy issues that impact Northeast Ohio, the state and the nation. Since 1998, she has also directed the evaluation of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland's Affordable Housing Initiative and conducted related research about the supply of affordable housing in Cuyahoga County. Prior to joining Cleveland State, Ms. Hexter served in government and community affairs positions at East Ohio Gas Company and as a planner with a local consulting firm.

She is co-editor of the book The New American City Faces Its Regional Future, A Cleveland Perspective (Ohio University Press, 2000) and co-author of Public Utilities and the Poor: Rights and Responsibilities (Praeger Publishers, 1985). She has written numerous articles including, most recently, "The Role of the University in City Planning: A Case Study of Cleveland's Lakefront Redevelopment," forthcoming in the Journal of Ekistics.

Ms. Hexter holds a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, 1976 and a masters degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University, 1978. She is a graduate of the 2003 Rockwood Leadership program and the Foundations and Frontiers in Appreciative Inquiry workshop at the Case Weatherhead School of Management, 2004.

Sample Syllabi:

• UST/PAD 662 Urban Housing Policy (Fall 2004)

Areas of Expertise:

Public policy analysis

Program evaluation

Affordable housing and neighborhood development

Sustainable development

Community-university partnerships

Urban and regional planning

Civic education