News Briefs

• Vice President Willis Walker Honored for Humanitarian Work
• Submit Nominations for Service-Learning Recognition for Faculty 
• ROTC Receives National Honor From Army Cadet Command 
• Help Students Save Time, Get Ahead and Move Closer to Graduation 
• Student Design Studio Continues to Impress at Local Award Competitions 
• Human Resources Question of the Week: I am a classified employee preparing for my annual performance evaluation. How do I access the online self-evaluation?  

Vice President Willis Walker Honored for Humanitarian Work

Willis Walker, vice president for human resources and chief university counsel, recently received the 19th annual Judge Harold K. Stubbs Humanitarian Award. Walker was one of 13 individuals honored during the ceremony, which took place in Akron on March 6.

Willis Walker was recently honored for his humanitarian work. Return to Top

Sponsored by the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the award recognizes those who have been active and made contributions in various areas such as social action, government, business, medicine or law, among others. Inductees must be nominated for the award.

Walker was honored for his contributions in the education field. He came to Kent State in 1999 as the chief university counsel, and in 2008 became the vice president for human resources. Walker says he has always believed in giving back to the community. "Judge Stubbs was a well-known public servant during his lifetime, and I am honored to be included in the list of current and past recipients of this distinguished award."

The award honors Stubbs, a Kent State alumnus. Stubbs was actively involved with his church, St. Paul AME Church of Akron, which since his death has annually recognized individuals for their community services with this award.

Submit Nominations for Service-Learning Recognition for Faculty

Now is your chance to nominate faculty who successfully incorporate service-learning principals into their teaching methods. All faculty who are nominated will be recognized during the spring Celebration of Service event, which is slated for Monday, April 20.

The Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, in collaboration with the Faculty Professional Development Center, hosts the event to recognize student, faculty and staff volunteerism, service-learning and community-based learning. This year's event, "Making a Difference: Recognizing Kent Staters Who Care," will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

Nominations for faculty who have implemented service-learning into academic courses are being accepted until 5 p.m. April 3. Faculty who are nominated for recognition should have taught a course using service-learning as a primary pedagogical method during the 2008-09 academic year (including summer 2008). 

Faculty nominations should be submitted electronically to Andrea Adolph at aadolph@kent.edu.

The evening ceremony on April 20 represents the culmination of a daylong program that will showcase community engagement through volunteerism and service-learning. All of the day's programs are free and open to the public.  
 
For more information on the Celebration of Service event and award nominations, visit the Faculty Professional Development Web site or the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Web site.

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ROTC Receives National Honor From Army Cadet Command

Photo by Jeff Glidden

The Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) unit at Kent State recently received recognition as a top performer among the 273 units under the Cadet Command.

The Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) unit at Kent State recently received notification that it has fulfilled its assigned commission mission and is among the top performers of the 273 units under the Cadet Command for academic year 2007-08.

In a letter to President Lester A. Lefton, Major General Arthur M. Bartell of the US Army Command says that the award demonstrates excellence in the overall Army ROTC program at Kent State. In addition, the award recognizes the hard work and dedication of the Kent State Army Cadets and the Cadre staff.

"Furthermore," continues Bartell, "this achievement provides a superb reflection of the support Kent State University provides to the Army ROTC program. We appreciate this partnership for success, and we look forward to many more years of developing and commissioning young leaders for our Army and our nation."

Additional information about the Army ROTC program is available on their Web site.

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Help Students Save Time, Get Ahead and Move Closer to Graduation
 
Summer sessions can be an integral component of a student's learning, discovery and engagement experience while at Kent State. Taking summer classes  also can be a great opportunity for students to catch up on credits or to focus on a difficult course.
 
If you advise a student who could benefit from taking an extra class or two, please remind them of the opportunities available over the summer. There are hundreds of courses available, including these six new online classes: Black Experience II, General Psychology, Introduction to Business, Introduction to Financial Accounting, Modeling Algebra and Survey of Architecture History I. 

Current students can find details about summer classes by logging in to FlashLine from the Kent State Web site and clicking on the Student Tools tab to access FlashFAST.

In addition to regular summer course enrollment, registration for Intersession is open until May 25.

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Student Design Studio Continues to Impress at Local Award Competitions

One of the award-winning entries Glyphix submitted.

Glyphix, the student-staffed design studio within the School of Visual Communication Design was honored recently with four ADDY® awards at the Advertising Federation of Greater Akron 2009 ADDY® competition.

"Our student designers have consistently created a very high level of design work and have been recognized with significant awards in the past several years," says Glyphix Creative Director Valora Renicker.

Glyphix students won awards for the following design projects:

Gold ADDY® Award: Moving Minds Bus Posters Public Service Campaign for the Regional Transit Authority, Cleveland, and The Lit
Student team: Brian Buirge, Emir Bukva, Allie Charitan, Rebecca Ehalt, Laura Fry, Brianna Kelly, June Kucalaba, Jessica Mellen, Kaitlyn Ord, Natalie Speck, Dusty Steinbrink and Kayne Toukonen

Student Gold ADDY® Award: Hudson Montessori School Brochure for Hudson Montessori School
Student team: Michael Fofrich, Brianna Kelly and Lee Zelenak

Silver ADDY® Award: Kent State School of Fashion Viewbook for Kent State School of Fashion
Student team: Allie Charitan, Laura Fry and Natalie Speck

Student Silver ADDY® Award: Families Calendar for Kent State University Center for Student Involvement
Student: Gina Moraco

Renicker points out that these projects represent a significant amount of work on behalf of the students. "Projects like these can take anywhere from one month, as did the bus posters, up to a year and a half to complete the Hudson Montessori School brochure," Renicker says. "The students' work competed against professionals' and other students' work.

"Entering competitions, like the ADDYs, on a local level lets the students see what kind of competition is out there," Renicker continues. "It’s also a great resume-builder. Potential employers see who wins these awards and know that Kent State graduates produce high-quality work."

The 2009 Akron ADDY Awards is the local level of the national ADDY Awards competition, which honors creative excellence in the advertising industry for work completed in the previous calendar year. Gold winners are automatically forwarded to the regional competition, where they will be judged against winners from Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Winners from the 15 regional districts compete for national awards.

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Human Resources Question of the Week: I am a classified employee preparing for my annual performance evaluation. How do I access the online self-evaluation?

The designated time period to conduct performance evaluations for classified employees is under way and runs through May 15. All classified employees are encouraged to complete an online self-evaluation at least one week prior to meeting with their supervisor for the performance evaluation discussion. Once the manager completes the evaluation, employees will need to review the evaluation and electronically sign it.

Classified employees can access the link for their self-evaluation and review their performance evaluation when it is complete by going online. This site also includes an online tutorial link with access instructions.

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Employee Relations staff: Karen Watson at 330-672-4636, Connie Crowley at 330-672-7505 or Sandra Cole at 330-672-7501.

View the HR Question of the Week archive.

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