eInside Briefs

It’s Open Enrollment Time!

Kent State University faculty and staff meet with
representatives from the university’s various benefits
providers at the annual Open Enrollment and Wellness Fair.

Kent State University faculty and staff are invited to attend the annual Open Enrollment and Wellness Fairs coming to a campus near you! The fair is an excellent opportunity for individuals to get the information they need to make their decisions for Open Enrollment. The benefit election period for open enrollment is Oct. 12-24. 

As part of this year’s open enrollment and wellness fairs, free annual health screenings will be available for all full-time, benefits-eligible employees. If you choose to participate in the voluntary health screenings, registration is required. Information on how to register for your appointment with Be Well Solutions, Kent State’s wellness partner, can be found at the OneWellU website or by clicking here. In addition, free Movbands will be provided to all employees who participate in the free health screening. 

Open Enrollment and Wellness Fairs will take place on all Kent State campuses, and employees are free to attend the fair that is most convenient for them in terms of time and location. For a complete list of dates and times, as well as what vendors will be attending each fair, visit the Open Enrollment website at http://tinyurl.com/ksu-oe2015. Once there, click on 2015 Open Enrollment Fair.  

During the fair, employees will be able to meet with representatives from the university’s various benefits providers for 2015, find out more about the voluntary insurance options available to employees and learn more about the numerous wellness resources offered at the university. There also will be opportunities to win prizes.

Questions regarding Open Enrollment or your benefit choices should be directed to the Benefits Office at 330-672-3107 or benefits@kent.edu.

University Health Services Offers Travel Health Information and Immunizations

University Health Services offers
travel health information and immunizations
to Kent State University faculty and staff
who are planning to travel overseas. 

Planning an overseas trip in the near future? Kent State University Health Services urges faculty, staff and students to plan ahead before traveling and to receive proper immunizations two months in advance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) travel website (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel) is a great reference for travel health says Angela J. DeJulius, M.D., MPH, director for University Health Services at Kent State.

DeJulius encourages faculty and staff to meet with their healthcare providers two months prior to travel.

“Part of that pretravel visit would be assessing risks for things like malaria,” DeJulius says. “So if you’re going to certain parts of the world where malaria is circulating, we would give you a prescription of medicine to take, which you would start prior to departure. Take it while you are away and for a certain amount of time when you come back.”

Christopher Woolverton, Ph.D., professor in Kent State’s College of Public Health and director of the university’s Center for Public Health Preparedness, says that most immunizations take a couple of weeks before they become effective, so travelers should plan accordingly.

“Travelers also should consider receiving a flu shot before they leave because it is already flu season in different parts of the world,” Woolverton says. “The common cold can also ruin what would be an enjoyable trip. Hand washing is the number one treatment to prevent it.”

“We are always delighted to see faculty and staff here before they travel,” DeJulius says. “We can give them most of the immunizations and prescriptions they need.”

In addition to the CDC website, Woolverton suggests using the University Health Services’ website at www.kent.edu/UHS or www.kentpublichealth.org as resources prior to travel.

Get Screened at National Depression Screening Day, Oct. 9

Come to National Depression Screening Day on Thursday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be held on the 2nd floor mezzanine of the Kent Student Center, and is open to all students, faculty and staff, as well as the larger Kent community.

As part of the free screening, participants have the opportunity to complete a questionnaire, which screens for depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and to speak with a clinician in the mental health field to review their results. If necessary, appropriate referrals can be made, and participants may also find information on depression and other mental health issues for themselves or for someone about whom they may be concerned.

Students also can attend the event at Kent State University at Stark at the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Counseling Center located on the lower level of the Campus Center on Thursday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students who attend Kent State University at Salem or Kent State University at East Liverpool can visit www.col.kent.edu/counseling for more information. Students at Kent State University at Trumbull can participate in the screening on Thursday, Oct. 9, in Room 131 of the Enrollment Management and Student Services Building between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

A confidential online screening module also is available 24 hours per day throughout the year. The module provides individuals with feedback, referrals and resources upon completion. Kent State’s online screening can be found at http://screening.mentalhealthscreening.org/kent.

National Depression Screening Day is co-sponsored by University Health Services, Psychological Services and the Office of Health Promotion. In order to promote this important outreach effort and to encourage student participation, food and other giveaways will be available. All are invited to participate.

For more information, contact Psychological Services at 330-672-2487 or one of the co-coordinators, John Schell, Ph.D., at jschell@kent.edu or Carrie Berta, Psy.D., at cberta@kent.edu.

Show your Spirit! Register Your Office for the Homecoming Decorating Contest

Kent State University's College of Public Health was
winner of the 2013 office decorating contest.

Celebrate this year’s Homecoming by adorning your office with Kent State pride. The Kent State University Alumni Association is inviting campus offices to show their spirit by decorating their space. This year’s Homecoming theme, “Kent State Pride is Worldwide!” honors all Golden Flashes from around the globe. The winning office will be awarded the coveted traveling eagle trophy and will be surprised with delicious coffee and muffins.

In order to participate, competing offices must complete the online application by Friday, Oct. 3, at 5 p.m. You can find the registration link online at www.ksualumni.org/officecontest.
 
Participating offices will be judged on creativity, use of theme, use of physical space, visual appearance and appeal and incorporation of staff. The registration form and more information about the office decorating contest can be found at www.ksualumni.org/officecontest. 

For a complete list of this year’s Homecoming activities, visit www.ksualumni.org/homecoming.  

Think You Have Your Elevator Pitch Down? Prove It. In a Real Elevator.

Second annual Blackstone LaunchPad Elevator Pitch Competition and Professional Fair set for Oct. 9 in University Library

The Kent State University Blackstone LaunchPad annual
Elevator Pitch Competition and Professional Fair will take
place on Oct. 9.

How do you successfully pitch your personal, business, department or organizational mission to another person in 60 seconds? And how can you craft a pitch to compel someone to want to follow up after such a brief encounter?  These questions will be answered in a series of workshops leading up to the Blackstone LaunchPad 2nd Annual Elevator Pitch Competition and Professional Fair on Oct. 9.

“Our annual elevator pitch competition is a compelling opportunity for all Kent State stakeholders to brush up on their pitching skills in a fun, competitive environment,” says Zach Mikrut, senior marketing manager of the Blackstone LaunchPad program at Kent State. “By holding the competition in the elevator of the tallest building in Portage County, we provide participants with a real context to hone their skills and highlight the importance of landing networking opportunities when they present themselves.”

The elevator pitch competition will have several categories, including business pitch, personal pitch and departmental and/or organization pitch. The top winners in each category will receive cash prizes. In addition to participating in the competition, attendees will be able to further develop their career and business skillsets at the accompanying professional fair where various student organizations and departments will be on hand to help participants create personal and business marketing collaterals, ranging from website construction to a business card production booth.

A Kent State University student participates in the Kent
State Blackstone LaunchPad Elevator Pitch Competition
inside an elevator at University Libraries.

The elevator pitch competition and professional fair will take place Thursday, Oct. 9, at 5 p.m. on the fourth floor of University Library. The event is free and open to the public with advance registration. In addition, the following series of Blackstone LaunchPad workshops/competitions will prepare participants for the event:

• Perfecting Your Pitch, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom Balcony: Learn how to craft a winning elevator pitch. In addition, Blackstone LaunchPad company founders Brian Recktenwald and Alex Kurr of The New Fuel will present tips on networking and how to land customers for your business. Register here.
• Pitch workshops, Oct. 2, 6 and 7 at noon: Practice your pitch with Blackstone LaunchPad mentors and gain critical feedback. Pitches will be videotaped and sent to participants for future refinement.  
• Building Your Brand Website competition: Do you have an awesome personal or business website that effectively communicates your brand? Submit your website and be eligible for an equally awesome award.
  

For more information about the elevator pitch competition and professional fair, including registration details, visit http://www.ksuelevatorpitch.com or contact Mikrut at zmikrut@kent.edu or 330-672-6782.

For more information about the Blackstone LaunchPad program at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/blackstonelaunchpad.

Kent State Participates in Green Energy Ohio Tour

Workers install solar panels on the Kent State University
Field House. The installation, which was the first renewable
energy project for the university, was completed in 2012.

Kent State University’s Field House 463-kilowatt solar array is one of the sites on the 12th Annual Green Energy Ohio Tour on Oct. 3, 4 and 5. The statewide tour, part of the American Solar Energy Society National Solar Tour, is free and open to the public. Visitors can park in the Field House parking lot.

Kent State staff will be at the Field House to answer questions and to explain the project. On Friday, Oct. 3, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., Robert Misbrener, project manager II in the Office of the University Architect, will be on site. Leah Graham, outreach recycling coordinator in Kent State’s Sustainability Office, will be on site on Saturday, Oct. 4, and Sunday, Oct. 5, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Field House solar array is made up of 1,716 solar panels, covering about an acre of the Field House roof. This installation was believed to be the largest roof-mounted system among Ohio’s public universities when it was completed in 2012. The solar array generates about 500,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity per year, about one-third of the annual consumption of the Field House and Dix Stadium.

Since its completion, the solar array has produced 1,061,042 kilowatt hours of electricity, equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of 785,867 pounds of coal burned, according to the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator.

“To achieve sustainability, we all need to cooperate and collaborate,” says Melanie Knowles, sustainability manager in Kent State’s Office of Sustainability. “This is an opportunity for Kent State to share our experience with this project to inform others’ decisions about renewable energy.”

According to Green Energy Ohio, nine guided tours are available in Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Oberlin, Springfield, Urbana and in Paulding County at the Timber Road II Wind Farm. More than 160 open houses at over 100 tour sites are registered for the three days of the Green Energy Ohio 12th statewide tour event stretching across 31 counties.

The Green Energy Ohio website states that the tour “provides a unique opportunity for people to visit and talk with owners living and working with clean energy technologies.”

There are more than 90 locations on the tour, and tour goers can visit www.greenenergyohio.org/ost/search.cfm?yr=2014 to find locations nearby.

For a full list of tour locations by county, visit www.greenenergyohio.org/ost/rollup.cfm?by=fips&yr=2014.  

Kent State Women’s Center Offers Mammograms, Oct. 8-10

The Kent State University Women’s Center will offer mammogram screenings to qualified Kent State employees, spouses and students on Oct. 8, 9 and 10. Registration is required by Oct. 3.

Mammograms take approximately 12 minutes and will be conveniently provided in the Tiffany Breast Care Center’s mobile mammography unit. The van will be located on the Kent Campus in front of the Women’s Center.

Each participant’s health insurance will be billed or participants may choose to self-pay.

For questions or to schedule an appointment, call the Women’s Center at 330-672-9230.

Important Information About Final Grading of Fall 2014 First 5 Weeks (F1) Classes

Online final grading for Fall 2014 First 5 Weeks (F1) courses meeting from Aug. 25 through Sept. 28, began Thursday, Sept .25, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any fall 2014 course section that was flexibly scheduled and has an end date no later than Sept. 28, 2014. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Any final grades for fall 2014 First 5 Weeks (F1) courses not reported in FlashFAST by the grades processing deadline will have to be submitted using the Grade Change Workflow. These fall 2014 First 5 Weeks (F1) courses will be available in the Workflow on Thursday, Oct. 2.

Incomplete Mark and NF/SF Grades:

The administrative mark of IN (Incomplete) may be given to students who are unable to complete the work due to extenuating circumstances. To be eligible, undergraduate students must be currently passing and have completed at least 12 weeks of the semester. The timeline shall be adjusted appropriately for flexibly scheduled courses. Graduate students must be currently earning a C or better grade and are unable to complete the required work between the course withdrawal deadline and the end of classes. Instructors are required to complete and submit an Incomplete Mark Form to the department chair when an incomplete mark is assigned. Access the form from your Faculty Toolbox in FlashLine.

The grade NF (Never Attended–Fail) denotes that the student neither attended one class session nor formally withdrew from the course.

The grade SF (Stopped Attending–Fail) denotes that the student stopped attending the course and did not formally withdraw and must be accompanied by a date of last attendance in the course.

For complete information on university grading policies including Incomplete Mark and NF/SF grading policies, procedures and timelines, please visit the Grading Policies and Procedures section in the university catalog at www.kent.edu/catalog.

To access FlashFAST, login to FlashLine from www.kent.edu (click FlashLine Login from top right menu bar) then click the Faculty & Advisor Tools tab. Locate the Faculty Toolbox and select Final under the Submit Grades heading.

Troubleshooting TIP: FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. We recommend that you clean out your cookie and cache files regularly to help your computer run faster, and to potentially restore and/or improve your access to FlashFAST and/or FlashLine by improving your connection to the server. Our Helpdesk is prepared to offer assistance with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues.