eInside Briefs

Grand Opening of Kent State’s Aeronautics and Technology Building Planned for April 24

A grand opening for Kent State University's new
Aeronautics and Technology Building will take place
April 24 from 2-4:30 p.m. The event is free and open to
the public. 

Kent State University will host a grand opening for the Aeronautics and Technology Building on Friday, April 24, from 2-4:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The event will celebrate the opening of the 55,000-square-foot building and the move of the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology from Van Deusen Hall to the Science Corridor. The new building will join other colleges and buildings, such as Henderson Hall, the Mathematics and Computer Science Building and the Liquid Crystal Materials Science Building. Construction on the building began in summer 2013.

Kent State President Beverly Warren; Robert Sines, interim dean of the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology; and  Dennis Eckart, Kent State University Board of Trustees chair, will make brief remarks. There will be student-led tours of the new space with demonstrations occurring in specific labs. Attendees can tour the Air Traffic Control Lab, Sustainability Lab, Aeronautics Teaching Lab and the Materials and Processes Lab. Refreshments will be provided.

Sines says the move was necessary for the college.

“I think the students are getting a much better educational experience in the new building because of the new facilities, new equipment and new surroundings,” Sines says.

The new building is a part of Kent State’s Foundations of Excellence: Building the Future initiative, which involves the construction of new buildings, facility upgrades and establishment of dynamic and new spaces. The goal of this initiative is to create the most outstanding academic experience for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater community enriched by the university.

For more information about the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology, visit www.kent.edu/caest.

For more information about Kent State’s Foundations of Excellence initiative, visit www.kent.edu/foundations. 

Reminder to Faculty Members to Complete the COACHE Survey

Kent State University full-time faculty members who received the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey are encouraged to join other faculty colleagues and complete the survey by April 10. The survey covers topics like the nature of faculty work, campus climate, and promotion and tenure.
 
The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) is a national program and research initiative operating from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. COACHE represents a collective of institutions committed to collecting the diagnostic and comparative data necessary to recruit, retain and enhance the work experience of faculty. Subsequent years of Kent State’s three-year membership with COACHE will be devoted to sharing the survey findings and working to transform these findings into actionable practices and/or policies at the university.
 
Your input matters. To complete the COACHE survey, access the survey using the unique link that was provided to you by COACHE via email. The survey is designed to be completed by most faculty members within 25 minutes. If you have questions, contact Fashaad Crawford, assistant provost for accreditation, assessment and learning, at 330-672-3960. 

New FLASHcard Image Survey: Vote for Your Favorite Design, Win $50 Amazon Card

Kent State University is choosing a new image for the FLASHcard (your Kent State ID card). We invite future and current students, faculty and staff at all campuses to take a two-minute survey to vote for your favorite image.

If you haven’t taken the survey yet, visit https://www.research.net/s/FLASHcard by April 14 to participate. Once you have completed the survey, you will be entered into a random drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. One winner will be selected. All data will be reported in a form that will make it impossible to determine the identities of individual respondents.

Kent State’s Center for Teaching and Learning Announces Events for April

Kent State University's Center for Teaching and Learning
will host events in April for faculty members.

In June 2013, Todd Diacon, Kent State University’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, requested an examination of the mission and focus of what was then the Faculty Professional Development Center (now known as the Center for Teaching and Learning). A Redesign Steering Committee was formed to meet this purpose and had two primary recommendations:

1. Re-focus the center’s energy on teaching and learning.
2. Create and maintain an easily accessible way for faculty members to find services available to them, which led to the creation of FlashPort.
   

Whether it is teaching strategies, researching student learning or flipping the classroom, Kent State’s new Center for Teaching and Learning can provide you with the guidance and support you need.

Below is a list of the center’s upcoming events:

April 10
Rethinking Evidence of Quality Teaching: A Multifaceted Approach
Teaching Scholars Program conference sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning
Register today: http://bit.ly/CTLScholars15

April 16
Faculty Club (Hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching and Learning)
5 to 7 p.m. at Schwebel Room, 3rd floor, Kent Student Center

April 17
New Perspectives on Faculty Success: A Faculty Fellows Program conference on the final day of the 2015 Faculty Appreciation Week (April 13-17). Register for the events on the Faculty Appreciation Week website: www.kent.edu/facultyweek.

For more information about how the center can help you, visit www.kent.edu/ctl, send an email to ctl@kent.edu or stop by the center’s location in Moulton Hall. 

Kent State Journalism Students Receive Top Honors in BEA Video Competition

Franklin Hall is home to Kent State University's School of
Journalism and Mass Communication. Students from the
school received top honors in the 2015 Broadcast
Education Association’s Student Video Competition.

Students from Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication received top honors in the 2015 Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Student Video Competition. As part of the BEA Festival of Media Arts, the competition recognizes students nationally for excellence in broadcast and electronic media.

In the studio (multicamera or live-to-tape) category, senior digital media production majors Jeremy Herbert and Sarah Vulpio tied with another team in third place for the show, The Agenda.

As producers for TV2, Herbert and Vulpio oversee the The Agenda, make decisions and approve the segments that will air. The Agenda began in 2010 as a take-off of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.

Herbert says that when the show began, there was very little video content, and the majority of segments were live.

“Since then, it's turned into more of a 50-50 live versus video show and has taken on an identity of its own,” Herbert says.  “It's more like SNL's 'Weekend Update' with sketches.”

Herbert says the cast and crew work hard every week from Monday to Thursday to put together a half-hour show.

“It's tremendously gratifying to get some recognition for that hard work,” he says. “We really have the hardest working cast and crew around, and I'm pleased as punch that they got rewarded for it.”

Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni Tyler Pina, ’14, Matt Petrunak, ’14, Kirsten Charlton, ’14, and Devan Ofcar, ’14, earned first place in the music video category for Freaky Love-Captain Kidd. The music video, produced by Kent State Independent Films, received a bronze award in 2014 at the 35th Annual Telly Awards.

Kent State Associate Lecturer Traci E. Williams and Associate Professor Dave Smeltzer served as advisors for Kent State Independent Films on Freaky Love.

The Broadcast Education Association is the premiere international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students and professionals. The association currently has more than 2,500 individual and institutional members worldwide. Visit www.beaweb.org for more information.

National Alcohol Screening Day at Kent State is April 9

National Alcohol Screening Day returns to Kent State
University with an anonymous screening for alcohol-use
disorders on April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second
floor of the Kent Student Center. 

National Alcohol Screening Day returns to Kent State University for its 15th year. National Alcohol Screening Day is a promotional outreach effort to reduce and prevent at-risk drinking by providing anonymous screening for alcohol-use disorders. The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second floor of the Kent Student Center.

“National Alcohol Screening Day is an excellent way to educate the Kent State University community about alcohol-use disorders and related health issues,” says Scott Dotterer, coordinator of Kent State’s Office of Health Promotion.

Free and anonymous screening is open to all students, faculty, staff and community members.

“It’s important to note that these screenings are conducted anonymously and are informational, not diagnostic,” Dotterer says.

The screening form, based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, asks participants about their drinking habits and if their behaviors have changed due to their drinking.

The screening process takes approximately 20 minutes. Once the screening is completed and the form is scored, participants will have the opportunity to discuss the results with Kent State mental health professionals and graduate students in the counseling program.

“The entire screening process moves quickly,” Dotterer says. “It definitely creates a greater sense of awareness on the importance of making healthy and safe choices when it comes to alcohol.”

Free food and beverages will be available for participants. In addition, event participants will receive a resource bag of educational materials on alcohol-related issues and concerns.

Moderate and Non-drinkers

Light and moderate drinkers and even people who do not drink can still benefit from the screening process.

“In past years, we’ve had some participants indicate on the screening form that they don’t drink,” Dotterer says. “Yet it was still a positive experience for them because they were able to discuss with a mental health screener other concerns such as what to do if a friend consumes too much alcohol or how to respond if a friend wants help.

“Even if you seldom drink or don’t consume alcohol at all, the experience of completing the screening process still gives participants the opportunity to become more aware of the psychological referral sources on campus and in the community,” Dotterer adds.

Extra Credit Opportunities

National Alcohol Screening Day is an excellent way to educate students on this high-priority college issue. Proof of attendance will be provided for faculty who want to offer students extra credit for attending the event. Contact Dotterer at sdottere@kent.edu or 330-672-8266 to confirm that you are offering extra credit for a specific class. Students in your class who participate in the screening will be asked to sign an attendance sheet that will be mailed to you the next day.

National Alcohol Screening Day is co-sponsored by University Health Services, Counseling and Human Development Services, Public Health Student Alliance, Body Acceptance Movement and Health Education Program Planning Class.

To learn more about the services offered by University Health Services, visit www.kent.edu/UHS.