eInside Briefs

Kent State Marks 100 Years Since First Commencement

John McGilvrey, president of Kent State Normal School
(now Kent State University) and faculty members pose
with the first graduating class on the steps of Merrill Hall
in 1914.

(Photo Credit: Kent State's Department of Special
Collections and Archives)

One hundred years ago on July 29, 1914, Kent State University held its first Commencement. On that day, the first graduating class of 34 earned their diplomas, all teaching degrees.  Governor of the State of Ohio James M. Cox delivered the Commencement address. *In his address to about 3,000 students, faculty and parents, Cox described Kent Normal School (now Kent State University) as a great institution and a model to other institutions in Ohio.

More than 214,000 students have earned degrees from Kent State since that first Commencement in 1914.

For more information about Commencement at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/commencement.

* Hildebrand, W. H. (2009). A Most Noble Enterprise: The Story of Kent State University, 1910-2010. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press. 

Kent State’s College of Public Health to Offer Fully Online MPH Program This Fall

An online M.P.H. program in Health Policy and Management, with all the excellence and rigor of the college’s full- and part-time face-to-face programs, will be offered by Kent State starting Fall Semester 2014.  This is the first fully online Health Policy and Management M.P.H. program available from an Ohio university and one of only a handful nationwide.
 
“So many professionals in need of advanced training simply can’t take the time for a face-to-face or ground-based program,” says Professor Jonathan VanGeest, Ph.D., chair of Kent State’s Department of Health Policy and Management in the College of Public Health. “Kent State’s College of Public Health is stepping in to fill this need.
 
“Both prospective students and public health employers have been clamoring for the flexibility to fit additional training into busy work and personal lives, and the online format allows participants to engage in the learning process any time of the day or night from anywhere in the world,” says VanGeest. “All that’s required is an Internet connection,” he explains. 

Course content is highly structured in the online M.P.H. program. There is a start and finish date to each semester, and work must be completed and submitted according to course deadlines established by faculty.
 
“This is a full M.P.H. curriculum in Health Policy and Management. Nothing is truncated. Students will achieve all of the same competencies, but get it through a modality that accommodates their other obligations,” VanGeest says. 

It is a modality that is not just flexible, but has been proven effective as Kent State’s College of Public Health is a pioneer in online education.

“We come with considerable experience in this area, having developed the university’s first fully online bachelor’s degree program,” VanGeest says.

Design, development and implementation of the online courses are in the hands of the college’s full-time faculty. 

“Everyone has stepped forward in support, and all faculty will be teaching at least one course,” says VanGeest. 

Courses will be taught in asynchronous sessions, discussion and collaboration. In addition to working with course faculty, students will regularly confer one-on-one with a faculty advisor from the Department of Health Policy and Management via phone, Skype or in-person meetings. In addition to coursework, the degree requires a practicum project, which is an applied exercise conducted in a “real-world” setting with support and guidance from community preceptors and department faculty. Completion requires a minimum of 300 contact hours and the development and presentation of a portfolio. There also is a comprehensive exam at the culmination of the program. 
 
Students averaging at least 6 credit hours per semester, including summers, can complete the degree program in about two years. Part-time students taking two courses each in spring and fall semesters and one in the summer can complete the degree in three years.  Typically, students will spend about 10 hours per week per course on their studies.
 
“The M.P.H. is the recognized terminal practice degree in the public health profession,” says VanGeest. “Whether you desire to move into a public health discipline or seek to advance within the discipline, this degree is a very natural choice and excellent place to start.” 

Students will build the skills necessary for addressing public health risks and developing effective programs in health services, research, health policy analysis, and health care planning and management. Courses include those in cost benefit analysis, financial management for public health organizations, law and ethics, and program planning and implementation. More information about the curriculum and extensive FAQ are available on the College of Public Health website.
 
The new program will be coordinated by Willie H. Oglesby, Ph.D., assistant professor of health policy and management. 

“The online M.P.H. will serve a number of new audiences, including tech-savvy millennials looking for an alternative learning environment and working professionals who want to advance in their careers, but find it too difficult to schedule traditional in-person classes,” says Oglesby, who has the most online teaching experience among the college’s faculty.
 
The M.P.H. prepares graduates for administrative and management positions in hospitals, clinics, state and local health departments, nursing homes and mental health facilities; policy analyst positions in health planning organizations and governmental agencies; and planning and management positions in health maintenance organizations and health insurance companies.
 
Since the Ohio Board of Regents approved the degree in May and its availability was made public, inquiry has been extensive, VanGeest says. “There’s still time to register for fall semester, but interested parties need to apply as soon as possible,” he adds. 

Application to the program is available online, and admissions are rolling, meaning that students can start the program any semester.

Kent State’s Iris E. Harvey Chosen as a 2014 Women of Note Honoree

Iris E. Harvey, Kent State University’s vice president for
university relations, is one of 15 women selected by
Crain’s Cleveland Business for its 2014 class, honoring
the women whose passion, dedication and strength led
to success, not only for themselves, but their organization
and colleagues as well.

Iris E. Harvey, Kent State University’s vice president for university relations, is among the 2014 Women of Note and was recognized on July 24 at LaCentre of Westlake, Ohio. She is one of 15 women selected by Crain’s Cleveland Business for its 2014 class, honoring the women whose passion, dedication and strength led to success, not only for themselves, but their organization and colleagues as well.

Harvey, a resident of Stow, Ohio, has been with Kent State since 2008 and oversees Kent State’s global branding initiatives and directs university communications, marketing and media relations, regional engagement and corporate affairs. Earlier this year, Harvey was honored at the 2014 Harold K. Stubbs Humanitarian Awards in Akron, Ohio. In 2013, she was selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for a U.S.-France International Education Administrators Seminar award, and spent three weeks in France learning about other higher education systems.

“I’m proud to be honored and included in the company of such extraordinary women who are having a significant impact on their organizations, our communities and the state,” Harvey says.

Harvey earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and Master of Business Administration in international marketing from the University of Southern California, as well as a graduate professional degree in higher education administration from the George Washington University. Before joining Kent State, Harvey held senior marketing positions in higher education at Wright State University and the University of Maryland University College; was the CEO of an international consulting firm she founded and operated in Japan for nearly a decade; and held a vice presidency position at Citigroup Global Consumer Bank Group.

For the past 15 years, Crain’s Cleveland Business has dedicated an issue to honor the region’s women of achievement and accomplishment with its Women of Note program. It also stages an event to honor them. WKSU was media sponsor for the event, and M.L. Schultze, WKSU producer and reporter, served as master of ceremonies.

To see the full list of this year’s Women of Note honorees, visit www.crainscleveland.com/section/WON_Honorees.

For more information about Kent State’s Division of University Relations, visit www.kent.edu/about/administration/ur.

Important Information About Final Grading of Summer 2014 Summer II (S2) Classes

Online final grading for Summer 2014 Summer II (S2) courses meeting from June 9 through Aug. 2 began Thursday, July 31, 2014, via FlashFAST. Grading also is now available for any summer 2014 course section that was flexibly scheduled and has an end date no later than Aug. 2. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Tuesday, Aug. 5. Any final grades for Summer 2014 Summer II (S2) courses not reported in FlashFAST by the grades processing deadline will have to be submitted using the Grade Change Workflow. These Summer 2014 Summer II (S2) courses will be available in the Workflow on Thursday, Aug. 7.

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 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.

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

Grades Processing Tips and FAQ may be found on the Office of the University Registrar's website. Any faculty member needing personalized instruction on submitting their grades via FlashFAST should contact their campus Registrar's Office during normal business hours for assistance.

To access FlashFAST to post your final grades, log in 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.