eInside Briefs

Kent State’s Summer Commencement Ceremonies Occur Aug. 11

A 2012 graduate of Kent State University shows off her
diploma after crossing the stage during spring
commencement.

Kent State University will hold its summer commencement ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Kent State will confer 1,590 academic degrees, including 942 bachelor’s degrees, 391 master’s degrees, 79 doctoral degrees, 163 associate degrees and 15 educational specialist degrees.

The 9:30 a.m. ceremony is for those receiving master’s and doctoral degrees. The speaker for this ceremony is Jay Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D., president of Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). Gershen became the sixth president of NEOMED, formerly Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) in January 2010. He has initiated an ‘education for service’ initiative in Northeast Ohio, an innovative health workforce development program that reduces student indebtedness, provides health to underserved rural and urban communities, diversifies the health care workforce and contributes to economic growth.

The ceremony for those receiving their bachelor’s degrees is at 1:30 p.m. The speaker for the afternoon ceremony is Herb Page, Kent State’s director of golf and men’s golf head coach. Page has been a fixture on the Kent State campus since arriving as an undergraduate, three-sport student-athlete in 1970. Serving as men’s golf head coach at his alma mater since 1978, Page has grown to become one of the most respected golf coaches in the country. This past year, Page guided Kent State to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship, securing Kent State’s highest finish in school history.

The commencement ceremonies may be viewed live at www.kent.edu/commencement/webcast/live-webcast.cfm.

For more information about commencement, visit www.kent.edu/commencement.

Advisory: Special Kent State University Board of Trustees Meeting

The Kent State University Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Wednesday, Aug. 8, for the purpose of ratifying a three-year, collective bargaining agreement between the university and full-time, tenure-track faculty, who are represented by the American Association of University Professors – Kent State Chapter.

The Board will convene at 10:30 a.m. at the Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine, which is located at 6000 Rockside Woods Blvd. in Independence. The meeting will precede an 11 a.m. ribbon-tying event at the Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine, which is being held to mark the recent joining of the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine with Kent State.

No committee meetings will be held and trustees may retire into executive session during the meeting to consider specific topics as provided for under Ohio’s  “Sunshine Law.”

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board is Wednesday, Sept. 12. The meeting will be held at the new, 44,000-square-foot Kent State University Regional Academic Center, which is located at 2745 Creekside Dr. in Twinsburg (accessible from Interstate Highway 480 off state Route 91).

Limited Offer for Faculty, Staff and Alumni of Kent State University

Two-for-one Centennial Campaign celebration concert tickets

Kent State University faculty, staff and alumni can get a
limited time two-for-one ticket promotion for the Centennial
Campaign Concert that will take place on Sept. 8 at Dix
Stadium.

On Sept. 8, the first concert in more than two decades will be presented at Dix Stadium.  Because you are a valued member of our staff, faculty and/or alumni, we are offering a limited time two-for-one ticket promotion. From now through Sept. 4, all Kent State University faculty, staff and alumni will have the opportunity to buy advance tickets at half price. That’s two chair back seat tickets for $50 or two general admission tickets for $35. Don’t miss this great concert and a chance to celebrate the success of our Centennial Campaign, which raised $265 million for student scholarships, capital projects and research. 

Proceeds from the concert benefit the Campaign for Change student scholarship program. Be part of the fun and the celebration.  The concert starts at 6 p.m., and there is a free tailgate party outside the stadium from 4- 6 p.m. 

To purchase your discounted tickets, visit the Kent State Ticket Office in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center or click here. If you are unable to access the link, please call the Kent State Ticket Office at 330-672-2244 to order your tickets. The Ticket Office is open from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. This promotion only lasts until Sept. 4. Buy your tickets now … don’t miss out on this great event.   

In fact make a weekend out of it … look what else is going on Sept. 7-9 in Kent!

• Enjoy live music Friday night (Sept. 7) at The Kent Stage when American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music Ruthie Foster is performing. 
• Get your share of local goodness at the renowned Haymaker Farmer's Market on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Be sure to make time for the 19th Annual Art in the Park on Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9, featuring more than 100 artists and live music at Fred Fuller Park (free admission and parking), or take a trip down the picturesque Cuyahoga River on a canoe or kayak through Crooked River Adventures. 
• Relax in one of the nearby hotels, such as Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn & Suites at the Kent State rate of $99 plus tax.  There's so much to do, so take the time to eat, shop, play and stay in downtown Kent!
  

For a complete list of all the best places to eat, shop, play and stay in Kent, visit www.mainstreetkent.org. Send an email to info@mainstreetkent.org if you need help finding something downtown. Enjoy Kent! 

Hillel at Kent State’s Jennifer Chestnut Begins Exclusive Hartman Fellowship

Hillel executive director one of 15 campus professionals chosen for yearlong program

From left, Cleveland natives Rabbi Julie Roth, Jennifer
Chestnut and Rabbi Michael Uram, along with Ohio State's
Rabbi Benjamin Berger, pose for a photo during their weeklong
seminar for the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals
in Jerusalem.

Jennifer Chestnut, executive director of Hillel at Kent State University, recently started an exclusive fellowship program for Jewish college professionals from around the world.

She is participating in the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals, a program created by the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel in partnership with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

The 12-month fellowship began with a weeklong intensive study program from July 2-9 in Jerusalem, Israel. Chestnut was one of 15 early- and mid-career campus professionals selected for the fully-subsidized fellowship program. It is the first fellowship experience for Chestnut, who has served as the executive director at Kent State Hillel for the last 13 years.

During her time in Israel, Chestnut says the fellows spent every day studying and learning with prestigious Hartman faculty and staff.

The curriculum for the fellowship is based on the Hartman Institute’s iEngage Project. Chestnut says that the project focuses on “elevating the conversation about Israel on campuses to a nuanced values-based one as opposed to a black-and-white, right-and-wrong conversation based on a crisis mentality.”

“We were learning with other campus professionals who are working on this topic globally,” Chestnut says. “Having the content from these world-renowned educators matched with these practitioners working on the ground at these campuses was a special combination.”

Of the global pilot group of participants, 20 percent are Cleveland natives: Chestnut, Rabbi Julie Roth from the Center for Jewish Life and executive director of Hillel at Princeton University, and Rabbi Michael Uram, director and campus Rabbi of Penn Hillel. Ohio also is represented by Rabbi Benjamin Berger, senior Jewish educator at Ohio State University Hillel.

The fellowship program will continue with a meeting during the annual Hillel Institute conference in August in St. Louis, Mo. Participants also will connect via bi-weekly video conferences and a three-day mid-year seminar in the United States in January 2013. Finally, the fellowship will conclude with another weeklong seminar in July 2013 in Jerusalem.

The Shalom Hartman Institute is a center of transformative thinking and teaching that addresses the major challenges facing the Jewish people and elevates the quality of Jewish life in Israel and around the world. A leader in sophisticated, ideas-based Jewish education for community leaders and change agents, the institute is committed to the significance of Jewish ideas, the power of applied scholarship, and the conviction that great teaching contributes to the growth and continual revitalization of the Jewish people.
 
For additional information on the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit www.hartman.org.il.

For more information about the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals, click here.

Kent State Recreational Services Employees Participate in Kayaking Instructor Workshop

Participants in the American Canoe Association instructor
certification workshop prepare for a training session. The
workshop was hosted by Kent State University's Adventure
Center, which is under the Department of Recreational
Services.

The Adventure Center under the Department of Recreational Services at Kent State University recently hosted a two-day American Canoe Association instructor certification workshop. Funding for the workshop titled, “Level 2: Essentials of River Kayaking Instructor Certification Workshop,” was part of a 2012 Boating Safety Education Grant to provide training for two staff members of the Department of Recreational Services.

However, rather than send only two of its instructors out of state for the training, the Department of Recreational Services decided to bring the Instructor Trainer Educator (ITE) to Kent to conduct the training locally. This allowed them to provide training for five Kent State staff members, as well as five staff members from other agencies around Ohio who are also current or past recipients of a Boating Safety Education Grant. The agencies include the Cleveland Metroparks, The University of Akron, Youngstown State University and Wright State University.

Mike Aronoff, owner of Canoe, Kayak, and Paddle Company (CKAPCO) of Vienna, Va., which was the first pro-school through the American Canoe Association, conducted the training as the lead instructor.  Aronoff is one of the top Instructor Trainer Educators in the United States and is a current and past chair of several national committees, including the Introduction to Paddling Committee and the River Kayaking Committee.

The workshop began at the Mogadore Reservoir with a paddling skills assessment of the instructor candidates and continued with stroke refinement, maneuvers and rescues on flat water.  The Instructor Certification Workshop took advantage of the area’s local natural resource— the Cuyahoga River. The second day was spent on moving water at the Cuyahoga River in class 1 rapids, working on strokes and maneuvers, and discussing associated topics regarding paddling and teaching on moving water.

Participants learned the American Canoe Association model of effective instruction, as well as paddling, rescue, group management, leadership and various other aspects of paddle sport and the river environment.

In addition to providing the instructor certification training for the 10 instructor candidates, Bill Staiger, Northern Region manager for the ODNR Division of Watercraft, assisted with the workshop to update his L2: ERK Instructor Trainer Educator certification. Furthermore, Dave Herpy, Outdoor Adventure coordinator at Kent State University, and Amy Dingle, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator at Five Rivers Metroparks in Dayton, both Level 1: Introduction to Kayaking (L1:IK) Instructor Trainers, assisted with the workshop to begin their L2: ERK Instructor Trainer certification processes, as well.

The L2: ERK Instructor Trainer certification helps increase the number of certified instructors who will be able to provide river kayaking instruction and instructor certification training to others in the state of Ohio, which has more than 60,000 miles of inland streams, rivers and other waterways.