eInside Briefs

Board of Trustees Summary, March 9 Meeting

At its March 9 meeting, the Kent State University Board of Trustees took action on the following items:

•  Establishment of Ground-breaking School of Digital Sciences

If the iconic film "The Graduate" was remade today, its best-known scene would likely have the title character being urged to pursue a career in digital sciences instead of plastics. In response to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections that computer-related occupations will grow more than twice as fast as the average for other occupations in the next decade, the Board established an interdisciplinary School of Digital Sciences that is unique in Ohio and nationally.

The school, which will be launched next fall, will provide students with a broad understanding of the digital sciences in an enterprise environment, including expertise in business processes, information repositories, software development and underlying telecommunications infrastructure. The school also will be a catalyst for economic development as an incubator for research in digital sciences and as a proactive partner in interdisciplinary collaborations within the academic and private sectors.

Geared to both traditional and nontraditional students on all eight Kent State campuses, the school will offer bachelor of science, bachelor of arts and master of arts degree programs in digital sciences, as well as an undergraduate minor. Graduates of the programs will be in high demand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics points to the possibility of more than 28,000 well-paying computer-related jobs in Ohio alone in the near future, and as many as 100,000 new computer-related jobs for Ohioans between 2008 and 2018.

The School of Digital Sciences, which will be overseen by a director, will be a freestanding unit outside of any existing college. It will break new ground by bringing together faculty from more than half a dozen disciplines, but leaving them based in their home academic units to teach and pursue interdisciplinary research.

In a separate action, the Board formally established the digital sciences major within the bachelor of arts, bachelor of science and master of science degrees.

Establishment of the School of Digital Sciences and the digital science major were approved previously by the university's Educational Policies Council and Faculty Senate. It also was endorsed by the president and provost.

•  Creation of Ohio's First Degree Programs Geared to Wine Industry

The Board created two associate degree programs that will prepare students for skilled jobs in Ohio's multimillion-dollar wine and grape industry. Each is the first of its kind in Ohio, which is one of the nation's top 10 wine-producing states.  Starting fall semester 2011, students at Kent State University at Ashtabula will be able to major in enology, the study of wine and winemaking, and in viticulture, the study of vine growing and grape harvesting.

In separate actions, the Board established the two majors within the associate of applied science degree to offer students the opportunity to gain expertise in a high-demand field as it helps Ohio sustain and develop an industry that has an economic impact of more than $580 million annually.

The new majors were approved previously by the university's Educational Policies Council and Faculty Senate, and are endorsed by the president and provost.

• Creation of University Requirement in Experiential Learning

The Carnegie Foundation has ranked Kent State among the nation's top 76 colleges and universities in the area of community engagement. Kent State University's Board of Trustees extended this nationally recognized focus on learning through engagement by establishing a requirement that all Kent State University undergraduates engage in at least one experiential learning experience. This requirement for "real-world" experience takes effect for fall semester 2012 and applies to entering freshmen who are pursuing baccalaureate degrees.

Experiential learning, which is intended to enhance students' understanding of real-world issues, includes academic and non-academic activities such as community service, service-learning, undergraduate research, internships and capstone projects. The National Survey of Student Engagement found that experiential education led to higher course grades, higher course completion rates, higher college grade-point averages and increased college retention.

Students will have the option of fulfilling the requirement in several ways, including completing a designated course; taking an approved, one-credit add-on to a course; or by engaging in a college-documented and approved non-course activity.

The new requirement was approved previously by the university's Educational Policies Council and Faculty Senate, and was endorsed by the president and provost.

• Establishment of Hospitality Management Major

Maximizing a longtime Kent State strength and responding to the projected growth of jobs in restaurant, hotel and other hospitality businesses in the next decade, the Board created a bachelor of science degree program in hospitality management, effective fall semester 2011. The new major, which will be offered through the College of Education, Health and Human Services at the Kent Campus and at Kent State University at Ashtabula, is an outgrowth of a nationally accredited, longstanding concentration in the nutrition and food major.

Making this academic concentration an independent major will increase the program's visibility, a benefit for the university as well as students. Students who major in hospitality management will be prepared for careers such as managing restaurants, hotels and private clubs; planning social and corporate events that include food, beverage and lodging services; and managing sales for food distribution companies, hotels and resorts.

The new major was approved previously by the university's Educational Policies Council and Faculty Senate, and is endorsed by the president and provost.

• Increase in Room and Board Rates

The Board approved an overall 5.42 percent increase in the standard, undergraduate double-room and board rates, effective fall semester 2011. The increases will allow the university to keep pace with changing student needs, and to help offset rising costs for maintenance and repairs, utilities and food products. The increases will allow the university to continue operating its residence and dining programs on a self-sufficient basis while keeping room and board affordable for students and their families. The increases leave Kent State's room and board rate among the lowest for Ohio's residential campuses.

Under the new rates, a standard double-occupancy room and a full meal plan will be $4,415 a semester, an increase of $227 from the current rate of $4,188. Similar increases were instituted for other residential options, which include single and quad rooms, on-campus apartments and four other board plans.

• Changes in Student Fees

The Board authorized changes in a variety of programs, courses and other student fees, most of which are effective fall semester 2011. The changes, which were reviewed by a variety of university staff members and university executive officers to ensure that they are necessary, range from the elimination of an $80 fee for students in a technology course to an increase of $795 for students in an advanced commercial pilot flight course.

Trustees also approved a $10 per-credit-hour-fee for all distance-learning courses, and the continuation of two discounts to the regular surcharge rates for students who are not Ohio residents. The current discounts, which are available for out-of-state students from specified counties in northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania who enroll at Kent State's seven regional campuses or who enroll in distance-learning programs, are valid through June 2011. Their continuation must be approved by the Ohio Board of Regents.

•  Innovative Energy-Conservation Project Planned for Kent Campus Residence Halls

The Board authorized an energy conservation project to ensure Kent State's compliance with the energy-reduction goal set for 2014 in House Bill 251. Kent State's plan is intended to exceed the goal, reducing energy use in its residence halls by an estimated 37 percent.

The project, which involves the 24 residence halls on the Kent Campus and is estimated to cost from $17 million to $20 million, includes the installation of leading-edge, wireless technology in residence hall rooms that is controllable by computers or cell phones connected to the Internet and will allow students and staff members to automatically or manually shut off lights and other power-using appliances, or adjust room temperatures. Kent State will be one of the nation's first universities to install the technology in residence halls, which will result in significantly increased energy savings, especially during class breaks and during the summer.

The Brewer-Garrett Company was chosen by a university selection team to implement the energy-conservation project, which also will include typical energy-efficiency improvements such as lighting retrofits or replacements; installation of occupancy sensors; heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, and exhaust system enhancements; and replacement of single-pane windows with thermal windows.

Full funding for the project will be sought from a combination of external Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds from the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority and private placement.  Trustees, who approved the funding plan in a separate action, stressed that regardless of the final financing method, the entire project will be funded from energy savings that accrue in a period of 15 years or less, as mandated by House Bill 7.

• Kent State to Launch Major Telecommunications-Upgrade Project

The Board approved a three-year, four-phase project to upgrade telecommunications infrastructure equipment, including installation of full wireless coverage in all residence halls, across Kent State's eight-campus system.

A university selection team chose LOGOS Communications, Inc. of Westlake, Ohio, to administer the project, which will replace aging telecommunications equipment with modern technology. In making the upgrades, the university will reduce the operating costs by reducing energy use and eliminating redundant connections; improve connectivity between and among its eight campuses and satellite offices; and meet the growing needs of students, faculty and staff to connect and collaborate through technology.

In other actions:

•  The Board named the on-air studio at WKSU-FM, the university's award-winning public radio station, in honor of the J.M. Smucker Company and Richard and Tim Smucker and their families. The company and Smucker family members have been associated with WKSU-FM for more than 25 years as underwriters, financial sponsors of special projects and as individual station members and contributors.
  
•  The Board named the science education classroom in White Hall, home of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, in honor of Dr. Alan Mandel and alumnus Rae Grossman Mandel.  The Mandels have made a commitment to fund a $200,000 endowment that will allow the classroom, in which future teachers learn to deliver information in a compelling manner, to be renovated and maintained in ways fit for 21st-century curricula.

• The Board unanimously approved a resolution expressing appreciation for the service of Board of Trustee member Andrew J. Banks, who was appointed by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft for a nine-year term as a trustee that will end in May. Trustees commended Banks, who is chairman and chief executive officer of Mid-America Consulting Group, for bringing a "focus on innovation, effectiveness and efficiency into his stewardship of Kent State"; for bringing to the Board an "independent business perspective and acumen"; and for distinguishing himself as a "passionate advocate for entrepreneurship, diversity and technology."

• Upon the recommendation of the university's Citation and Recognition Committee, and with the endorsement of the president, the Board voted to confer an honorary doctor of humane letters degree upon Leonardo Ferragamo, the internationally renowned Italian business leader who is credited with turning the Salvatore Ferragamo Company into one of the world's best-known and most-respected luxury fashion empires. The Board lauded Ferragamo's contributions as a "leading force in the preservation and support of Florentine culture, the arts and the city's legendary fashion trade" and noted his strong and valuable support of the Kent State Campus in Florence, the site of a study-abroad program that allows students to study fashion, art, history, communications and other subjects in Florence.

•  The Board revised the university policy on the administration of student conduct by creating an Academic Hearing Board to consider academic allegations or sanctions.

•  The Board authorized a $1.25 million project to replace a major portion of the roof of the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, which is more than 20 years old and in failing condition, with an energy-efficient roof system that carries a 20-year warranty.

•  The Board approved a financing plan for previously approved energy-conservation projects at Kent State's Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem and Trumbull campuses.  The projects, which will bring the campuses in compliance with energy-reduction goals set for 2014 by House Bill 251, will be funded through bonds issued by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority.

•  The Board authorized the purchase of two properties in the city of Kent as part of a planned expansion of the university's Esplanade into downtown Kent:

A 0.2159-acre property at 324 Erie St. for $299,500.
A 0.3076-acre property at 128 S. Lincoln St. for $464,000.

The properties are owned by A&H Investments Joint Venture LLC and were purchased for under the values appraised independently in December 2010.

•  The Board authorized the vice president for finance and administration to seek the required legislative authorization to sell or exchange university-owned property at 1061 Fraternity Circle near the Kent Campus. The three-story office building on a 0.980-acre parcel houses the Kent State University Foundation. The University Circle property is no longer needed because the Foundation offices are moving to a larger, more accessible university property at 120 N. Lincoln St. This transaction is essential to the downtown Kent redevelopment project and the extension of the university's Esplanade.

 

Posted March 14, 2011

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Recognize Excellence in Colleagues Online

Do you know a colleague who has done an excellent job recently? Maybe a co-worker, a project group or an entire department? Here's your chance to give a shout-out of thanks or congratulations to that person or group and share with everyone another example of excellence in action. There's plenty to celebrate. Let's share the great things that happen here every day. We'll even post some of the shout-outs on the QR codes found on some of the posters around campus.

To give a shout-out, look for the QR codes on materials distributed recently as part of the Together, Excellence in Action campaign. Or, you can scan the code reproduced here:

The code will lead you to a link on the e-Inside Message Boards where, through a special category, you can nominate someone you think demonstrates the excellence the campaign seeks to promote.

QR codes can be scanned by your smart phone and will deliver messages on-the-spot, right to your phone. You may need to download a free QR code reader application, such as Red Laser, to enable your phone to read the codes.

If you don't have a smart phone or the appropriate app, access the Message Boards through the usual link.

For additional information, go to www.kent.edu/about/together .

Posted March 14, 2011

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Grades for F2 Courses Due March 22

Online grading for F2 courses (those which met Feb. 14 – March 20) begins Thursday, March 17, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any Spring 2011 course section that was flexibly scheduled and has already ended. The deadline for grading submissions is midnight on Tuesday, March 22.

FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. To access FlashFAST, log in to FlashLine at http://flashline.kent.edu and click the Faculty and Advisor Tools tab. The link to your grade roster(s) is located in the Faculty and Advisor Toolbox, under the Submit Grades heading.

Grades processing tips and FAQ may be found on the Office of the University Registrar's website at http://www.kent.edu/registrar/facstaff/facresc.cfm. Any faculty member who needs personalized instruction on submitting their grades via FlashFAST should contact their campus’s Office of the Registrar during normal business hours for assistance.

Also, as a helpful tip, it is recommended 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 for technical issues.

Posted March 14, 2011

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Campus Kitchen at Kent State Seeks Donations of Pantry Goods

On Feb. 23, the Campus Kitchen at Kent State University held a grand opening event and began preparing hot meals for those in need in the local community.

Campus Kitchen volunteers collect food items left over from campus events, and turn those donations  into healthy meals for clients of Kent Social Services.  There are currently about 30 Campus Kitchens across the nation, all of which are run and supported by students.

In order to help prepare the meals, additional non-perishable pantry items are needed. Collection boxes are now scattered across the Kent Campus for donations. A variety of items are needed, such as seasonings, including sauces such as Tabasco and teriyaki, flour, powdered milk, mashed potatoes, canned vegetables, whole grain pastas and rice, and bouillon and soup stock. 

Donation boxes are located in:                               

Room 100 in Nixson Hall

Room 113 in Henderson Hall

Room 123 in the Schwartz Center

Room 250 in the Kent Student Center

Room 408 in White Hall

A233 Comber Lab, in the Business Building

Stockdale Building

Tri-Towers Information Desk

Twin Towers Information Desk

University Communications and Marketing, Administrative Services Building

The donation boxes will be left out for the entire Spring 2011 Semester and into summer 2011.

For more information on the Campus Kitchen at Kent State, visit http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/kent-state-students-help-to-feed-the-hungry.

For additional information, contact  agosky@kent.edu or mcasto@kent.edu.

By Jaime Ramos

 

Posted March 14, 2011

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Student Involvement Brief: Do U Herd? Breaking Away from the Group

The Center for Student Involvement occasionally provides additional information to the university community on issues of broad interest in student affairs through the Student Involvement Brief. This feature will appear in e-Inside several times a month during the regular academic year.

Every year, a new group of young adults leave the nest and venture out with many other young people to attend to college. This is a time for finding oneself, making new friendships and to experience many new things.  Unfortunately, this is also a time where some students experiment with drinking and drugs. Collegedrinkingprevention.gov found that the consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses, college communities and each college student, whether they choose to drink or not.      

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, excessive drinking can lead to injury, sexual abuse, unprotected sex and even death.Every year, 1,400 American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related inadvertent injuries, including motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for the majority of the fatalities in that age group. These statistics are alarming, and there have been many programs dedicated to changing the minds of young people on these campuses.

The “Do U Herd?” Campaign, created by the Kent State Department of Residence Services Alcohol Education Team, hopes to liberate and educate students to make personal decisions, “un-herd” them to act on the basis of personal, internalized goals and set them free from the influences of an external environment. The students will be challenged to think “outside the fence” when making decisions and to live lives based on internal and personalized values, not what others think.

Marquita Rodgers, a member of the Alcohol Education Team who is putting the project together, says the goal of the effort is to teach students to think critically about the choices college life presents. “Other campaigns share statistics or inform students about the consequences of underage and high-risk drinking,” Rogers says. “Our campaign gets students to think critically about decisions they make involving alcohol. We want students to say ‘I have given thought to the forces and influences and my attitudes regarding drinking and as a result, I can clearly say my choice is my choice and not someone else’s.’”

When students engage in the campaign they will meet Henry Herder, the mascot for the department’s “Do U Herd?” critical thinking campaign, who will lead them to resources for students as well as parents. It is an important time to make a change in a student’s life and hopefully the “Do U Herd?” campaign with encourage students to think independently of the “herding” mentality they may have coming into Kent State. To learn more about the “Do U Herd?” campaign, please visit its website at http://douherd.res.kent.edu/index.html.

Posted March 14, 2011 | Alexandra Ulbricht

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Digital Access to the LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set Through KentLINK

Kent State University Libraries, striving to provide a higher level of service to students and researchers working with United States Congressional documents, has recently completed a project that resulted in the addition of 17,232 bibliographic records for the LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set collection into the KentLINK catalog. The addition of the descriptive metadata associated with these documents will now allow library researchers to search, identify and obtain online access to the full text of these government documents quickly and directly through the KentLINK catalog.

The LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set is a collection of U.S. government publications compiled under directive of the U.S. Congress. It contains comprehensive and often detailed information on an extremely wide range of subjects. The records entered into KentLINK provide access to materials ranging in date from 1789 to 1969. Besides containing Congressional documents and reports, the U.S. Serial Set contains many publications from federal agencies on a wide range of topics that were published as Congressional documents. These reports cover a wide range of topics, including exhibits of Congressional and executive branch commissions, and include investigations and inquiries into the study of wages and prices, immigration, woman and child labor, unemployment, national security, conduct of war and civil rights.

The Serial Set was a major financial investment by University Libraries last summer, and it replaced print volumes. With this purchase, the libraries recovered significant shelf space and users gained improved access. Having KentLINK records for these items provides another access avenue in addition to the online LexisNexis Congressional research database.

Providing digital access to the U.S. Serial Set benefits the library community because it guarantees not only better access for patrons, but eliminates the need for paper copies that need to be housed and maintained either locally or at the statewide depository system. The resources saved by University Libraries will be reallocated to other areas, such as providing improved instructional services and library programs.

For more information, contact Roman S. Panchyshyn, catalog librarian, at rpanchys@kent.edu.

Posted March 14, 2011

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