eInside Briefs

The Higher Learning Commission Reaffirms Kent State’s Accreditation Until 2022-2023

Kent State University has received formal notification from
the Higher Learning Commission that the university has
been reaffirmed until the 2022-2023 academic year.

On Feb 4, 2015, Kent State University received formal notification from its regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), that the university has been reaffirmed until the 2022-2023 academic year. Click here to view the university’s letter of reaffirmation.
 
Kent State has been accredited by the HLC since 1915. The university became a charter member of the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), one of several pathways for institutional accreditation offered by the HLC, in September 2000. AQIP focuses on continuous quality improvement throughout each year of the reaffirmation cycle, which typically spans eight years.

For more information, contact Fashaad Crawford, Ph.D., Kent State’s assistant provost for accreditation, assessment and learning, at 330-672-3930.

Kent State Associate Dean and Psychology Professor John Graham Receives Bruno Klopfer Award

John Graham, Ph.D., associate dean
in Kent State University’s College of
Public Health, received the Bruno
Klopfer award, presented by the Society
for Personality Assessment. 

John Graham, Ph.D., associate dean in Kent State University’s College of Public Health, received the Bruno Klopfer award, presented by the Society for Personality Assessment in Brooklyn, New York, on March 5.

The Bruno Klopfer award is presented annually to individuals who made long-term, professional contributions to the field of personality assessment. The recipient gives an acceptance presentation at the Society for Personality Assessment’s annual convention and is invited to publish the presentation in the Journal of Personality Assessment.

“It’s a great honor,” Graham says. “The award is a recognition of an individual’s career accomplishments. It feels good to know that peers in the assessment field believe that I have contributed significantly to the area.”

Currently, Graham serves as the associate dean in the College of Public Health and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychological Sciences. 

Graham’s contributions to the field began during his graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is there that he specialized in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and he has contributed to more than 100 publications on the test and written a textbook that is widely used in graduate psychological assessment courses.

The MMPI, originally published in 1943, was created to assist in assigning psychiatric labels to persons with psychiatric problem. Graham was co-author of a major revision of the test published in 1989 and named the MMPI-2.

“Currently, the test is used in a number of ways,” Graham says. “Consistent with the original purpose, the test is used in clinical settings to assist in understanding clients and planning treatment interventions. The test also is used to screen individuals for psychological problems that would interfere with job performance.”

Some version of the MMPI is used in nearly every police department in the country. The test also is used to screen airline pilots, nuclear power plant workers and others where public safety is involved.

Graham says he is humbled to receive an award previously given to some of the most significant names in psychology.

Sonia Alemagno, Ph.D., dean of the College of Public Health, says Graham’s name is worthy to be on that list.

“The College of Public Health is delighted to see the honor that has been granted to Dr. Graham,” Alemagno says. “His extraordinary research experience is a valuable asset to our faculty and students, and he is truly a distinguished colleague to all of us.”

Maria Zaragoza, Ph.D., chair of Kent State’s Department of Psychological Sciences, shares Alemagno’s sentiment about Graham’s notable work.

“Dr. Graham is a prolific and renowned scholar and an outstanding research mentor,” Zaragoza says. “To date, 43 students have completed their Ph.Ds. under his supervision. He has served as editor of the most prominent journals in his field, and he has held numerous administrative positions at the university, including department chair. There is no question that he has served the university and his profession with distinction. Dr. Graham is richly deserving of this award.”

For more information about the Society for Personality Assessment, visit www.personality.org. 

Kent State Partners With Portage County Health Department and EMA on Disaster Simulation, April 14 and 16

Kent State University’s College of Nursing and College of Public Health are collaborating with the Portage County Health Department and the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) to stage a disaster simulation exercise. This year’s simulation will be a mock Anthrax release, with a triage and treatment site, and will take place Tuesday, April 14, and Thursday, April 16, from 8 a.m. to noon at Kent State’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

The mock exercise allows the Portage County Health Department and the EMA to test the effectiveness of Portage County’s disaster plan. The event also gives Kent State nursing students the opportunity to safely apply skills in a real-world disaster scenario. Public health students also will be able to see how an incident command system goes into effect during a disaster event.

“This disaster simulation exercise is an excellent opportunity for nursing students to practice their triage and screening skills in a real-life situation and in a community setting,” says Pamela Rafferty-Semon, lecturer in Kent State’s College of Nursing.

Portage County is enlisting Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to participate by acting as victims going through the triage and treatment stations during the simulation exercise.

For more information about the Portage County Health Department, visit www.co.portage.oh.us/healthdepartment.htm.

For more information about Kent State’s College of Nursing, visit www.kent.edu/nursing.

For more information about Kent State’s College of Public Health, visit, www.kent.edu/publichealth.

WKSU and Western Reserve PBS Examine Vietnam’s Legacy 40 Years Later

Collaboration includes radio reports and documentary film

WKSU, in collaboration with Western Reserve PBS, will
present several programs to mark the 40th anniversary
of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. 

The WKSU newsroom looks back at two significant historical events, presented in collaboration with Western Reserve PBS. As the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War approaches, Western Reserve PBS (WNEO/WEAO) joins with a national PBS effort to examine ramifications that are still being felt today of that deadly conflict. A focal point of the public television station’s coverage is a broadcast on April 28 of the Oscar-nominated documentary The Last Days of Vietnam, directed by Rory Kennedy and part of PBS’ American Experience program.

Beginning on April 13, WKSU will broadcast Looking Back at Vietnam, a series that includes reports on Vietnam vets, Hmong immigrants, the media’s reaction to the war and a deeper look into the PBS documentary. WKSU’s effort continues with stories related to the 45th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. The clash between protesting college students and National Guard troops left four dead and nine wounded and is credited for building anti-war sentiment in the U.S.

In tandem with the WKSU broadcasts, Western Reserve PBS will air topically related 90-second vignettes during prime time. The vignettes are the work of Kent State student Daniel Henderson, who is a sophomore in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Scheduled broadcasts include:

April 13

• WKSU: Vietnam Vets at 40: The Lives of Local Vets, Now and Then – Tim Rudell (Morning Edition)
• Western Reserve PBS: A look at why Vietnam veterans continue to gather and examples of their brotherhood 
• WKSU: Learning From Vietnam: The lessons learned from the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and how that has affected U.S. military involvement in other conflicts since then – Kevin Niedermier (Here and Now and All Things Considered)
• Western Reserve PBS: The impact of the Vietnam War and the subsequent changes in training at the college level
  

April 20

• WKSU: The Immigrants:  Immigrant Hmong communities in Northeast Ohio and the lasting impact of the war along with the challenges they faced/continue to face in becoming Americans – M.L. Schultze (Morning Edition)
• Western Reserve PBS: Discussions with the children and grandchildren of Vietnam-era refugees living in Northeast Ohio
• WKSU: The Lens of the Media, Then and Now:  Local reporters who covered both Vietnam and May 4 at Kent State reflect on past and present events – Kabir Bhatia (All Things Considered)
• Western Reserve PBS: A comparison between the impact of social media today on news gathering and media delivery methods during the Vietnam era
  

April 27

• WKSU: Last Days in Vietnam: A two-part interview with the documentary’s producer and writer, Keven McAlester – Amanda Rabinowitz (Part 1 during Morning Edition, Part 2 during Here and Now and All Things Considered)
• Western Reserve PBS: An interview with a local documentary filmmaker who has had a project in the works for over 20 years
  

May 4

• WKSU: May 4 – A Lens on History: Examining a newly released video of the burning of the Kent State ROTC building on May 2, 1970, and a discussion with the person behind the camera – Jeff St. Clair (Morning Edition)
• Western Reserve PBS: Current students at Kent State share their impressions of May 4, 1970
• WKSU: The Lasting Impact on the Arts:  A look at the impression the war made and continues to make on all forms of art through a local and national lens – Vivian Goodman (Here and Now and All Things Considered)
• Western Reserve PBS: Vietnam-era Photographers: Where Are They Now?
  

Both public broadcasters support on-air programming with additional information online. WKSU’s audio reports will be posted as they air along with support materials at www.wksu.org/rememberingvietnam. Western Reserve PBS coverage will be posted at www.westernreservepublicmedia.org/vietnam. WKSU airs Northeast Ohio-based and statewide news reports daily during station broadcasts of NPR’s Morning Edition (Monday-Friday, 5-9 a.m.), Here and Now (Monday-Friday, noon-2 p.m.) and All Things Considered (Monday-Friday, 4-6 p.m. and 6:30-7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 5-6 p.m.)

WKSU’s reports on Vietnam and May 4 are made possible in part with support from Kent State’s May 4 Visitors Center, County of Summit – ADM Board and the Cleveland Public Library.

For more information about WKSU, visit www.wksu.org.

For more information about Western Reserve PBS, visit www.WesternReservePublicMedia.org or call 1-800-554-4549.

Works of Kent State Art Professor, Alumna, Featured in Cleveland Institute of Art Exhibition

Pictured is Bacteria, Diatoms and Cells, an artwork by
Eva Kwong, associate professor of art at Kent State
University.

Kent State University Associate Professor of Art Eva Kwong and Kent State alumna Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson have their works featured in the Cleveland Institute of Art’s exhibition, Women to Watch – Ohio. The exhibition, which runs now through May 2, is on view at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Galleries.

The prestigious exhibition features artwork by five accomplished women artists, including Kwong and Jónsson, and is sponsored by the National Museum of Women Artists in Washington, D.C., the Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Cleveland Institute of Art.

For more information about the exhibition, visit http://cia.edu/events/2015/04/spring-exhibition-women-to-watch--ohio.