eInside Briefs
News Briefs
- Kent State University Summary of Board Actions From June 6
- Ohio Third Frontier Approves $200,000 in Commercialization Grants to Kent State Researchers
- What’s Kent State University President Lefton Been Up to Lately?
- Kent State’s Supplier Diversity Program Manager Awarded for Minority Business Enterprise Advocacy
Kent State University Summary of Board Actions From June 6
At its June 6 meeting, the Kent State University Board of Trustees took action on the following items:
Trustees Endorse FY 2013 University Budget That Supports Major Campus Improvements
The Board approved a balanced educational and operating budget for Kent State University’s eight-campus system as it commended the university’s leadership for demonstrating sound and strategic management through difficult financial times.
The budget reflects the fourth year that the Responsibility Center Management budget model, which encourages strategic and creative use of funds, has been used by academic units; additional funding for student scholarships, international programs, new faculty and advisor positions, library collections and public safety; costs associated with new contract agreements with employees represented by bargaining units; anticipated increases in health-insurance costs for employees; financial activities associated with the new Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine; a 3.5-percent tuition increase that helps to offset a state appropriation that decreased 8.6 percent ($12.1 million) from the amount received in fiscal year 2011; and the launch of several large-scale projects, including new and renovated buildings, to bring aging university facilities up to world-class standards.
The budget, which totals $616.4 million ($616,498,803), spans fiscal year 2012-13 (July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013).
Kent State Creates Cuban Studies Institute
Kent State has seized the opportunity to become a regional leader in developing scholarly relationships in Cuba by creating the Cuban Studies Institute. The institute, which will be effective Fall Semester 2012, will work to build sustainable, collaborative educational and research relationships in Cuba; and will support interdisciplinary collaboration across Kent State colleges and throughout Northeast Ohio, the United States and Cuba.
The institute’s goals include expanding student and faculty experiences abroad; encouraging collaboration and research in areas such as the arts, education, public health, family studies, literature and the sciences; and promoting outreach through seminars, lectures and special events. The Board gave authorization for the institute through the Fall Semester 2014.
The institute will partner with the university’s Office of Global Education to apply for licensure with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, a requirement for research and/or study abroad in Cuba.
The creation of the institute was approved previously by the university’s Educational Policy Council and Faculty Senate.
New Science and Nursing Building Approved for Kent State Stark
In response to the continuing expansion of the nursing and science programs at Kent State University at Stark, the Board authorized a $17 million ($17,015,722) project to build a new, 41,140-square-foot Science and Nursing Building adjacent to the Main Hall. Funding will be provided from campus funds, the state’s capital appropriation to the university and from private donations.
The state-of-the-art building will include classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories and faculty offices associated with the biology, physics, geology and nursing programs. The project also will include renovation of approximately 5,250 square feet of the existing Main Hall East Wing, and limited site improvements and parking enhancements.
Construction of the new building is expected to begin in fall 2013 and be completed by summer 2015.
Click here to see the complete version of these and additional board actions taken by the Kent State University Board of Trustees on June 6.
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Ohio Third Frontier Approves $200,000 in Commercialization Grants to Kent State Researchers
The Ohio Third Frontier program recently made three separate grants to Kent State University researchers through the newly established Technology Validation and Start-up Fund, which promotes the commercialization of Ohio technologies developed by the state’s institutions of higher education.
“These projects demonstrate our commitment as a university to high-quality research that supports the health and livelihood of the people of Ohio,” says Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D., Kent State’s vice president for research. “We would like to express our gratitude to the Third Frontier for showing confidence in our researchers and for supporting these efforts.”
Joel Hughes, Ph.D., associate professor in Kent State’s Department of Psychology and director of the university’s Applied Psychology Center, will lead a $50,000 effort to develop the project “iLidRX — an Interoperating Medication Container for Health Management of Chronic Illnesses.” This venture will complete the development of a system for managing patient compliance in both clinical trials and the treatment of chronic diseases.
“I think that this product could be completely revolutionary,” Hughes says. “At this point, we know that a major barrier to effective medical care is medication adherence. Solving this problem is a ‘holy grail’ of health behavior right now, and the iLidRx will be uniquely suited to improving medication taking, reducing medication errors and ultimately improving health.”
Kent State Trustees Research Professor John L. West, Ph.D., from the university’s Liquid Crystal Institute® and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is spearheading a $50,000 materials science project titled “Controlled Cracking of ITO on Plastic Substrates,” which will demonstrate the commercial viability of a manufacturing method for use in flexible electronics applications.
“It’s an exciting new technology, and I’m glad the state has provided this support for it,” West says. “We will move quickly to build a prototype and commercialize this new technology.”
A $100,000 Phase 2 grant was made to GraphSQL LLC, a newly established Portage County company co-funded by Kent State Associate Professor Ruoming Jin, Ph.D., from the Department of Computer Science. The grant will help develop the firm’s software system supporting graph data analysis for massive business data.
“We also are very excited about this Phase 2 award for GraphSQL,” McGimpsey says. “This is an excellent example of university-private sector cooperation that reflects what we see as the university’s responsibility to promote economic development in the region through research and development.”
Ohio Third Frontier, an unprecedented and bipartisan commitment to create new technology-based products, companies, industries and jobs, has attracted more than $6.6 billion in other investments to Ohio, and has a nearly 9 to 1 return on investment since its inception. The Ohio Third Frontier also has assisted in the creation and retention of more than 79,000 direct and indirect jobs for Ohioans.
For more information, visit http://thirdfrontier.com.
For more information on research at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/research.
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What’s Kent State University President Lefton Been Up to Lately?
Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton visits the
new Student Green construction site.
Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton wears many hats—from graduation cap to the hard hat.
Visit the President’s Page on the Kent State website to see photos and archives and to learn more about Kent State’s president. The page also features a photo essay of some of the activities and events Lefton attends or hosts on behalf of the university.
Click here to view the photo essay.
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Kent State’s Supplier Diversity Program Manager Awarded for Minority Business Enterprise Advocacy
Black Pages Ohio, a minority-business listing
and resource guide for Ohio communities,
bestowed Kent State Supplier Diversity Manager
Veronica Cook-Euell with its Minority Business
Enterprise Advocacy award.
Kent State University’s Supplier Diversity Program Manager Veronica Cook-Euell has received the 2012 Minority Business Enterprise Advocacy award from Black Pages Ohio. Cook-Euell was awarded for helping to build business-to-business relationships throughout Ohio, and for her encouragement of multicultural partnerships and commitment to growing emerging and small businesses.
Black Pages Ohio, established in 1991 as The Cleveland Black Pages, is a minority-business listing and resource guide for Ohio communities. It was the first African-American minority business directory ever published in Northeast Ohio.
Cook-Euell received the award on May 10 during a gala introducing The Summit magazine, a publication of Black Pages Ohio that is sponsored by the City of Akron.
“It is truly an honor to be recognized for one’s passion,” says Cook-Euell. “At Kent State, we continue to work toward achieving our goal to promote an inclusive supplier environment, and I am very happy with the achievements we have recorded. To be recognized by industry members is a testament to the comprehensive and strong supplier diversity program that we have at Kent State.”
Cook-Euell is responsible for developing strategies to increase minority business representation in securing contracts at Kent State. She assists Kent State in diverse spending with minority and women-owned businesses and serves as the university’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) officer monitoring minority business enterprise/encouraging diversity, growth and equity (MBE/EDGE) spending.
For more information about Kent State’s Supplier Diversity program, contact Cook-Euell at vcook3@kent.edu or 330-672-9195, or visit www.kent.edu/procurement/welcome-supplier-diversity.cfm.
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