eInside Briefs

What to Do If You Witness Questionable Activity on Campus

Kent State is committed to providing a safe campus
community for all. The university administration encourages
faculty, staff and students to report questionable activities
to the police.

Kent State University is committed to providing a safe campus community for all. In line with this, the university recently launched a new safety initiative – Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). SART was created to educate the university community about sexual assault, to provide anti-violence programming and support services, and to encourage all community members to speak out when witnessing violence.

Dean Tondiglia, associate director for Kent State’s Department of Public Safety and member of SART, encourages members of the university community to always call the police whenever they witness questionable activities on campus.

“Employees of the university have the obligation to report criminal incidents to the police,” says Tondiglia.”

Tondiglia advises members of the Kent State University community to either call the police or avail themselves of the anonymous university tip line – ThreatLine – where they can choose to leave an anonymous voice mail message or fill out an anonymous email form. He advises that the ThreatLine be used only in nonemergency situations.

Dean of Students and Students Ombuds Sheryl Smith, who is also a member of SART, encourages students and other members of the university community to call the police even when they are not sure that the incident rises to the level of a crime.

“Kent State University police are very good at talking through situations with individuals,” Smith says. “By informing the police, they will at least be aware of the situation and would know what further steps need to be taken. Students, faculty and staff who are not comfortable going to the police can report to my office, and we in turn will report to the police, as we are obliged by law to report such incidents.”

The SART website provides resources for faculty, staff and students on what to do when someone reports a case of sexual assault, and also outlines indicators of distress, how to help and whom to call.

Tondiglia encourages members of the university community who have experienced abuse and are undergoing feelings of distress as a result of recent happenings in the news to contact the Psychological Services department at University Health Services or speak to any member of the SART team  with whom they feel most comfortable.

“We want to let them know that they can reach out to any of us for support,” says Tondiglia.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to review Kent State University Policy 4-13.1 regarding response to reports of criminal activities, including sexual assault and other felony crimes.

For more information about SART, visit www.kent.edu/SART. To reach Kent State’s Department of Public Safety and Police Services, call 330-672-3070. For emergencies and immediate assistance, call 911.
 

Foundation Grant Program Issues Request for Proposals

In the past, foundation funds have been used to renovate
classroom space.

The Kent State University Foundation Grant Program will award up to $100,000 this year as part of its annual request for proposals. Funding will be available to departments, schools, colleges, institutes and centers universitywide.

There are no restrictions on the awards, which will be made to projects that have an impact on the quality of education offered to students at Kent State. Requests may be made up to the full $100,000. A committee of the foundation will review all applications and make recommendations to the full board of directors for consideration.

Previous grants as part of this program have included support for the All-Steinway School initiative, the renovation of an organic chemistry laboratory, the purchase of equipment for various departments, for the STATE student research project, for renovations to the art classrooms and equipment for architecture.

Download the application by visiting:
www.kent.edu/advancement/ksufoundation/forms.cfm

Completed applications should be forwarded to:

Gene Finn
Kent State University Foundation
1061 Fraternity Circle
PO Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242-0001

All proposals must have the approval signature of the academic dean responsible for the program. Each recipient will be required to submit a report on the use of funds to the Kent State University Foundation board.

Applications must be received by Dec. 15, 2011.

Director of Ohio Department of Mental Health and Kent State Alumna Visits University’s College of Public Health

The Ohio Department of Mental Health director
and Kent State alumna Tracy Plouck visited the
College of Public Health on Nov. 14 to tour its facilities.
During her visit, Plouck spoke with faculty, administrators
and community members about the upcoming goals of the
state department.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) Director Tracy Plouck visited Kent State University’s College of Public Health on Nov. 14 to tour its facilities and to speak with faculty, administrators and community members about the upcoming goals of the state department. In total, more than 200,000 adults and 100,000 youth are served through the mental health system annually.

A Kent State alumna, Plouck earned a bachelor’s degree from Kent State and a master’s degree from The Ohio State University in public administration.

Plouck joined the Ohio Department of Mental Health in January 2011 and brings a strong policy background to her role, having served twice as Ohio’s Medicaid director and also as a deputy director with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.

While presenting, Plouck expressed excitement about the changes in policy that she’s been able to implement so far.

“State-run organizations like ODMH tend to have a culture of not carrying out the policies that are proposed,” Plouk says. “So it was really neat to be able to come in this year and actually get several policies passed and implemented.”

One of the policy changes includes a 72-hour observation period to better determine if people with mental health issues should be hospitalized, placed on medication or serviced with other resources. In addition, the department is working on collaborating with other agencies.

Plouck presented steps that the state of Ohio is taking to make agencies like the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services more efficient. Following the presentation, Sonia Alemagno, Dean of the College of Public Health moderated a question-and-answer session.

Alemagno mentioned that the process of implementing new policy is difficult because of budget cuts and lack of money necessary to fund new programs.

A key point Plouck mentioned was that she’d like to see mental health care become a more cohesive operation. 

“Many of the issues I’ve addressed involve paradigm shifts in how we care for the mentally disabled; we’re dealing with a whole person, not just isolated symptoms,” Plouck says. 

In addition, as director, knowing how to budget and see the financial opportunity in situations are important.

For more information about the Ohio Department of Mental Health, visit www.mh.state.oh.us.

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

Call for Program Proposals for 2012 Spring Leadership Conference

The Center for Student Involvement has announced that the 2012 Spring Leadership Conference will take place on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Kent Student Center. The theme for this year’s conference is Love the Leader Within. The 2012 theme not only represents the importance of being a true leader to yourself, but also indicates each student’s true potential for success. 

The 2012 Spring Leadership Conference call for programs is now open, and the Center for Student Involvement invites you to submit a program proposal. The deadline to submit a proposal is Dec. 7, at
5 p.m. 

The Center for Student Involvement is dedicated to creating opportunities for leaders and believes that all students have the ability to be leaders. The center holds this conference annually for student leaders on campus to foster their leadership potential. Last year, approximately 200 students attended the conference, with more than 20 presenters.

The event is free for Kent State students and costs $5 to attend for students from other institutions. The conference will feature various presentations, including topics such as planning programs, budgeting, collaboration and many others.  Students will also be able to participate in a networking brunch prior to the individual presentations.

Brittany Maurer, a student planner on the conference committee says, “Our committee is really looking forward to the 2012 Spring Leadership Conference and hopes that it will be just as successful as past conferences.” 

If you have additional questions regarding the conference, email the committee at lead@kent.edu.
Please encourage your students to attend this valuable cocurricular experience.

Kent State Women’s Center Announces New Initiatives

Kent State's Women's Center has announced two new
initiatives for women in the Kent State community.

The Kent State Women’s Center has announced two new initiatives, now available to the women in our campus community.
 
The Women’s Center Pantry
The Women’s Center will make food staples, such as pasta, sauces, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, tuna, cereal, etc.  available for free to students in need. 

“While our female students are the focus of the initiative, male students in need will not be excluded,” says Heather Adams, director of the Women’s Center. “The initiative is not intended to duplicate county support systems already in place, but to fill in the gaps while students are in transition or crisis.  In addition, students often have difficulty connecting with community support systems without assistance, so to that end, we will work with them to connect with those systems to provide longer-term solutions to any problems they may be facing.”

The Women’s Center Advisory Board is supporting the initiative by stocking the pantry for this semester. Donations of dried or canned goods will also be accepted from community members.  Students may contact the Women’s Center by stopping in between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. or by calling 330-672-9230.

Program Menu
The Women's Center is providing programming that can be delivered to residence halls, student organizations, campus departments and members of the community. Programs can either be presented at the Women’s Center (for groups up to 20 attendees) or at your location.  The new program menu can be found online at www.kent.edu/womenscenter.   Below is a partial list of the programs available for presentation:

• Women's Center Presentation
  General information about the Women's Center's programs and services
• SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) Presentation
  Information about the services and educational programming of the SART
• Dating Safety and Domestic Violence on Campus
  The warning signs and realities of intimate partner violence on college campuses, dating safety tips, safety planning and resources for students
• Friend or Foe? Assessing the Health of my Relationships
  Every person deserves to be in a healthy, loving and safe relationship. However, a relationship without respect, honesty, equality, trust and good communication can be hurtful and destroy self-esteem. Participants will discuss the signs of good and bad relationships and take time to reflect on past or present relationships, assessing their health and safety. Individuals will also discuss how relationships are impacted at the collegiate level.
  
• Images of Men and Women in the Media: What does that have to do with me?
  Discussion-based presentation about the messages and pressures on men and women in different types of media using short videos and YouTube clips.
• Working for the Weekdays: College Women and Work
  University students and employment with a women-centered focus
  

Additional programs include: Professional Communication for Women in the Work Place, Issues of Sexual Assault on College Campuses, Advocacy, Activism and Leadership:  Where to Begin?
Programs can also be developed to focus on specific issues of interest to your organization or department. 

Contact the Women's Center at 330-672-9230 if you are interested in scheduling a program. For more information, visit www.kent.edu/womenscenter.
 

Kent State Campus Kitchen Wins National Award in First Year of Operation

The Campus Kitchen Project at Kent State University, a student-powered program that provides meals to local families in need, received the Excellence in Operations award at the National Campus Kitchens Project Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

Rahaf Baydoun, a sophomore nutrition and dietetics major,
volunteers her time chopping vegetables to help prepare
meals for Kent Social Services and Center of Hope in
Ravenna. Both local shelters provide meals for families in need.

The Campus Kitchen Project at Kent State University, a student-powered program that provides meals to local families in need, received the Excellence in Operations award at the National Campus Kitchens Project Conference in St. Louis, Mo., which took place
Oct. 28-30.

“Kent State received one of three national awards, which is very impressive considering we started Campus Kitchens just eight months ago,” says Ann Gosky, project advisor. “We excelled in the operations category because we have connected the project to our hospitality management and nutrition and dietetics programs, and also because we created instructional videos for volunteers to watch. The videos, shot by visual communication design student Thomas Song, cover how to properly use kitchen equipment and the importance of sanitation.”

Kent State is one of 31 kitchens across the United States that empowers thousands of students to recycle food and create nourishing meals for local families that need it the most. Under the direction of advisors Chef Ed Hoegler and Gosky, Kent State has recovered 12,700 pounds of food after on-campus sporting events and from local farmers’ markets and restaurants. More than 5,950 meals were served since its inception in March 2011.

According to kitchen manager and hospitality management major Lisa Hofer, more than 420 volunteers have spent 1,000 hours preparing and serving meals. “We are always looking for more volunteers to help with preparing the food in Beall Hall’s second floor kitchen, and to assist with event planning and public relations opportunities,” she says.

For more information about the Campus Kitchen at Kent State Project or to volunteer, visit www.kent.edu/emsa/service/campus_kitchen.

Fulbright Scholar Visits Information Architecture and Knowledge Management Program

Fulbright scholar Tibor Koltay will study
in the Information Architecture and
Knowledge Management program this fall.
Koltay wants to become familiar with the
technological and pedagogic aspects of
online course delivery.

Fulbright scholar Tibor Koltay has traveled from Hungary to Kent State University to study in the Information Architecture and Knowledge Management (IAKM) program this fall.

Koltay studied at Kent State for three semesters from 1991 to 1992 and earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Library and Information Science. Koltay says his return to Kent State is because, among the 63 library and information science programs accredited by the American Library Association, only Kent State’s School of Library and Information Science offers a program like Information Architecture and Knowledge Management.

“I have already acquired an overview of the program, its fundamental goals, structure and perspectives with special attention to the proportions of theory and practice in different courses,” Koltay says. “I regularly audit running courses, and I’m especially interested in getting acquainted with lessons learned and curricular changes made since the launch of the program. I want to become familiar with the technological and pedagogic aspects of online course delivery.”

Koltay has worked as a health information professional, director of various university libraries in Hungary, and as a part- and full-time professor. He is currently the head of department and a course director for the Library and Information Science curriculum at the Department of Information and Library Studies at Szent István University in Budapest. Koltay also teaches at the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of West Hungary in Szombathely, Hungary. He has published eight books and more than 200 papers.

“I am also interested in knowing how much emphasis information and digital literacies receive in the Information Architecture and Knowledge Management program,” he says. “Library study will be necessary as I intend to study materials that are not available in Hungary. The ultimate goal of my study is to apply some of the Kent program elements to Hungarian library and information science education for which I already have partial results.”

The information architecture and knowledge management program will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The anniversary celebration and reception will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 330 of the University Library. RSVP at http://bit.ly/iakm10th-rsvp. 

Share Your Favorite Holiday Recipe

Your favorite holiday recipe could be featured in e-Inside.

e-Inside is trying something new this year. As we approach the holiday season, we want to give you the opportunity to share your favorite holiday recipes, from traditional, to vegan or vegetarian, family recipes and more.

We will select recipes to publish in e-Inside based on the number of responses that we receive. Submit your favorite holiday recipes by Tuesday, Nov. 29, to einside@kent.edu. Use “Holiday Recipe” in the email subject line. Only one submission per person.