eInside Briefs

Kent State Begins Parking Lot Reconstruction at Bowman and Satterfield Lots

This rendering of the Student Green looking toward
Bowman Hall shows a re-aligned Risman Drive that
connects to the existing Bowman/Satterfield parking lot.

The Kent State University Board of Trustees on June 4 approved a $4.75 million parking reconstruction plan for parking lots at Bowman and Satterfield halls and the Kent Student Center. The project will be constructed in two phases over the summers of 2015 and 2016 to minimize disruption to campus activities in this area.

Reconstruction of the Bowman and Satterfield lots is already underway and will address necessary lot maintenance and improve traffic patterns to benefit all vehicles and pedestrians. Funding will come from Parking Services reserves, and the parking lot will be open for use by the start of the fall semester. Due to the large scale of the project, contractors will be on site completing final details of work into the fall semester, but this will not affect parking for employees.

“It’s better to work on projects during the summer because we have a reduced population on campus,” says Michael Bruder, executive director of facilities planning and design at Kent State.

The construction this summer will primarily affect faculty and staff who have R-7 permits and park in the Bowman and Satterfield parking lots. While the lot is closed, R-7 permit holders can park in alternate lots like the R-12 Schwartz lot, R-2 Business lot or the Kent Student Center pay lot and meter section. Those who park at the pay lot or meters will need to show their permit on their way out. 

“We want to try and give faculty and staff convenient parking during this time period,” says Larry Emling, Kent State’s manager of parking services. “This is about a 10-week project, so it will be a fast turnaround to get this done by the fall semester. The benefits and improvements that are made to this lot will outweigh the short-term disruptions over the summer.”

As a part of a campuswide parking capacity study, Kent State and Graelic LLC, a parking design and consulting organization, evaluated the parking configuration of the campus and determined that these improvements would best address the needs in this area of a growing campus with parking limitations.

“It was already a busy lot with a high concentration of faculty and staff, so the expansion of the Bowman lot is going to be very beneficial,” Emling says.

At the Bowman and Satterfield hall lots, workers will create a more efficient parking layout, expand the size of the parking spaces, construct safer crosswalks and sidewalks, and provide a central bus stop to serve Bowman and Satterfield halls and the Business Administration Building.

Pictured is a rendering of the new pedestrian walk that
will lead up to the front doors of the Memorial Athletic and
Convocation Center.

In the summer of 2016, the Kent Student Center lot will experience similar changes like a more efficient parking layout, an improved traffic pattern, clear crosswalks and sidewalks, an easy drop-off access to the University Library, Kent Student Center and Memorial Athletic and Convocation (MAC) Center, maximized parking spaces and boulevard sidewalks to connect the MAC Center to the event overflow lot. The work in 2016 at the Kent Student Center is being completed to relieve some of the anticipated traffic issues related to the Summit Street construction in this area of campus.

“The new design is a lot more intuitive,” Bruder says. “We spent a lot of time designing it because it involves both motorists and pedestrians. We want to make it easier to walk through that part of campus and have fewer pedestrian conflicts with vehicles. We also want to align the parking space count with the number of staff assigned to the area.”

For more information about campus construction this summer, contact Bruder at mbruder@kent.edu.

For more information about Kent State’s Parking Services, visit www.kent.edu/parking.

Kent State’s Center for the Performing Arts Experiences Sidewalk Renovations on Main Street

Trees were recently removed from the sidewalk on Main Street outside Kent State University’s Center for the Performing Arts to make improvements to the sidewalk and to create accessibility for handicapped people.

The sidewalk already is closed, and construction is underway. The project will finish by the start of fall semester. The majority of the work is being completed by University Facilities Management staff.

During the summer, pedestrians can walk on the north side of Main Street or walk around the Center for the Performing Arts via Theatre Drive. Signs also are posted in the area to direct pedestrians to an alternate route.

Michael Bruder, executive director of facilities planning and design at Kent State, says the sidewalk renovations were necessary.

“The sidewalk was damaged and broken with time, and the stone wall was beginning to fall and had been vandalized repeatedly,” Bruder says. “In bad weather, pedestrians were splashed by rain puddles and snow plows pushed the snow from the road onto the sidewalk, all of which made walking difficult for pedestrians. This project is the result of comprehensive planning along this corridor to correct multiple problems and provide the best long term solution for campus.”

Kent State plans to move the sidewalk farther back from the street and repair broken pieces of the wall to improve pedestrian safety. The university also will improve accessibility by elevating the grade to the front door, eliminating the interior vestibule stairs and adding new doors to the building. A new digital marquee sign, new trees and landscaping are part of the project as well.

“The marquee sign will promote events and concerts for theatre, dance and music,” Bruder says.

The cost of the marquee sign will be covered by the College of the Arts, and all sidewalk and accessibility renovations will be paid for with University Facilities Management’s maintenance budget.

Future plans call for a vehicle pull off to accommodate school buses and a drop-off point for guests. A future phase also will address the sidewalk and stone wall in front of Williamson Alumni Center.

For more information about campus construction this summer, contact Bruder at mbruder@kent.edu.

NOCMES Receives Education Award From the Niagara Foundation

Kent State’s Joshua Stacher and Case Western Reserve’s Pete Moore to accept award

Josh Stacher, Ph.D., (pictured) a Kent
State University associate professor of
political science and co-director of the
Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle
East Studies (NOCMES), accepted the
Education Award at the Niagara Peace
and Dialogue Awards ceremony on
May 18 with NOCMES co-director Pete
Moore, Ph.D., associate professor of
political science at Case Western Reserve
University. 

The Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies (NOCMES) received the Education Award at the Niagara Peace and Dialogue Awards ceremony on May 18 at the City Club of Cleveland.

NOCMES, comprising leading Cleveland-area secondary education and collegiate institutions, seeks to bring the latest scholarship on the Middle East to Northeast Ohio.

Accepting the award for NOCMES were co-directors Josh Stacher, Ph.D., a Kent State University associate professor of political science, and Pete Moore, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University.

The Ohio Chapter of the Niagara Foundation chose NOCMES for the award in recognition of people and a group that has contributed its time, energy, leadership and dedication to the cause of dialogue, peace, education, community service, tolerance and mutual understanding in the Cleveland area.

“This award highlights NOCMES’ efforts over the past five years of bringing professional scholars and researchers to our region to speak on and off our campuses,” Stacher says.

Recent speakers at NOCMES events included Joel Beinin, Ph.D., a Stanford University professor and noted Middle East historian; Noura Erakat, Ph.D., a professor at George Mason University; Hugh Roberts, Ph.D., the Edward Keller Professor of North African and Middle Eastern History at Tuft’s University; Lelah Kalili of SOAS at the University of London; and independent journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous.  

“NOCMES seeks out difficult topics and not only delivers accessible research to our university campuses and our diverse communities, but also develops synergies with many civic partners as we make the study of Middle East and Muslim Societies a part of the broader community conversation,” Stacher says.

Stacher attributes the success of NOCMES to its interdisciplinary character and involvement in the surrounding communities and with civic partners, including the City Club of Cleveland, the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, the public library system and WCPN.

“When you have people dedicated to improving understanding and investing in a community that is hungry to learn, it creates a special environment that thrives,” Stacher says. “What NOCMES is ultimately about is a dual commitment – it’s a commitment to the people of the region that we study and a commitment to public education to the people with whom we live among as neighbors.”

For more information about the Niagara Peace and Dialogue Awards ceremony, contact the Niagara Foundation-Cleveland Chapter at cleveland@niagarafoundation.org or 440-520-2269.

To learn more about NOCMES, visit https://nocmes.wordpress.com.

For more information about the Niagara Foundation, visit www.niagarafoundation.org.

Design the Kent State Homecoming T-shirt for a Chance to Win a $100 Bookstore Gift Card Plus Much More!

Be a big part of Homecoming 2015 on Oct. 3 by submitting your best Kent State University design for the official Homecoming 2015 T-shirt contest. The contest is open to all faculty, staff, students and alumni.

“We wanted to get the Kent State community involved in Homecoming early this year,” says Joy Wesoloski, Homecoming chair and assistant director for alumni relations. “This is a great way to show your Kent State pride and share your excitement for Homecoming.” 

In addition to the $100 Bookstore gift card, the winner will receive 10 guest passes or a one-hour massage from the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, a Homecoming spirit basket, recognition in alumni association publications and at the Homecoming Parade and football game.

The deadline for submission is June 22.  The winner of the contest will be announced on July 20.

For contest guidelines and dates, please visit www.ksualumni.org/homecomingtshirt. 

Scholar Speaks Around the World on Changing Media Landscape for Latinos

Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass
Communication Professor Federico Subervi, Ph.D.,
pioneered the development of a Latino-Oriented News
Literacy program.

In less than two years since he has been with Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Professor Federico Subervi, Ph.D., has not only dedicated his time and efforts in educating future journalists, he also has served as a pioneer in the development of a Latino-Oriented News Literacy (LONLit) program.

Subervi, an expert about Latino media and audiences, says the effort proceeded thanks to collaboration with the Center for News Literacy (CNL) at Stony Brook University. CNL received a $130,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation in 2014 for a two-year development of Latino-oriented news literacy workshops. The first workshop took place July 2014 in Chicago and the next will be in July 2015.

“The involvement with Stony Brook University’s CNL has helped me be a better consumer and educator of the role of media in society,” Subervi says. “Being a key player in the genesis of the LONLit initiative has been very rewarding, especially as I saw the positive outcome of that first workshop.”

Subervi presented a talk last year at the University of Salford in Manchester, U.K., about the changing landscape of Latino-oriented media in the U.S. From there, he traveled to Prague to present a talk about the Latino-oriented news literacy program he helped develop.

Last December, he attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Latino Public Radio Consortium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Advisory Council meeting of Child Trends Hispanic Institute in Washington, D.C.

“It was a very busy end of semester indeed,” Subervi says.

He also traveled to the University of California, Merced, in January to deliver a talk about Latinos and the media.

Subervi is trying to increase media literacy at Kent State, too. He served as the conduit to get Kent State selected by the National Association for Media Literacy Education for the screening of the documentary “Eyes Wide Open: This is Media.” The screening took place last year in the First Energy Auditorium of Franklin Hall.

To develop critical thinking skills, Subervi tells his students to seek answers to three key questions about the developments in the world they live in: Who makes the decisions? By what means are those decisions made? Who benefits and who does not from those decisions?

“I also try to get them to learn the complexity of the relations between politics, economics and the content and effects of news and entertainment media,” Subervi says.

Subervi thinks it is important to focus on Latino-oriented news literacy because Latino-oriented news media are growing and here to stay, especially in cities and regions with large Latino populations.

“Just as we care to offer news literacy about general market media to enhance the civic engagement of youth and citizens of all backgrounds, it is valuable to do the same for people who primarily rely on Latino media for their education and participation in society and democracy,” he says.

For more information about Kent State's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visit www.kent.edu/jmc.

Participate in Kent State’s New Friendship Family Program

Kent State University’s Office of Global Education is
seeking participants for its new Friendship Family program,
which is designed to help international students transition
into their new environment.

Kent State University’s Office of Global Education is seeking participants for its new Friendship Family program, which is designed to help international students transition into their new environment. Kent State faculty, staff and administrators are encouraged to participate and help provide international students with a welcoming environment.

Ideally, under this program, families invite their matched international student to informal dinners, holiday celebrations, occasional family outings or any other activities that will enrich the student’s understanding of U.S. culture. Additionally, students are encouraged to invite their Friendship Family to campus events. This is not a host family arrangement, but simply a connection between a family and international student.

The Friendship Family program is designed for international students and families to build relationships and share culture in a unique and fulfilling way.

Why Friendship Family?

Kent State serves about 2,800 international students from myriad countries. Many of these students come to the United States hoping to engage in local cultural activities and make connections with individuals from the region. Kent State’s International Student and Scholar Services’ office offers programming such as day excursions to Cleveland Cavaliers games, ski and snowboard resorts, museums, and travel to cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. However, to support international students’ transition into the United States, a connection with the local community in the form of a “friendship family” could be a key component in adjusting to culture shock.

More often than not, international students arrive to the United States alone and without family members or friends in the area to assist in the transition into their new surroundings. In this difficult situation, support from the Kent community is the best service to offer international students.

If you are interested in participating or have questions, email KentFriendshipFamily@gmail.com.

For more information about the program, visit www.kent.edu/globaleducation/FriendshipFamily. 

Deadline for Distinguished Teaching Award Nominations is June 30

Catherine Leslie (left), Ph.D.,associate professor in
Kent State University’s School of Fashion Design and
Merchandising, celebrates after being named a recipient
of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

The Kent State University Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the Distinguished Teaching Award until June 30.

Sponsored by the alumni association since 1967, the Distinguished Teaching Award is the university’s most prestigious honor in teaching for full-time, tenure-track faculty. The award is presented annually to three full-time faculty members who demonstrate extraordinary teaching in the classroom and a devotion to touching the lives of students. Qualified nominees include Kent State tenure-track faculty who are currently employed by the university.

Visit www.ksualumni.org/dta for the nomination form and detailed eligibility requirements.