eInside Briefs
News Briefs
- Kent State Fashion School Launches All-inclusive Summer Academy for High School Students
- Kent State’s Karen MacDonald Selected to Receive Knight Prototype Fund Award
- 2015-2016 Faculty/Staff Online Parking Permit Renewals
- Nominate a Faculty Member for the Distinguished Teaching Award
- Register Now to Attend Alumni Weekend
Kent State Fashion School Launches All-inclusive Summer Academy for High School Students
A student works on a garment in a studio in Rockwell Hall,
home of Kent State University’s Fashion School.
The Fashion School at Kent State University is currently accepting applications for the Summer Fashion School Academy, a one-week program that introduces high school students to key areas in fashion design and merchandising.
“The Fashion School Academy will allow creative, motivated teens to explore their passion for fashion in a pre-college, summer residence program,” says academy coordinator Marji Wachowiak. “Our mission is to inspire creative and resourceful fashion leaders.”
The Summer Fashion School Academy is intended for students ages 16-18 who have completed their sophomore year of high school and are interested in exploring careers in the $4 billion fashion industry. The 2015 academy session will take place June 14-20, with applications and payment due May 17. Cost is $1,500 ($150 due at registration, and the remaining $1,350 due on May 17). The camp is all-inclusive and includes six nights in a Kent State residence hall, all meals, supplies and materials.
The program offers a carefully curated series of lessons and activities that approach fashion from multiple angles, examining both the design and business aspects. Students will work individually and in teams to complete a variety of creative projects, including creating a finished garment from an original design, using the digitally equipped TechStyleLAB to design an accessory and producing a cumulative fashion show at the end of the week.
“The Summer Fashion School Academy will be a unique opportunity for teens interested in fashion careers to explore the underlying mechanisms and processes of the fashion world,” Wachowiak says. “Furthermore, the academy offers students a true preview of the college experience, preparing teens for the expectations, rigors and opportunities of college life.”
For more information about the Summer Fashion School Academy at Kent State and to download an application, visit www.kent.edu/fashion/academy.
The Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Kent State University offer both undergraduate and graduate degree programs and is consistently rated among the best fashion schools in the nation and around the world. For more information about Kent State’s Fashion School, visit www.fashionschool.kent.edu.
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Kent State’s Karen MacDonald Selected to Receive Knight Prototype Fund Award
Karen MacDonald, assistant professor,
business and entrepreneurship outreach
librarian, has been selected by the John S.
and James L. Knight Foundation as a Knight
News Challenge on Libraries prototype
winner.
Kent State University Libraries has announced that Karen MacDonald, assistant professor, business and entrepreneurship outreach librarian, has been selected by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as a Knight News Challenge on Libraries prototype winner.
MacDonald’s research project titled “Information for Innovation” explores ways to provide information services to local entrepreneurs and business counselors to see what services they might need to reach their goals. MacDonald will receive $35,000 through the Knight Prototype Fund, which helps innovators take media and information projects from idea to demonstration. She will have six months to research, test core assumptions and iterate before building out an entire project.
“The grant will allow me to conduct focus groups and interviews with nascent and early-state entrepreneurs, as well as the counselors in various programs such as COSE, JumpStart, Small Business Development Center and the Akron Global Business Accelerator that support these new companies,” MacDonald says. “I will be examining the information needs of local entrepreneurs and exploring ways to provide this information most effectively. It’s my hope that this research will result in clear outreach and instruction models for helping entrepreneurs meet their goals.”
Launching a new business, of course, requires strategic planning.
“Strategic planning requires access to information that describes how a start-up business would interact with the external environment: industry profiles and trends, trade news, competitor information, market research reports, consumer lifestyle reports, local and regional demographic data,” MacDonald says. “This type of information is not readily available on the Web. It is proprietary and generally quite expensive. An academic research library, especially a library that supports a business school, offers a variety of specialized business information resources and the expertise to use them.”
MacDonald is quite proud that Kent State University Libraries has aligned itself with the strategic goals of the university, which include fostering economic development of Northeast Ohio.
“The libraries are committed to meeting the information needs of entrepreneurs and small business owners in this region, and the Knight Prototype Fund grant and the ‘Information for Innovation’ research project will help to achieve that goal,” she says.
Kent State University Libraries is an active member of the Kent Area, Stow-Munroe Falls, Streetsboro Area and Twinsburg chambers of commerce, illustrating its commitment to strengthening relationships with the business community.
For more information about Kent State University Libraries, visit www.kent.edu/library.
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2015-2016 Faculty/Staff Online Parking Permit Renewals
Online faculty/staff parking permit renewals are now available through May 15. After May 15, permits can be purchased in person in the Parking Services office located in Room 123 Schwartz Center. For permit renewal assistance or for additional information, contact Parking Services at 330-672-4432 or by email at parking@kent.edu.
Renew your faculty/staff parking permit here:
http://solutions.kent.edu/parkingservices/Login.aspx?LoginType=STAF.
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Nominate a Faculty Member for the Distinguished Teaching Award
Nominate an outstanding colleague who has demonstrated extraordinary instruction in the classroom for the Distinguished Teaching Award. The Distinguished Teaching Award is the university’s most prestigious honor in teaching for tenure-track faculty.
The Distinguished Teaching Award is sponsored by the Kent State University Alumni Association. Qualified nominees of the prestigious award include Kent State tenure-track faculty who are currently employed by the university. The Distinguished Teaching Award is a lifetime achievement award, and past recipients are not eligible for nomination. Any faculty member who has touched a student’s life and helped to better the learning experience at Kent State should be nominated. Faculty and staff are reminded to also encourage students to participate in the nomination process.
The deadline for nominations is June 30. Visit www.ksualumni.org/dta to submit a nomination.
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Register Now to Attend Alumni Weekend
Kent State alumni pose with Flash during
Birdies, Bogeys & Beer, one of the
activities offered during Alumni Weekend.
The Kent State University Alumni Association is hosting Alumni Weekend on Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16. Faculty and staff are invited to attend these two days of exciting, hands-on activities.
On Friday, take part in a game of golf or foot golf on the Kent State Golf Course, enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the Kent State Airport, take part in campus and downtown tours or enjoy KSU on Tap – a beer education event at the Williamson Alumni Center.
Saturday will feature Alumni College; these educational sessions will begin with keynote speaker Lt. Col Sarah Deal Burrow, first female Marine aviator and a 1992 Kent State graduate. The day will continue with faculty experts from the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology. Participants will have a chance to land a plane in the air traffic control simulator, discuss metal casting and learn how to lessen their carbon footprint.
Register to attend by May 8 at www.ksualumni.org/alumniweekend.
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