eInside Briefs

Guide to Local Media for Kent Campus Weather-Related Closings

Weather or other emergency campus closing information
for the Kent Campus is reported to local media. Class
cancellations and campus closing information is also
available through Flash Alerts and the Kent State Advisory
Web page, including Kent State's Facebook and
Twitter.

Kent State University reports weather or other emergency closing information for the Kent Campus to the below list of local media:

Cleveland Television
WEWS-TV5 – www.newsnet5.com
WJW-Fox 8 – www.fox8.com
WKYC-TV3 – www.wkyc.com
WOIO-TV19 / WUAB-TV43 – www.19actionnews.com / www.my43.net
WVIZ / PBS ideastream – www.ideastream.org

Youngstown Television
WFMJ-TV21 – www.wfmj.com
WKBN-TV27 / WYFX-TV62 / WYTV-TV33 – www.wkbn.com / www.wytv.com

Radio
WAKR-1590 AM
WAKS-96.5 FM – www.kisscleveland.com
WAKZ-95.9 FM
WBBG-106.1
WCLV-104.9 FM
WCPN-90.3 FM
WCRF-103.3 FM
WDPN-1310 AM
WGAR-99.5 FM – www.wgar.com
WHBC-1480 AM / 94.1 FM – www.whbc.com / www.mix941.com
WHLO-640 AM – www.640whlo.com
WJER-1450 AM / 101.7 FM
WJMP-1520 AM
WKBN-570 AM
WKDD-98.1 FM – www.wkdd.com
WKSU-89.7 FM
WMJI-105.7 FM – www.wmji.com
WMMS-100.7 FM – www.wmms.com
WMXY-98.9 FM
WMVX-106.5 FM – www.wmvx.com
WNCD-93.3 FM
WNIO-1390 AM
WNIR-100.1 FM
WONE-97.5 FM
WQMX-94.9 FM
WTAM-1100 AM – www.wtam.com
WTOU-1350 AM
WZKL-92.5 FM

Other
www.cantonrep.com 

Click here to find out what decision processes guide class cancellations and campus closings and where to check for such information.
 

Kent State University Board of Trustees Meeting, Dec. 13

The Kent State University Board of Trustees will hold its next regular business meeting Tuesday, Dec. 13. The Board will convene at 1:30 p.m. in the George Urban Board of Trustees Conference Room, which is located on the second floor of the Kent Campus Library.

Trustees will retire into executive session at 10 a.m. in the Urban Conference Room to consider specific topics as provided for under Ohio’s “Sunshine Law.”

No individual committee meetings will be held. As part of the business meeting, Trustees will discuss select management decision items as a committee of the whole.

Kent State President Lester A. Lefton and Board Chair Jacqueline Woods will be available to answer media questions immediately after the business meeting.

The Board meeting agenda will be available via the Kent State University website at www.kent.edu/bot/meetings/index.cfm. 

Procurement Department Relocates From Schwartz Center to Harbourt Hall

Kent State's Procurement Department is now located on
the 3rd floor of Harbourt Hall on 615 Loop Rd., across the
street from the Ice Arena.

Kent State’s Procurement Department is now located on the 3rd floor of Harbourt Hall on 615 Loop Rd., across the street from the Ice Arena.
The department was previously located at the Schwartz Center.

Telephone numbers for staff of the department will remain the same.

“We are very excited about the move,” says Tim Konczal, director, Procurement Department. “Our new facility is the first United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building on campus. This move allows us to be closer to the Office of the University Architect, which currently occupies the first and second floors of the building."

Construction of the updated Harbourt Hall building included complete replacement and modernization of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, upgrading of the fire suppression and alarm systems, renovation in the bathrooms and other public areas, a new elevator for accessibility, interior finishes and exterior envelope.

For more information about the relocation, contact Konczal at 330-672-9192 or tkonczal@kent.edu.

Women’s Center at Kent State Celebrates 15th Anniversary

Center appeals for donations to fund initiatives

Scholarship recipient Loren Szymanski and honoree
Dana Lawless-Andric at the Women's Center's
2010 Mothers, Mentors and Muses reception.  

The Women’s Center at Kent State University is marking its 15th anniversary with a call to members and friends of the university community to help support its initiatives through donations this holiday season.

“Currently, the Women’s Center is experiencing a period of positive growth in programming, services and advocacy,” says Heather Adams, director of the Women’s Center at Kent State. “Some of our initiatives include crisis-intervention services for women faculty/staff and students, biannual mammograms, educational programming focusing on issues of women’s health and wellness, and the recently opened Women’s Center Pantry, which provides food for students in need. To keep up with our ‘growing pains’ we are seeking support from our local community leaders and business members in the form of sponsorship for our annual fundraising event.”

Since inception in 1996, the Women’s Center has offered support for female faculty, staff and students through educational programming, counseling, referrals and other resources.

The Impact of Your Donations

• $15 provides six boxes of spaghetti and three jars of sauce for the Women’s Center Pantry. Kent State students in transition or crisis make use of the pantry.
• A $15/month payroll deduction supports educational programming and advocacy focusing on the prevention of sexual assault and intimate partner violence for all community women.  One in four college women is a survivor of rape or attempted rape.
• $150 provides one mathematics textbook for a student who can't afford all of her required books for the semester.
• $1,500 provides support for three months of housing for a student who finds herself without safe and clean housing mid-semester, a circumstance that otherwise could disrupt her path to graduation.
  

How You Can Help
As a donor, you decide where you want to make an impact.

Women's Center # 12501: Your tax-deductible gift will support programming, services and advocacy for women faculty, staff and students.

Women's Center Endowed Scholarship #22503: Provide scholarship support to women students.

Three Ways to Give:

1. Online: Charge a one-time gift or schedule monthly installments at www.GiveToKent.org.
2. Phone: Call 330-672-2222 and charge your gift by phone.
3. Mail: Follow this link to download and print out a pledge form, which you may complete and return with your check, payable to the Kent State University Foundation.
   

Help support the Women’s Center as it helps keep our students on the path to achieving their educational dreams.

For more information, contact Adams at 330-672-9230 or hadams@kent.edu.
 

Be Part of the Final 10 Percent

Kent State University has successfully
raised about 90 percent of its 2011-2012
United Way campaign funds. Kent State
relies on the support of members of the
university community to meet its overall
goal of $180,000.

Because of your support and donations, Kent State is close to meeting its 2011-2012 United Way campaign goal of $180,000. So far, the university has raised almost 90 percent of its proposed funding for the local charity. You can help raise the final 10 percent needed.

Opportunities still exist to give today. Check with your department/division’s United Way coordinator for more opportunities to support the campaign and help our neighbors and friends in our community.

Log in to FlashLine, click on the My HR tab, and then click on the United Way logo to make a donation today. Payroll deduction is available, and you have the ability to designate your donations to your specific agencies of choice. Payroll deduction pledges made in 2011 do not automatically roll over to 2012.

Every little amount counts. Together we can make a difference.

For more information, visit www.kent.edu/unitedway. 

Important Information About Final Grading for Fall 2011 Courses

Online final grading for courses meeting in full-term, F3 (11/7-12/11), H2 (10/20-12/11), and W2 (10/24-12/11) parts of term begins Friday, Dec. 9, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any fall 2011 course section that was flexibly scheduled and has already ended. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. To access FlashFAST, login to FlashLine at http://flashline.kent.edu and click the Faculty & Advisor Tools tab. The link to your grade roster(s) is located in the Faculty & Advisor Toolbox, under the Submit Grades heading.

Grades Processing Tips and FAQs may be found on the Registrar's website at www.kent.edu/registrar/facstaff/facresc.cfm. Any faculty member needing personalized instruction on submitting their grades via FlashFAST should contact their campus Registrar's Office during normal business hours for assistance.

Also, as a helpful tip, it is recommended that you clean out your cookie and cache files regularly to help your computer run faster and to potentially restore and/or improve your access to FlashFAST and/or FlashLine by improving your connection to the server. Our Helpdesk is prepared to offer assistance with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues. 

What’s Kent State President Lefton Been Up To Lately?

President Lester A. Lefton poses with a group of fraternity
members during his annual tour of fraternities on
Homecoming day.

From touring frat houses, to unveiling innovative technology, honoring our vets and more, Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton, has been out and about this fall semester. Visit the President’s page to view a photo essay that features some of what the president’s been up to lately.

Kent State University Police Academy Now Enrolling

The Kent State University Police Academy is now accepting applications for the spring 2012 Ohio Basic Peace Officer Training program.

The Kent State University at Trumbull evening class will start Jan. 17. For more information, call 330-675-7666.

Kent Campus day class will start Feb. 6. For more information, call 330-672-0325.

You can complete the application process online at www.kent.edu/policeacademy/index.cfm.
 

Sustainability: A Priority at Kent State

The light fixture at the PARTA bus stop on Summit Street,
across the road from Whitehall Terrace apartments, runs
on photovoltaic power.

Kent State University’s recent solar-powered LED light purchase is not only an investment in the future of the school, but also in the future of the planet.

The light fixture installed at the PARTA bus stop on Summit Street, across the road from Whitehall Terrace apartments, runs on photovoltaic (PV) power. It uses solar panels to convert solar radiation into a form of electricity that can be used and stored in a battery for night-time use. This is more environmentally friendly than the traditional coal or other fossil fuel-burning methods used to create electricity.

Melanie Knowles, manager of sustainability, says that Kent State is working on a renewable energy master plan.

“We were looking at options for solar and wind technologies,” says Knowles. “We realized very quickly that there are a lot of different technologies, and we wanted to make sure that what was implemented was the best possible thing for the campus.”

The move to solar power follows the initiative started by other Ohio universities. Oberlin, Mount Union, Bowling Green, Ohio University and Youngstown State all have solar PV installations.

Knowles says there are no plans to move the entire campus to solar power anytime soon because moving to a completely new source of energy would be a very large investment, and Kent State’s carbon footprint is relatively low.

The university gets 60 percent of its electricity from its own power plant. This is more environmentally friendly and efficient than getting electricity from a third party since the university uses the waste heat produced from the plant for other purposes.

However, Knowles says that other uses for alternative energy are in the works.

“One of the things that have been talked about is the roof of the field house,” she says. “It’s a metal roof so it’d be very easy to add solar panels to that. It’s very likely to be one of the first things we implement with a larger scale of solar power.”

For now, this is the only solar-powered light fixture that will be installed around the campus. The bus stop is in a location that’s not very accessible to light, and the cost of getting standard electricity to it would be high. The solar alternative should be less expensive than installing a separate power service and meter, but the payback will be relatively long. Environmentally, it’s the more attractive option for the long run.

Robert Misbrener, project manager, says rough cost calculations favor solar-powered lighting.

“A name brand, good-quality standard lamp lasts about 24,000 hours or 5-1/2 years at best for night time operation,” he says. “Solar-powered lights in outdoor applications last about 65,000 hours – almost 15 years.”

For more information about sustainability, visit www.kent.edu/sustainability. 

WKSU-FM Successfully Completes 2011 Hunger Challenge

Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the Akron-Canton
Regional Foodbank, Vivian Goodman, WKSU-FM reporter
and producer, and Bob Burford from University
Communications and Marketing and WKSU-FM, pose for
a photo during the station's recently completed
Hunger Challenge.

As the number of hungry people in Northeast Ohio grows, WKSU-FM’s Hunger Challenge continues to raise necessary funds for food banks while educating area listeners on the very important work being done to feed those in food distress in their communities.

The Hunger Challenge is a unique fund drive that matches gifts to WKSU-FM’s operating budget with financial donations to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, the Cleveland Foodbank and Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. These organizations represent a large part of WKSU-FM’s 22-county coverage area. More than 800 listeners pledged nearly $185,000 to WKSU-FM, which was matched dollar-for-dollar in food bank support by a group of generous donors.

WKSU-FM Executive Director and General Manager Al Bartholet says, “We are grateful to the listeners who made a pledge to WKSU-FM that we could turn into meals for our neighbors in need. The work of the food banks, while always important, has become even more of a lifeline in this unpredictable economy. This is one of my favorite drives every year because we’re able to spread the word about these important institutions while we raise money to protect quality public radio in Northeast Ohio.”

For more information about giving to WKSU-FM, visit www.wksu.org/support/.

IAKM Program Founder Honored at 10th Anniversary Celebration

Don Wicks, interim director of the School of Library and
Information Science, and Thomas J. Froehlich, founding
director of the Information Architecture and Knowledge
Management program, during an event marking
the 10th anniversary of the program.

The School of Library and Information Science recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Information Architecture and Knowledge Management  (IAKM) program. The event honored IAKM founder and former program director Thomas J. Froehlich, Ph.D. for providing inspiration and leadership in the creation and oversight of the program, with the creation of an annual award in his name to recognize an outstanding student.

Also at the ceremony, Jason Morrison, M.S. '07, was named first IAKM Alumnus of the Year. Morrison is a support engineer on the Search Quality Team at Google. Among his efforts is a custom search engine for looking up questionable ads and sales pitches, called “Is this a scam?”

Don A. Wicks, Ph.D., interim director of the School of Library and Information Science, told guests at the anniversary celebration, “The success of the IAKM program is due, in large measure, to the sturdy foundation on which it was built 10 years ago. About that time, a group of Kent State faculty from various disciplines recognized the need to create an academic program that would address the growing demand for a new kind of information professional. Among those visionaries was Dr. Tom Froehlich, a professor in the School of Library and Information Science.”

“Tom’s own interdisciplinary background can somewhat account for what has allowed IAKM the flexibility and durability required for its growth and maturation,” says Wicks. “Tom has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, a master’s and a Ph.D. in philosophy and a master’s in information science. No wonder, then, that IAKM gives its students a breadth and depth of learning beyond what is offered in similar programs around the country."

Froehlich's research interests include curriculum development in information science and emerging roles for information professionals and a philosophical framework for relevance research. The majority of his published work is concerned with ethical considerations in the information professions, evolving in part from his philosophy background.  In 2006, Froehlich was named a Quantum InfoStar by Dialog. He is active in the American Society for Information Science and Technology, the Information Architecture Summit, the Association for Library and Information Science Education, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the Special Libraries Association, which honored him earlier this year for his work on the development of ethical guidelines for the organization.

According to Froehlich, being at the leading edge of such a pioneering program at Kent State has been challenging and rewarding. “One of the greatest pleasures of the program is to see how many graduates have found successful and prestigious jobs, mainly because they were creative, energetic and hard-working persons,” he says. “The program became a vehicle for them to shine, making the program look good and attracting more employers.

For more information about the IAKM program, visit http://iakm.kent.edu/.
 

WKSU-FM Offers Holiday Music and More On-Air and Online

A WKSU staff member wears a Santa
hat at the radio station. WKSU offers
a variety of holiday music and special
programming throughout the month of
December.

December is a month of holidays. From Christmas and Hanukkah to winter solstice, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve, music is a part of nearly every celebration. In that spirit of the season, WKSU-FM offers a variety of holiday music and special spoken word programming throughout the month of December. The full schedule is available online at www.wksu.org/features/holiday2011.

The fun kicks off with holiday music online at WKSU.org. These classical and folk sidestreams are a mix of the songs that make the season bright. On Dec. 12, the holiday streams move to WKSU’s HD-2: Folk Alley and HD-3: Classical HD Radio channels with Christmas classical compositions making their way into regular on-air broadcasts.

Spoken word entries include Tinsel Tales from NPR (Dec. 15 and 19), Hanukkah Lights (Dec. 20, the first night of Hanukkah), The Messiah Phenomenon (Dec. 22 and 25) and the Kwanzaa-focused A Season’s Griot (Dec. 30). WKSU-FM also continues a tradition by airing the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols live from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England, on Christmas Eve at 10 a.m. (WKSU’s Saturday program schedule will be shifted to accommodate the broadcast).

Both folk and classical music will be well represented in special programs including An Early Music Christmas from Harmonia (Dec. 19), A Holiday Music Tour with Judy Collins (Dec. 23), Kathy Mattea with A Carolina Christmas from Biltmore Estates (Dec. 23), Jay Ungar & Molly Mason: The Pleasures of Winter (Dec. 25) and A Winter Solstice with Helicon (Dec. 25). All of the WKSU-FM music hosts will also assemble their own collections of festive holiday music.

New Year’s Eve, this year on a Saturday, holds its own surprises as Garrison Keillor and the crew from A Prairie Home Companion make their way to Hawaii for a live, three-hour, year-ending bash beginning at 10 p.m., filled with music, comedy and the unexpected moments for which Keillor is known. The party continues the next day at noon as the Vienna Philharmonic welcomes 2012 live from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein with a concert of waltzes, polkas and other lively tunes.

e-Inside Takes a Break

Thank you for reading and contributing to e-Inside.

Happy Holidays!

Centennial Black Squirrels Sport Holiday Look

College of Nursing receptionist Debby
Gesaman created outfits from felt for the
Centennial Squirrels on display at
Henderson Hall.

In the spirit of the holidays, the College of Nursing dressed up its Centennial Squirrels. Receptionist Debby Gesaman created the outfits from felt. The squirrels are on display at Henderson Hall, home of the College of Nursing.