V. Securing Our Financial Future

5.1 Aggressively grow fundraising, and create a culture of philanthropy

• Build on collaborative funded research (Research and Sponsored Programs)
• Institutionalize a culture of philanthropy on campus and among alumni (Institutional Advancement)
• Emphasize development of our leadership gift prospect pool (Institutional Advancement)
• Achieve athletic campaign priorities and annual fundraising goals (Intercollegiate Athletics)
• Broadly promote the benefits of investing in Kent State (University Relations)
• Enhance GivetoKent online functionality for giving and fulfilling pledges (Information Services).

5.2 Develop and achieve a strategic enrollment plan for the next decade

• Strengthen various targeted areas of undergraduate student enrollment (Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Academic Affairs)
• Target academically motivated students in target markets (University Relations).

5.3 Meet budget targets (all divisions – a few specific examples noted)

• Transition to Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) model to improve bottom line (Academic Affairs; Business and Finance)
• Continue effective budget management practices to enhance revenue (Enrollment Management
• and Student Affairs)
• Explore new areas of revenue generation (Intercollegiate Athletics).

5.4 Manage our resources carefully to deliver strategic priorities with a high return on investment (all divisions – a few specific examples noted)

• Re-engineer academic administrative process (Academic Affairs)
• Manage unit resources to deliver priorities (University Relations)
• Continuously improve customer service (Business and Finance)
• Realign debt portfolio to include fixed interest bonds (Business and Finance)
• Review administrative overhead values for auxiliary operations (Business and Finance).

5.5 Fully implement and refine Responsibility Centered Management

• Transition to Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) model to improve bottom line (Academic Affairs; Business and Finance)
• Implement unified RCM model including external research funding (Research and Sponsored Programs)
• Deliver client services aligned with RCM (University Relations)
• Realign policies to reflect strong guiding principles/language compatible with RCM (Business and Finance)
• Implement budgetary and financial tools in support of RCM (Information Services).

5.6 Improve core business systems and processes, with particular attention to operationalizing a “Year of Yes”

• Upgrade and simplify management reporting (Academic Affairs)
• Ensure that the “Year of Yes” philosophy is part of all divisional activities (Institutional Advancement)
• Implement new business processes in University Communications and Marketing (UCM) to enhance service delivery (University Relations)
• Review the university’s investment policies (Business and Finance)
• Audit, evaluate and restructure the Purchasing Card program (Business and Finance)
• Improve processes, systems, and infrastructure to provide high levels of efficiency, quality, and cost effectiveness by regularly assessing HR efficiency and involving stakeholders (Human Resources)
• Upgrade the Banner Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to provide increased functionality and features (Information Services)
• Implement server optimization strategy and model to manage storage growth (Information Services)
• Continue to update disaster recovery solution for tier-one services, including emergency website, e-mail, and other core applications (Information Services).

5.7 Use information technology innovations to create state-of-the-art business processes

• Begin the process of implementing paperless processes (Academic Affairs)
• Collaborate with Information Services to enhance key service delivery processes/systems, most notably the Banner upgrade (Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)
• Enhance Kent State’s online presence (University Relations)
• Leverage technology by facilitating the development and implementation of systems that improve customer service, streamline workflow, reduce redundancy, eliminate paperwork and time-intensive processes, and enhance system data integrity (Human Resources; Information Services)
• Provide advanced, integrated and mobile communication services: unified communications and messaging (Information Services)
• Implement an identity management solution (Information Services)
• Move to a standard, secure managed desktop model across the university (Information Services)
• Facilitate Northeast Ohio data center consolidation assessment (Information Services).

News and Accomplishments

• Journalism School at Kent State University Places in Top 10 of National Competition
• Kent State’s Kent Campus Expects Freshman Class With Highest-Ever Grade Point Average This Fall
• $5 Million Gift Is Largest Made to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University
• Kent State Hosts Global Adolescence Research Summer School
• Commission on Economic Inclusion Recognizes Kent State, Awards University With Commission 50 Designation

Read More in the Archive

Strategic Maps

• Full Strategic Plan
• Academic Affairs, Division of
• Business Administration, Division of
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Division of
• Human Resources, Division of
• Information Services, Division of
• Institutional Advancement, Division of
• University Relations, Division of