At its April 16 meeting, the Kent State University Board of Trustees took action on the following items:

Increase in Room and Board

The Board approved an overall 4.2 percent increase in the standard double-room and board rates to allow the university to keep pace with changing student needs; to repay debt incurred for major construction and renovation of Kent Campus residence and dining facilities during the last several years; and to help offset rising costs for utilities and food products.  The room and board rate increases are effective fall semester 2008. Trustees noted that the increases will allow the university to continue operating its residence and dining programs on a self-sufficient basis while keeping room and board affordable for students and their families. 

The increases are expected to leave Kent State’s room and board rate among the lowest for Ohio’s residential campuses.

Under the new rates, a standard double-occupancy room and a full meal plan will be $3,750 a semester, an increase of $150 from the current rate of $3,600. Specifically, a typical double room will increase $85 a semester, from $2,205 to $2,290, and the basic board plan will increase $65 per semester, from $1,395 to $1,460.  Similar increases were instituted for other residential options, which include single and quad rooms, and on-campus apartments, and four other board plans. A 1.4 percent increase in the monthly rate for one- and two-bedroom apartments in the Allerton Student Family Apartment complex, which houses students with families, was enacted effective Sept. 1, 2008.

Increase in Student Parking Permit Rates

The Board approved a two-stage increase in the Kent Campus parking rates for students. The first stage will be effective fall semester 2008, with the second stage taking effect fall semester 2009.The changes were reviewed and endorsed by the university’s Transportation Advisory Committee, which took into account the fact that the Parking Services unit, which is responsible for providing, managing and maintaining parking on the Kent Campus, is funded solely through parking fees and fines. The increase is needed to meet the higher cost of lot construction and ongoing maintenance, including snow removal.

Trustees noted that even with the increase, Kent State’s cost for student parking will remain one of the most affordable in Ohio

The student parking rate increases vary according to which of several on- and off-campus parking options is chosen. For example, students who now pay $165 per academic year (or $85 per semester) to park in lots closest to academic buildings will pay $180 per year (or $95 per semester) during academic year 2008-09 and $200 per year (or $105 per semester) during academic year 2009-10.

Establishment of Managerial Marketing Major Within the Bachelor of Business Administration Degree Program

The Board established a bachelor of business administration major in managerial marketing, effective fall semester 2008. The major will be one of two marketing degree programs offered by the College of Business Administration. The managerial marketing major is a new name for the current undergraduate degree program.  A second program, which will be named “marketing,” is a derivative of the program offered by the marketing department prior to 2005. The two programs will contain different sets of courses, use different teaching approaches and have different orientations. The managerial marketing major was reviewed and approved by the appropriate faculty councils, the Educational Policies Council and the Faculty Senate, and was approved by the president and the senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost.

KentState and City of Kent Team for Summit Street Improvements

The city of Kent and Kent State University plan to work together to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion on Summit Street, the major roadway through the Kent Campus. Kent State’s Board of Trustees today authorized the university to sign an agreement with the city to share equally the required local funding match for the improvements to Summit Street. Total project cost is estimated at $11 million, with most of the funding from state and federal transportation grants. The local match will amount to $1.1 million each for the city of Kent and the university.

Summit Street, between South Lincoln Street and Loop Road, is the third most congested road in the three-county area covered by the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study Forecast Report. This section also contains several of the city’s most accident-prone intersections. Traffic on the street is mostly university traffic – employees, students and visitors.

The improvement project will provide turn lanes where needed, better coordinate traffic signals, improve safety by managing access and directing pedestrian traffic to crosswalks, enhance lighting, curbing and sidewalks, and realign Summit Street’s intersections with Lincoln Street and Loop Road.

“The university and the city can do great things when they work together,” said James Bowling, city engineer for Kent. “The city is the lead agency on the street project but Kent State has been an active partner in deciding what we do.”

The plan follows a three-year joint city-university study to gather seasonal traffic data and construct a traffic model for Summit Street. A Purpose and Needs Statement also was written by the Kent State University Area Transportation Project Citizen’s Advisory Council.

Bowling said the return on investment for the project is an almost 20 percent saving over cost through reduced property damage from accidents, time-saved and other measures. The plan is designed not only to move traffic through congested areas and improve safety but to also fit the university’s efforts to enhance landscaping and green spaces, and encourage walking and bicycling as the preferred modes of campus travel.

Small Group Housing Demolition

The Board authorized the senior vice president for Administration to proceed with arrangements for a project totaling about $2 million to demolish eight of the 11 small-group residence halls that were built on the Kent Campus in the late 1960s and build two recreational fields in their place. Funds for the project have been set aside by the university’s Residence Services unit ($1.25 million for the demolition; $750,000 to build two, lighted fields that can be used for activities such as football and soccer).

With the recent addition of the Centennial Court residence halls, and with major renovations to all other halls, the low-rise, small-group housing buildings are no longer needed to house resident students. The cost of bringing the eight buildings up to modern standards is not economically feasible.  However, three of the buildings (McSweeney, Van Campen and Stewart halls) have a more simplified layout that can be adapted affordably for other uses.  For example, as a result of a recent agreement between Kent State and Bahcesehir University in Turkey, Van Campen Hall will become the headquarters of a Turkish Studies Center and will house Turkish students who are pursuing Kent State degrees. Harbourt and Heer halls, both of which are unoccupied, will be demolished this summer. All demolition work is expected to be completed by January 2009.

In other actions:

• The Board authorized the senior vice president for Administration to proceed with the design, bidding and construction of a 5,000 square-foot tenant area and other renovations totaling $730,000 to the former bus garage adjacent to the Kent Campus that is now the university’s Centennial Research Park.

• The Board authorized the senior vice president for Administration to enter into two, joint-use agreements between Kent State and the Musical Arts Association. The agreements will allow the Association to use a total of $4,512,500 in state capital improvement funds directed to Kent State on the Association’s behalf for infrastructure improvements at Blossom Music Center.  All state capital appropriations released through the Ohio Board of Regents require the establishment of joint-use agreements. Kent State will receive administrative fees totaling $67,687 as part of the agreement.

• The Board revised the policy for grade-point average recalculation for associate degrees. The revision corrects an unintentional inequity for students with associate degrees who are seeking baccalaureate degrees, compared to those who begin as baccalaureate-seeking students.

• In compliance with “The Ohio Veterans Package” bill passed by the Ohio legislature in 2007, the Board amended university policies to add “military status” to the list of classes protected from discrimination in employment by the Ohio Revised Code.

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Media Contact:

Ron Kirksey, 330-672-8535