To Extend Access to Kent State University to Northeast Ohio

Regional Campuses were established as a Kent outreach effort in several communities to respond to the need for K-12 teachers.  As community pride and support from the Kent Campus grew and a Governor’s policy that every Ohioan should be within thirty miles of an institution of higher education was developed, the system grew to become a network of seven campuses, each one a significant provider of diverse educational programs.

History

Since its founding, off-campus instruction has been a significant component of Kent State University’s mission.  The University offered extension work from 1912 through the early 1960’s and off-campus centers were established both immediately before and after World War II.  The centers were located in relatively large urban areas with classes taught during the late afternoon and evening hours by faculty from the Kent Campus, usually in local high school facilities.  In the later 1950’s the mission of the centers became more focused when the University responded to a shortage of elementary and secondary teachers by creating cadet teacher training programs.

The appeal of classes close to home at reduced cost, coupled with the continued broadening of the University’s role and mission, resulted in an expansion of offerings.  This led, in turn, to the official designation of the off-campus operations as academic centers in the early 1960’s and their eventual retitling as university branches when they moved to permanent sites.  Further growth was encouraged by the Ohio Legislature which provided regular state support of all branch and academic center instruction.

In 1962 legislation permitted the construction of permanent Regional Campus facilities in those communities that were willing to provide local financial support.  In Ashtabula, Stark, and Trumbull Counties, community committees raised funds and secured land for permanent sites.  In East Liverpool, a committee assisted in obtaining an unused high school which was renovated into a campus.  In Geauga and Salem, land was donated for campuses.  In New Philadelphia a branch district was established and local funds were provided for the Tuscarawas Campus.  By the end of the 1960’s curricular offerings had expanded from teacher education to include other disciplines and an emphasis on multiple associate degree programs.

The Ohio Board of Regents 1966 Master Plan was an early attempt to define the mission of University regional campuses.  At Kent a 1970 position paper on the mission of Kent State University, prepared for the Board of Trustees, provided focus for the future with these salient points:  (1) an emphasis on graduate and upper-division courses, (2) development as a major center of graduate education, of a comprehensive, but not universal character, (3) expanded research capabilities, and (4) new and concentrated emphasis on public service, including continuing education.  The first three of these functions were to be carried out by the Kent Campus; the fourth was to be shared by the Regional Campuses and the central campus.  With respect to the role of the regional system, the Board of Trustees said:

The Regional Campuses are integral and highly necessary to Kent State’s role.  Without them the regional university concept is vitiated.  The Regional Campuses enable Kent State University to function effectively in the fields of continuing and technical education and of public service throughout the University Area.[1]

This view has remained remarkably consistent over the last three decades.

The Regents viewed the role of Regional Campuses as offering lower-division baccalaureate-parallel programs, associate degrees, developmental education and a selected number of upper-division and graduate courses, as well as continuing education.  Responsiveness to community needs was a vital component in this view and remains today a key ingredient in the University’s success at its regional campuses.  Accordingly, the Regional Campuses expanded their course offerings, conferred associate degrees, initiated continuing education programs, and offered selected upper-division and graduate courses.  Developmental education was instituted, and extensive efforts were undertaken to solidify the links between the campuses and their communities via local advisory boards.

Regional Campuses Mission Statement

The mission of the Regional Campuses System is to make the resources of the 27^th largest university in the country accessible to the citizens of Northeast Ohio.  The regional campuses are also charged with the task of delivering a wide variety of area-specific technical education and training to the communities they serve.  Finally, delivering programs and services that enhance business and employment opportunities in a time of economic transition is an integral part of the mission of the Regional Campus System.  The regional campuses carry out this mission through the efforts of a faculty committed to the highest standards in the scholarships of discovery, integration, application, teaching, and university citizenship.  Faculty members actively pursue a variety of creative endeavors, regularly contribute to the scholarship in their disciplines, take pride in their continuing pedagogical successes, and are recognized by the wider University community with teaching and professional development awards.  Regional campus faculty are visible citizens in the communities they serve, as well as at every level of university governance.

Regional campuses have an open enrollment policy and an expanding post-secondary enrollment option program. Many are “nontraditional” students:  people returning to the classroom after having begun or raised a family; manufacturing and business workers in need of retraining in the face of economic change; bright, motivated young students earning college credit while still in high school.  For the “traditional” student, the regional campuses offer the first and second years of coursework leading to the bachelor’s degree in 170 major fields.

Each of the regional campuses – Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull, and Tuscarawas – is an integral part of the community it serves, whether through the promotion of fine arts and humanities, the extensive offering of continuing education courses and programs, the enhancement of primary and secondary education, the development of carefully crafted associate’s degree programs, the offering of selected upper-division and graduate course work, a wide variety of partnerships with business and industry, the leadership in the development of distance learning technology, or as a first step – close to home – towards the goal of a four-year baccalaureate degree at Kent State University.  The Regional Campus System is itself an integral part of Kent State University, advancing the mission of the University by delivering its programs and services throughout Northeast Ohio.[2]

Kent State Regional Campuses
208 Michael Schwartz Center
PO Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242
330-672-2286