Kent State’s newly announced Design Innovation (DI) Initiative will cultivate a culture where students from a wide array of degree programs will collaborate across disciplines and create unique concepts to tackle “wicked” problems, according to J.R. Campbell, inaugural executive director of Kent State’s Design Innovation Initiative. Mr. Campbell answers some frequently asked questions about Kent State’s DI Initiative.

Kent State University President Beverly J. Warren challenged the university community to embrace transformation at the annual State of the University Address.

“Serious transformation is never easy,” she said. “It challenges us to let go of predictable ways and embrace something new and unfamiliar.”

Kellie Miley is the first to admit, when she graduated from Rootstown High School in 2008, she was not ready for college. In high school, she barely cracked a book yet managed a 3.2 grade point average (GPA).

Getting by with little effort changed when she started as a freshman at Kent State University. By the end of the year, Ms. Miley found herself academically dismissed for poor grades.