Faculty/Staff News Now: Stark Campus Teams With University of Rwanda for Global Experiences; Trumbull Students Fill Thanksgiving Bags for Needy; December LinkedIn Learning Toolkit; Preview Tier 2 Wellness Activities; Final Grading of Fall 2021 Full Term

Kent State Stark and University of Rwanda Partner to bring Global Experiences to Student and Faculty

Sam Zern, a reporter at the Canton Repository, recently wrote about a new partnership between Kent State University and the University of Rwanda that administrators say is connecting students, faculty and research across oceans.

Leaders from the University of Rwanda spent last week in Northeast Ohio for a series of in-person meetings with leaders from Kent State's Stark campus to finalize details on a new partnership that will eventually bring joint classes, international exchanges and research across multiple disciplines. Read the full story.


Kent State Trumbull Student Government Fill Thanksgiving Bags for Students in Need

Kent State Trumbull’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) collected food and money to fill Thanksgiving bags for campus students and families in need.

Tanner Noble (President), Ally Phibbs (Vice-President), Brianna Farmer (Treasurer), and Nadia Currence (Treasurer) coordinated the giveaway with help from Nancy Barker, Coordinator for Student Life/USG. 

Each family received a frozen turkey and a bag with items such as potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, apple or pumpkin pie, cornbread, dinner rolls, apple sauce, and much more. A total of 21 bags were filled with dinners for four to ten people.

“This is something that we really wanted to do,” Noble said. “We were able to launch the Care Closet and food pantry that the previous USG initiated, and it made total sense to reach out and help families on this special day of thanks.”

Participants picked up their bags on Monday and Tuesday, Thanksgiving Week.

Campus and community organizations and individuals who participated include Kent State Trumbull FT NTT Association, English Club, Student Veterinary Technology Organization, S.E.E.D.S., Bowling Team, Building Black Leaders, Student Nurses Association, TCTC’s National Technical Honor Society, TCTC’s Business Professionals Association, TCTC’s Health Occupations Students of America, the Cooney Family, The Tanner Family, Champion Fire Department, Believers Church, and Ravenna Giant Eagle.

Kent State Trumbull’s USG allocates university funding to student organizations for educational purposes, acts as a voice between the administration and the student body, provides a variety of events for the campus, and drives philanthropic initiatives such as the Care Closet.

For more information about Kent State Trumbull’s USG, visit www.kent.edu/trumbull/usg.


December LinkedIn Learning Resource Toolkit

The December 2021 LinkedIn Learning Resource Toolkit is available. Find information on LinkedIn Learning Hub, upcoming trainings and webinars, a new monthly challenge, seasonal promotional materials and much more!


Visit the Be Well Portal for a Sneak Preview of Tier 2 for 2022 

Tier 1 of the Wellness Rewards Program is already underway for the 2022 cycle, and the Tier 2 qualifying period will begin on January 1, 2022. The Be Well Solutions web portal is now updated with information for the 2022 rewards program cycle, including new Tier 2 categories and challenges. View a sneak peek below. For full details, login to the portal and click on "Wellness Reward Program" under "My Wellness." 

New Categories 

  • Blood Donation 

  • CPR/First Aid Certification 

  • Flash Your Arm COVID Vaccine Bonus (must have qualified by Oct. 31, 2021) 

Visit the Employee Wellness challenge page to view 2022 challenges, including Weigh of Life (it's back - register now), a resilience challenge, a social media slow down challenge, and more. 

Please note that Tier 2 activities are not eligible until January 1, 2022. Learn more about the rewards program here. For questions related to health and wellness offerings for Kent State University faculty and staff, please contact the Employee Wellness office at 330-672-0392 or wellness@kent.edu


Important Information about Final Grading of Fall 2021 Full Term

Online final grading for Fall 2021 Full Term (POT 1), Third 5 Weeks (F3), Second 7 Weeks (W2) begins Friday, December 10, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any Fall 2021 course section that was flexibly scheduled. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Tuesday, December 21. Any final grades for Fall 2021 courses not reported in FlashFAST by the grades processing deadline will have to be submitted using the Grade Change Workflow. These Fall 2021 courses will be available in the Workflow on Thursday, December 23.

Submit Final grades using Final Grades roster
To submit final grades via the Final Grades roster, login to FlashLine then click Faculty & Advisors/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources. Locate Final Grades to submit grades.

Submit Final grades using Grade Push (Canvas/Blackboard Users)
If you use either Blackboard Learn or Canvas, there is a tool to make reporting your final grades easier—with a push of the button! The process is called Grade Push and it will allow you to “push” the final grades recorded in Blackboard or Canvas into our KSU Final Grade Roster, thus eliminating the time and effort spent manually entering them.

To access the Grade Push application, login to FlashLine then click Faculty & Advisors/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources.

  • Canvas users will select Canvas Final Grade Push to submit grades.
  • Blackboard users will select Blackboard Final Grade Push to submit grades.

If you have questions or concerns regarding the Grade Push applications, please direct them to https://www.kent.edu/it.

Please Note: The Grade Push applications have been developed as an option to assist in streamlining the university grading process. The use of these application is not mandatory, though it is encouraged.

Incomplete Mark Workflow:
The instructor must create and submit an Incomplete Mark contract via the workflow. Instructors can no longer select the incomplete mark (IB+, IC+, IC-, etc.) from the final grade roster in FlashFAST (Self-Service Banner). The primary instructor must initiate and submit the contract using this new workflow process, which mimics the old paper process. Once the contract has been accepted by the student and approved by the department chair/campus dean, the student’s grade will be updated automatically. The primary instructor will be able to initiate and submit the contract for a student after the deadline to withdraw (10th week of a regularly scheduled section in fall and spring, or prorated for flexibly scheduled sections) through the end of final grading.

Access the Incomplete Mark workflow in FlashLine from the Faculty Dashboard under Grading Resources or Faculty Workflows.

NF/SF Administrative Marks:
The administrative mark NF (Never Attended–Fail) denotes that the student neither attended one class session nor formally withdrew from the course. If a student has never attended your course, mark the student as “Not Started” on the Academic Presence Verification Roster, and the NF will automatically populate to your Final Grades roster.

The administrative mark SF (Stopped Attending–Fail) denotes that the student stopped attending the course and did not formally withdraw and must be accompanied by a date of last attendance in the course. If a student has stopped attending your course the SF can be entered on the Final Grade Roster along with the student’s last date of attendance.

For complete information on university grading policies including Incomplete Mark and NF/SF grading policies, procedures and timelines, please visit the Grading Policies and Procedures section in the University Catalog.

Grades Processing Tips and FAQs may be found on the Registrar's website. 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.

Troubleshooting TIP: FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. We recommend 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 help with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues.

POSTED: Monday, December 6, 2021 08:28 AM
Updated: Thursday, December 2, 2021 02:59 PM