Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel visited Kent State University at Geauga on Monday, June 9 to tour its nursing program with President Todd Diacon and Geauga Dean Angela Spalsbury, Ph.D.
Kent State Today was there when Tressel later took part in a roundtable discussion with Geauga County leaders and educators to share ideas on how best to prepare Ohio’s workforce.
Tressel, who previously served as president of Youngstown State University, was appointed the state’s new lieutenant governor in February to fill the role left vacant when former Lt. Gov. John Husted took over one of Ohio’s two U.S. Senate seats.
Tressel said he has been touring the state with a focus on education to learn how K-12 schools, career and technical institutions, and universities and colleges are working collaboratively within their communities to prepare young people for roles in Ohio’s ever-growing jobs market.
“I have always appreciated your very common sense, straight-forward approach to higher education as a real force for good and a driver of economic development,” Diacon told Tressel as he welcomed the lieutenant governor. “It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
Diacon said he believes Kent State’s role is to “educate, graduate and contribute to workforce development,” and praised the state for its commitment to keeping higher education available in rural areas and small towns through regional campus systems such as Kent State’s, which boasts seven regional locations throughout Northeast Ohio.
Spalsbury noted how Kent State’s Geauga Campus graduates between 60 and 70 registered nurses each year and boasts a 100 percent pass rate for the nursing licensing exam among its bachelor of science in nursing degree graduates, as well as 100 percent employment for its graduates.
Tressel said Ohio has a diverse landscape of big cities, small towns, suburbs and rural areas, and its workforce development efforts in all those areas have resulted in a wealth of jobs in Ohio for Ohioans.
“We’ve had 63 companies move from the east or west coast to expand or start new businesses in Ohio,” he said. Ohio has gone from ranking 34th as the most attractive state for business 15 years ago to seventh now and first in the Midwest, he noted.
“We need more workers,” he said, “We don’t know what those numbers are yet, but we will need every Ohioan. We have to maximize our outputs.”
On Thursday, June 12, Tressel is expected to visit Kent State’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering and tour the Kent State University Airport.
