Points of Pride Kent State University at Salem 2020-2021

Campus
 

• At the City Center, a new wall was built on the east side of the building (the back entrance near the parking lot).
  • Work included a whole new wall with railings 
  • Older wall was crumbling, leaning and unsafe
  • $106,000 campus investment
     
• Converted two classrooms in the Main Campus Building to Zoom rooms (rooms 160 and 122).
  • Included new monitors, sound systems and computer technology
  • Now have three Zoom rooms on the Salem Campus
     
• Installed all-in-one teacher stations/computers in 13 classrooms.
   
• Purchased and installed new microphones, cameras and stands in 30 classrooms in the Main Campus Building. This provides technology to deliver instruction in a remote format.
   
• Solar Panel Project
  • No cost to the Salem Campus
  • Located on nearly two acres behind the soccer fields
  • This project involved installing an array of about 1,560 solar panels and connecting to the campus electric system, producing enough clean electricity to serve 73 percent of the electricity for the campus. 
  • This is enough electricity to power 95 homes and translates to an expected cost savings of about $280,000 for the Salem Campus over the 25 years of the contract.
  • The project will reduce the carbon footprint by 617 tons of carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. This is equivalent to removing 121 cars from the roads.
  • The land around the project will be planted with wildflowers and other native pollinators specifically selected to promote habitats that increase numbers of honeybees, butterflies and other native pollinators. This is intended to help restore balance to the ecosystem and can become an outdoor learning space for studying horticulture, botany, environmental sciences and other subjects.

Faculty
 

Dr. Santokh Tandon

• Dr. Santokh Tandon, professor-chemistry, was invited to speak and/or present at numerous conferences around the world during the 2020-2021 academic year.These conferences included:
  • The International Conference and Exhibition on Materials & Engineering, June 8-10, 2020, Seoul, South Korea.
  • The 12th International Conference on Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, April 28-29, 2021, in Dubai, UAE. 
  • The Fifth International Conference on Biopolymers & Polymer Chemistry (ICBPC-2021), Sept. 23-25, 2021, in Venice, Italy. ICBPC-2021 The theme is “Explore Recent Developments in the Field of Polymers & Biopolymers and their Applications.”
     
• Dr. Santokh Tandon, professor-chemistry, was invited to participate with numerous organizations and publications that included:
   
  • Invited to serve as executive guest editor of the Current Organic Chemistry Journal;
  • Invited to serve as guest editor for the open access journal Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049), to establish a special issue. The suggested topic is ‘Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Ligands in Coordination Chemistry’;
  • Invited to join the editorial board/reviewer team for the Science Journal of Chemistry;
  • Invited to be a guest editor for a special issue of the journal Materials (ISSN 1996-1944) addressing the topic of “Supramolecular Architectures and Complex Compounds: Synthesis and Properties’;
  • Invited to be guest editor for a special issue for the journal Crystals with a title of Supramolecular Architectures (Coordination Capacity of Transition Metals), (Jan. 2021);
  • Invited to be guest editor for a special issue: Supramolecular Architectures and Complex Compounds: Synthesis and Properties in the journal Crystals, (Jan. 2021);
  • Based on the success of the article, H-bonding directed formation of 1D-single chains, 2D-sheets, and 3D structures in magnetically coupled tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes with incomplete double cubane core, invited to serve as guest editor to develop a new article collection in Chemistry;
  • Invited to join the editorial board of the journal Crystals, an international, peer-reviewed open access journal that broadly covers: Crystalline Materials, Liquid Crystals, Crystal Engineering, Biomolecular Crystals, Industrial Crystallization and Mineralogical Crystallography and Biomineralization. It is indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science) and Scopus, and the impact factor is 2.404. At present, Crystals ranks 10/26 (Q2) in the ‘Crystallography’ category of Web of Science.
     
• Dr. Santokh Tandon, professor-chemistry, published the following:
   
  • One-Pot Self-Assembly of Dinuclear, Tetranuclear, and H-Bonding-Directed Polynuclear Cobalt(II), Cobalt(III), and Mixed-Valence Co(II)/Co(III) Complexes of Schiff Base Ligands with Incomplete Double Cubane Core
  • Santokh S. Tandon, Neil Patel, Scott D. Bunge, Esther C. Wang, Rachel Thompson and Laurence K. Thompson Materials 2020, 13, 5425-5443.
  • Self-Assembly of Antiferromagnetically-Coupled Copper (II) Supramolecular Architectures with Diverse Structural Complexities
  • Santokh S. Tandon, Scott D. Bunge, Neil Patel, Esther C. Wang and Laurence K. Thompson Molecules 2020, 25, 5549-5579.
  • “Synthesis, structural characterization, and magnetic properties of hexanuclear lanthanide(III) complexes of an extended tritopic picolinic dihydrazide ligand with terminal oxime groups,” in Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Louise Steele

• Dr. Louise Steele, assistant professor of biology, accomplished the following:
  
  Teaching 
  In response to the COVID pandemic, she moved courses to a remote format, and some features of those courses were noteworthy: 
  • For Anatomy and Physiology, she recorded demonstrations that were typically done in-person and broke up her PowerPoint presentations. The demos enhanced learning, increased instructor “presence” and helped strengthen the connection between her and the students.
  • For Lab Experience in Biology, a course for non-science majors, she developed remote lab exercises with hands-on and “minds-on” activities. She recorded herself filling in as the students’ lab partners so they could see the materials and procedures and keep track of the results. 
  • Participated in a workshop (January 2021) regarding remote instruction led by the Center for Teaching and Learning. After the workshop, faculty received a $200 stipend for submitting three strategies that could be used to boost student engagement in their courses. She used the funding to purchase a tablet and stylus that allow her to draw anatomy and physiology diagrams just like she would draw on a whiteboard. This technology has been extremely useful during Teams office hours, in recorded PowerPoint lectures and in “muddy concept” tutorials.

• Dr. Louise Steele, assistant professor of biology, accomplished the following:
  
  Research
  • Has a research article in press that describes the results of a project carried out with undergraduates in the research space in Centofanti Hall. This peer-reviewed article is important in the field because it lays the groundwork for using C. elegans microscopic worms to study the effects of ultrasound at the cellular and molecular levels. The journal, which has an impact factor of 2.514 (2019), is the journal of the World Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine in Biology (WFUMB). WFUMB includes the six major ultrasound organizations representing North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. 
  • Published: Steele LM, Kotsch TJ, Legge CA, and Smith DJ. 2021. Establishing C. elegans as a Model for Studying the Bioeffects of Therapeutic Ultrasound. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, In press.
  • In April 2020, she presented a poster about this work at The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC20 Online). This remote, international meeting was organized by the Genetics Society of America. The meeting brought together about 800 presenters who study similar research questions in different model organisms—including worms, yeast, fruit flies, zebrafish, frogs and mice. To date, her poster has been viewed 184 times and downloaded 24 times. The poster will remain online for at least 10 years, where it will continue to raise awareness of research conducted at Kent State.
  • Poster presentation: Steele LM, Kotsch TJ, Legge CA, and Smith DJ. Establishing C. elegans as a Model for Studying the Bioeffects of Ultrasound. The Allied Genetics Conference, TAGC20 Online. Organized by the Genetics Society of America. April 22–25, 2020. 
  • Serves as a member of Kent State’s Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI), which is a cross-disciplinary group of researchers from Kent State, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED).
  • Received a Gold Award from the BHRI’s pilot grant program to study the effects of ultrasound on the developing nervous system of C. elegans. This grant was one of only 10 grants awarded in 2020, and she was the only researcher from a regional campus to receive one of the awards. My proposal builds on earlier work, which indicated that exposure to therapeutic ultrasound affected worm movement. Interestingly, some worms appeared to drag the posterior portion of their bodies behind them as though they were partially paralyzed. One goal is to determine if the worms have nervous system damage that could explain this phenomenon. 
  • Pilot grant: Steele LM. Effects of Ultrasound on Nervous System Development in the Nematode Roundworm, C. elegans. KSU’s Brain Health Research Institute. 2020 Gold Award, $5,000. 
  • With the funding, purchased a fluorescence microscope and camera that will enable us to look at worms whose entire nervous system is labeled with green fluorescent protein. It is unusual to have this specialized equipment in a small-campus setting. The equipment will make it possible to continue carrying out a variety of exciting projects well into the future. 
  • Presented a short talk describing preliminary data from this work at the Eighth Midwest Worm Meeting, organized by Michigan State University, April 2021. This remote regional meeting was attended by 113 researchers from 28 institutions in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and beyond. The data were from another project she began with undergraduates in the research space in Centofanti Hall. 
  • Short talk: Steele LM, Krall B, Conrad V. Therapeutic Ultrasound’s Effects on the Developing Nervous System of C. elegans. 8th Midwest Worm Meeting (Online). Organized by Michigan State University. April 23, 2021. 
  • As a result of those interactions, she began a collaboration with Dr. Sing Lee, who is a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Michigan State University. They are interested in testing a compound Lee synthesized that corrects neurodegeneration in worms to see if it will reverse damage caused by therapeutic ultrasound exposure. 
     
• Dr. Louise Steele, assistant professor of biology, accomplished the following:
  
  Service
  • Invited to join the pool of peer reviewers for the journal, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. She will review articles concerning ultrasound bioeffects and animal models. 
  • Beginning in Fall 2020, served on the faculty recruitment and retention subcommittee of Kent State’s Anti-Racism Task Force. This subcommittee was charged with finding ways to ensure fair recruitment, hiring, mentoring and promotion of faculty of color. This ad-hoc, university-wide subcommittee made final recommendations to the Faculty Senate in April 2021. 
  • Reviewed six biology abstracts for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (December 2020). More than 3,000 students from all disciplines presented their work. They represented over 500 institutions across the United States. She was particularly excited to be involved because she participated in this event when I was a student. 
  • Judged seven health sciences presentations at the Choose Ohio First (COF) Spring 2021 virtual conference (April 2021). Overall, more than 150 COF scholarship recipients from seven Northeast Ohio colleges and universities participated. 
  • Continued to serve as a student complaint co-advisor for the Salem campus. This year, we have met with only three students regarding concerns, which is fewer than usual. No formal hearings were needed, which suggests that students are reasonably satisfied with remote and hybrid learning, and that faculty and staff have been meeting the challenges of teaching and advising during the pandemic.

Cyndi Peterson

• Cyndi Peterson, program director and senior lecturer for the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program, presented “CEUS Success: Troubleshooting for Ultrasound Abdominal Examinations” at the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography annual conference in September 2020. The virtual conference had over 6,000 registrants.
   
• Cyndi Peterson was co-author on a paper entitled “Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound of Renal Masses” published in Applied Radiology, Nov./Dec. 2020. 

Dr. Tsunghui Tu

• Dr. Tsunghui Tu, associate professor and program director for the early childhood education program at Kent State Salem, was featured on the Zippia website where she shared her thoughts about trends in her field. Zippia is a site for companies wanting to “recruit top-level staff and job seekers who want to empower their career aspirations.” In December 2020, the company posted an article that featured the opinions of experts about the current job market. Tu is prominently featured on the page, sharing her thoughts about the future for early childhood education graduates. https://www.zippia.com/professional-educator-jobs/trends/.

Dr. E. Sue Wamsley

• Dr. E. Sue Wamsley, assistant professor of history, published “A Hemisphere of Women: The Founding and Development of the Inter-American Commission of Women, 1915-1939,” University of Nebraska Press, Fall 2021.
   
• Dr. E. Sue Wamsley, assistant professor of history, received the University Council Research Award, Kent State University, 2021.

James Winter

• James Winter, associate professor of English, was selected to be a member of the Inclusive Teaching Faculty Learning Community for the Center for Teaching and Learning. He trained with the office of Continuing and Distance Education in its workshop on remote instruction. He received similar training in online writing through the Kent State English Department.
   
• James Winter gave a reading for Lit Youngstown's First Wednesday Series, joining retired English Professor Dr. Craig Paulenich. Three students from the Salem Campus participated in the open mic session following the reading.

Kris Harrington

• Kris Harrington, lecturer-English, accomplished the following:
  • Presented at the Midsemester Symposium of Composition at Kent State University (2020). The title of her presentation was “Textual Lineage: Identity and Investigation”;
  • Presented at the College English Association of Ohio Conference, April 24, 2021. The title of her presentation was “Textual Lineage: Story and Counterstory;”
  • Published “Darker Places,” Raw Data: Living in the Fallout from Coronavirus (August 2020) Creative Non-Fiction Publication
  • Published "Getting Up That Hill," in Essay Daily on April 8, 2021, Creative Nonfiction Publication

Dr. Barbara George and Kris Harrington

• Dr. Barbara George and Kris Harrington of the Salem Campus English Department presented at the Kent State remote composition mid-semester symposium in October 2020, sharing materials with composition instructors at all Kent campuses. 

Dr. Barbara George and Dr. Josh Myers

• Dr. Barbara George and Dr. Josh Myers attended the Kent State Remote Stretch composition workshop in November, 2020, and shared materials about remote teaching stretch composition classes on the website: https://sites.google.com/kent.edu/developmentalwritingcolumbiana/professional-supports 

Dr. Barbara George

• Dr. Barbara George, assistant professor-English, accomplished the following:
  • She and Dr. Ana Wetzl (associate professor of English at Kent Trumbull) published “Addressing Erasure: Networking Language Justice Advocacy for Multilingual Students in the Rustbelt” in the journal Composition Forum in the Summer, 2020 edition.
  • She and Dr. Wetzl in conjunction with the Trumbull Campus Diversity in Action Committee and the Salem Campus Diversity Committee invited author Kelli Jo Ford for a remote reading and discussion of her prize-winning novel, Crooked Hallelujah on April 1.
  • Served as the vice president of the College English Association of Ohio. As part of the CEAO board, she helped organize a remote CEAO conference on April, 24, 2021, entitled “Fluidity, Mobility in English Studies.” Over 35 English professionals from Ohio and across the United States presented at the conference. 
  • Will serve as the president of the CEAO (College English Association of Ohio) for the 2021-2022 annual year.
  • Completed coursework to earn a Global Society of Online Literacy Educator certificate during the 2020-2021 annual year.
  • Served on the Kent-wide English Department Undergraduate Studies committee through the 2021-2022 annual year. 
  • Served on the Kent-wide English Department Writing Program committee through the AY 20-21 and will serve on the committee during the 2021-2022 academic year.
  • Elected to serve on the Kent-wide English Faculty Advisory Committee for the 2021-2022 academic year.
  • Along with Dr. Joshua Myers, she advised students on the first issue of the literary journal, Black Squirrel Scholars
     
• Invited Presentations
  • “Creating Inclusive Remote Tutoring Spaces: Social Media Campaign to Engage a Diverse Student Body” at the NCPTW (National Council on Peer Tutoring in Writing) national conference, October 23, 2020;
  • “Developing a Literary Journal in a Professional Writing Class: A Collaborative Multi-Modal Report” at the ABC (Association of Business Communication) International Conference (virtual), October 2020;
  • Co-presentation with Dr. Ana Marie Wetzl: “Mainstream Composition Course on Regional Campuses: A Safe Space for Multilingual Students” at the Mid-Semester College Writing Symposium, KSU, October 30, 2020;
  • “Multilingual Support in Online Spaces” at the International Global Society of Online Literary Educators annual conference, remote, January 29, 2021;
  • “Remote Tools in the Google Suite: Instructor Feedback, Class Discussion, Peer Review, Quizzes and Google Sites” at the Kent State Tuscarawas Mentoring Retreat, March 5th, 2021.
  • “Discussing OLI (Online Literacy Instruction) Certificate and Practicing Tools” at the College English Association of Ohio conference, April 24, 2021.

Dr. Sarah Smiley

• Dr. Sarah Smiley, professor of geology, published the following:
  • Agbemor, Benjamin and Sarah L. Smiley. 2020. Tensions Between Formal and Informal Water Providers: Receptivity Toward Mechanised Boreholes in the Sunyani West District, Ghana. Journal of Development Studies.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2020.1786059. 
  • Smiley, Sarah L. 2020. Heterogeneous Water Provision in Dar es Salaam: The Role of Networked Infrastructures and Alternative Systems in Informal Areas.  Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. 3, 4: 1215-1231. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620908194. 
  • Agbemor, B. and S. Smiley. 2021. Risk Factors in Water Sector Public-Private Partnership Projects and Mitigation Measures: Lessons from the Asutifi North District, Ghana.  H2Open. https://doi.org/10.2166/h2oj.2021.003 
  • Smiley, Sarah L., Benjamin Agbemor, Ellis Adams, and Raymond Tutu.  2020. COVID-19 and Water Access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana’s Free Water Directive May Not Benefit Water Insecure Households. African Geographical Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2020.1810083. 

Dr. Rachel Blasiman

• Dr. Rachel Blasiman, associate professor of psychology, completed the following:
  
  Conference presentations (Salem students in bold):
   
  • Miller, S., & Blasiman, R. N. (2021, April). The activities of daily living in those with a tracheostomy. Poster presentation at Kent Stark Annual Student Conference, Virtual. 
  • Mayle, C., & Blasiman, R. N. (2021, April). Free will vs. determinism. Presentation at Kent Stark Annual Student Conference, Virtual. 
  • Shasteen, H. D., & Blasiman, R. N. (2021, April). The role of sunlight exposure in tasks of inhibition in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Poster presentation at the Annual Kent Undergraduate Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, Virtual. 
  • Shasteen, H. D., & Blasiman, R. N. (2021, April). Impacts of shift work on chronic conditions. Poster presentation at the Annual Kent Undergraduate Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, Virtual. 
  • Shasteen, H. D., & Blasiman, R. N. (2021, March). Brain fog in different chronic condition populations. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Virtual. 
  • Blasiman, R.N. (2021, March). Variations in notetaking: The impact of doodling and colored inks. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Virtual.
     
• Invited talks:
  • Blasiman, R. N. (2021, April). Leveraging the power of connections in teaching and learning. Invited presentation for the Center for Teaching and Learning, Kent, OH. 
  • Blasiman, R. N. (2020, October). The biology of distributed practice testing.  Invited speaker at Brain Health Research Institute Online Conference, Kent, OH. 

Dr. Omid Bagheri

• Dr. Omid Bagheri, assistant professor of economics, achieved the following:
   
  • Published a paper in Environmental Research in August 2020. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935120304655). Environmental Research is an “A” journal with an Impact Factor of 5.715, an Article Influence Score of 1.218, and an H-Index of 125;
  •  A working paper was accepted by the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University and was published on its website in March 2021: https://www.thecgo.org/research/are-college-graduate-immigrants-on-work-visas-cheaper-than-natives/. This paper is currently “Under review” at Industrial Relations, which is also an “A” journal;
  • A paper titled “Assimilation of Indian Immigrants in the U.S. and H1B Visa Program” (co-authored with Kusum Mundra at Rutgers) was presented at the American Economic Association annual conference in January 2021.
  • Began a new research project with three other faculty members of the Department of Economics in April 2021.
  • Developed 100-percent web-based (online) ECON 22061: Principles of Macroeconomics, which was offered for the first time in Fall 2020.
  • Was interviewed by WFMJ 21 (local NBC) news (May 4 ) regarding truck driver shortage and its impact on the prices of fuel and other goods. Interview ran on station’s news programs throughout the day. https://www.wfmj.com/story/43818933/truck-driver-shortage-affects-us-all.

Judy Miller

• Judy Miller, clinical coordinator for the Rad Tech program, finished her year as the president of the Ohio Society of Radiologic Technologists. and now moves into the position of junior chairperson of the Board.  

Shellie Warino

• Shellie Warino, interim program director of radiation therapy, was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors for the Ohio Society of Radiologic Technologists and was then moved into the position of president-elect.   

Dr. Cheryl Brady

• Dr. Cheryl Brady, senior lecturer-BSN program, received her doctorate in nursing degree from Kent State University.

Dr. Janeen Kotsch

• Dr. Janeen Kotsch, senior lecturer-BSN program, received her doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction from Kent State University.

Krista Hawkins

• Krista Hawkins, lecturer-BSN program, was selected as the Outstanding Fulltime Faculty Member of the Year for 2020-2021. She was selected based on nominations from faculty, staff and students.

Carrie Tomko

• Carrie Tomko, adjunct faculty member teaching Introduction to Human Communications at the Salem campus, earned an associate degree in horticulture from the Salem Campus after taking one class each semester for six years. The pursuit of the degree all started with a need to improve hay crop yields at her farm.  
  • Her education included completing a co-op experience, at Blooming Designs, an upscale flower bed designer in Norton, Ohio, where she has now spent four seasons working in upscale, estate flower beds in the greater Akron area.  

Dr. Kristenne Robison

• Dr. Kristenne Robison, assistant professor of criminology and justice studies, published: Kristenne Robison and Shannon Smithey. 2021. “Trial Court Policy Making: The Case of Criminal Probation” in Pp. (tbd) in Open Judicial Politics: An Empirical Reader, edited by Rorie Solberg and Eric N. Waltenburg. Oregon State University.  

Dr. Steven Toepfer

• Dr. Steven Toepfer, associate professor of LDES, published:
  • Tang, T., Kucek, J., Toepfer, S.M. (2020). Active within Structures: Predictors of Esports Gameplay and Spectatorship, Communication and Sport, 1-21. DOI: 10.1177/2167479520942740

Programs
 

• Dr. Jessica Paull was appointed the interim coordinator for the Rising Scholars program on the Columbiana County campuses. She assumed the responsibility for the program as an extension of her position as an assistant professor of sociology on the Salem Campus.
   
• The Rural Scholars program phased in a new name and is now known as the Rising Scholars program. The change reflects the expansion of the program across the Kent State system and aligns the Columbiana County program with its sister programs on the other regional campuses. 
   
• All senior sonography students passed their ARDMS Sonographic Principles and Instrumentation (physics) national certification exam in October, representing a 100 percent pass rate (the national pass rate on SPI exam is 61 percent).
   
• The sonography program accepted a donation from Aultman Hospital of a Siemens Acuson Sequoia ultrasound machine with multiple transducers (estimated value $16,000). The equipment performs abdominal and OB/GYN examinations and can also be used to teach vascular flow characteristics and disease. It is used for lab sessions across the entire sonography curriculum.
   
• All summer (2020) and December (2020) BSN graduates passed the NCLEX licensing exam for a 100-percent pass rate.
   
• Dr. Barbara George and Dr. Joshua Myers of the English department oversaw the process of accepting, managing and editing submissions of art and writing for a new interdisciplinary Kent State Columbiana literary journal, Black Squirrel Scholars. Additionally, the students in English 30072 Editing & Publishing, under the tutelage of Dr. Myers, gained hands-on experience in the editing process by preparing submissions for the journal's premier issue published in the spring of 2021. These students include Nicholas Berger, Regan Crosser, Whitney Fox, Aaron Holden, Luke Holm, Mariah Lanzer, Erica Palocyi, Bailie Rohr, Skyllar Shasteen, Tyler Stratton, and Melissa Tyger. 
   
• Through collaboration with Dr. Barbara George, Dr. Uma Krishnan (English professor at Kent) and Maegan Richards (director of the ALC), the English Department created its first writing internship program on the Kent Columbiana County campuses. Any student on the Columbiana County campuses may complete a writing internship with a major GPA of 3.0 or higher, or recommendation from faculty, or by passing a required English course.
   
• The English Department provided a series of remote workshops in the spring of 2021 for students:
  • James Winter: Teen Writing Workshops through Lit Youngstown
  • Dr. Josh Myers: Using Tales to Reflect on the Pandemic: Fictional Contagions;
  • Kris Harrington: Telling Our Stories: Memoir Writing;
  • Dr. Barbara George: Easy Composing with Digital Graphic Tools
     
• Fifteen area high school seniors graduated from the Rising Scholars program. The graduates were celebrated individually with family members in a recognition program held on the Salem Campus.

Students 
 

• Two students from the Salem Campus placed in the English Program Tier I and Tier II composition contest. Submissions were from a pool spanning all eight campuses.
   
  • Kimberly Redmond, from Dr. Barbara George's class, won first place in the College Writing II contest for her research essay "Suicide Prevention: Are We Doing Enough?"
  • Lauren Meadows, from James Winter's class, won third place in the College Writing I contest for her narrative essay "Three-Year Old Memories."
     
• Mariah Lanzer published “I Still Love You” in Canto (creative nonfiction) and “Fragile Child” in Uncomfortable Revolution (creative nonfiction).
   
• Three English students were part of the newly-created writing internship program. Mariah Lanzer successfully completed her writing internship in the Academic Learning Commons in the fall of 2020; Whitney Fox began her internship in the Academic Learning Commons in the spring of 2021; and Aaron Holden completed a paid internship with Butech Bliss. 
   
• Mariah Lanzer completed and presented her SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) project in the fall of 2020. She researched writing centers and Writing Across the Curriculum (Dr. Barbara George was her mentor). 
   
• The work of Mariah Lanzer, Maegan Richards and Dr. Barbara George, “Creating Inclusive Remote Tutoring Spaces: Social Media Campaign to Engage a Diverse Student Body” was presented by Dr. George at the National Council on Peer Tutoring in Writing national remote conference, October 23, 2020.
   
• The work of Aaron Holden, Whitney Fox, Mariah Lanzer and Dr. Barbara George, “Developing a Literary Journal in a Professional Writing Class: A Collaborative Multi-Modal Report” was presented by Dr. George at the Association of Business Communication International Conference (virtual), October 2020.
   
• Three students from the Salem Campus won awards through the Kent State English Department and were recognized at the multi-campus English Awards Ceremony, held remotely in April 21. They include:
  • Whitney Fox – received the Mildred Stieskial Scholarship;
  • Melissa Tyger - won the English Department Chair’s Scholarship;
  • Whitney Fox - won the Anna Ulen Engleman Creative Writing Award
     
• Marissa Yourstowsky, a first-year radiologic technology student, applied and was selected as a student director on the Ohio Society of Radiologic Technologists board of directors.  
   
• Katrina Wright, a criminology and justice studies student, was selected for SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Program). She is assisting Dr. Kristenne Robison, assistant professor of criminology and justice studies, with her longitudinal study of probation. 

Staff/Administration
 

• Maegan Richards received the 2020 President’s Award of Distinction. She is the Academic Learning Commons coordinator for the Salem and East Liverpool campuses. Kent State University President Todd Diacon noted that his office received nearly 200 nominations from employees’ supervisors, peers and colleagues throughout the eight campuses. Only a very select number of staff members were chosen to receive this honor. 
   
• Dr. Susan Rossi, formerly the assistant dean for the East Liverpool Campus, is now serving as assistant dean for both Columbiana County campuses (following the retirement of former Salem Assistant Dean Dr. Celeste Oprean last fall).
   
• Deborah Hoopes received the Kent State Salem Campus Outstanding Staff Member award for the 2020-2021 academic year. She is a member of the custodial staff with 14 years of service to Kent State. This award is based on nominations from employees and students.

Community Involvement
 

• The second Kent State Columbiana County Volleyball Classic took place Oct. 3, when the East Liverpool Potters hosted the Salem Quakers for a full day of volleyball action. East Liverpool High School defeated Salem High School, earning the right to keep the traveling winner’s plaque until next year’s battle. Because of COVID safety protocols, general admission fans were not allowed to attend the game and our activities were limited. Each team member received a Kent State t-shirt, mask and cinch bag. The Kent State County Volleyball Classic represents the strong foundation of learning in East Liverpool and Salem, as each community is home to one of the university’s two Columbiana County campuses. 
   
• Hosted the Fifth Annual County Classic basketball game between Salem and East Liverpool high school boys’ teams. The event was held at East Liverpool High School with a limited crowd because of COVID safety precautions that were in place. A $500 scholarship was awarded to each of four students, two from each high school, who applied and were accepted to the Salem or East Liverpool campuses.
   
• Dr. Cheryl Brady, BSN faculty, coordinated nursing student volunteers with the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County at weekly COVID vaccine clinics. The student nurses administered vaccines and provided patient education following the injections. Nursing students also volunteered with several Columbiana County Health Department COVID clinics. Sandy Gruszecki is the nurse manager for the Lisbon, East Liverpool and Salineville CAA, and is also a 2010 graduate of the Salem Campus BSN program. She has worked for the CAA for 10 years and helps coordinate the clinical experiences for the student nurses. Representing the Salem Campus BSN program were students Madeleine Hinkle, Samantha Jeffers, McKenzie Martin, Sarah Miller, Samantha Prosser, Kristan Santos, Melody Troyer and Kellie Walker.

Recruitment/Retention Efforts
 

• Academic Learning Commons and Peer Tutoring & Writing Center:
  • Overall, 317 peer tutoring sessions were offered between the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters
     
•  During the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters, the Academic Learning Commons offered virtual tutoring in math and writing. 
  • The group of peer tutors for the 2020/2021 academic year included Mariah Lanzer, Skyllar Shasteen, Katie Larabee and Hayley Shasteen (writing); and Tyler Ewing (math).
  • Student employees in the Academic Learning Commons returned to work on campus with the start of fall classes.  ALC student employees for the 2020/2021 academic year on the Salem Campus were Alexis Johnson and Mariah Lanzer. 
     
• Maegan Richards and Dr. George developed a Writing Center page so that students can easily sign up for remote writing sessions: https://www.kent.edu/columbiana/writing-center
  • ~ Option 1: OWL (student sends a paper in, tutors respond to paper and send back)
  • ~ Option 2: Google Meet (live tutoring)
     
• Dr. Barbara George developed a training program for online tutoring for synchronous and asynchronous sessions. The three tutors completed the online training process (including refresher modules) in early September 2020 and January 2021, providing live tutoring in mid-September and continuing in January. One tutor was trained in early January. Two tutors, Mariah Lanzer and Skyllar Shasteen, also completed a multilingual training.

 
Enrollment Management and Student Services:
 

• Both campuses experienced a concurrent enrollment increase from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 despite the COVID 19 pandemic.
• Spring 2021 concurrent enrollment numbers also increased +10 percent for both campuses despite the COVID 19 pandemic.
• College Credit Plus enrollment at the Salem Campus continues to increase each academic year with more than 400 students enrolled Fall 2020.
  • Scholarships
    • Over $400,000 in donor funded and campus funded scholarships were awarded to Columbiana County students.
    • Instead of in-person scholarship receptions, video presentations were developed to honor scholarship recipients.
       
  • Recruitment/Digital Marketing Initiatives
    • Continued partnership with Carnegie Dartlet which is increasing our online presence through social media, Google Ads and a more targeted marketing approach using some of our existing webpages.
    • Our most recent campaign that began in March 2021 has resulted in a total of 139 requests for information that have been converted to inquiries in Salesforce.  We have also seen an increase in the need for campus visits/tours.
    • Our admissions counselor participated in online college fairs in collaboration with other Regional Campuses.
    • Hosted virtual events such as Information Night and specific program information sessions.
       
  • Academic and Financial Aid Advising
    • Continued to provide virtual services to students using Teams and Zoom.  Utilized Microsoft Bookings to schedule student appointments.
    • Continued to hold STAR (Student Testing, Advising and Registration) sessions virtually to accommodate students in this remote environment.
      • Held a drive-through DKS event to kick off the fall semester for incoming students. COVID prevented the campus from holding its traditional one-day orientation, so a parking lot was transformed into a drive-through that allowed students and staff to maintain safe distancing and still provide important information to the students. Students received Kent State t-shirts, information packets, a Welcome Box (included socks, sunglasses, a pen and other items) and a Kent State cinch bag (containing masks, hand sanitizer, key chain, etc.). 
      • Held outdoor commencement/pinning ceremonies for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 graduates. The ceremonies were held at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds, allowing graduates and families to be spaced out and socially distanced from each other. Two ceremonies were held to accommodate the number of graduates participating; the later ceremony including the pinning ceremonies for the ADN, BSN, Rad Tech and PTA programs. 

Institutional Advancement
 

• The Salem Advisory Board established the Advisory Board Scholarship through the Salem Community Foundation. Each board member was asked to contribute $250 to help fund this scholarship, noting that an anonymous donor agreed to match up to $5,000. As a result of this effort, the board collected a total of $10, 700 to establish the scholarship. The scholarship was created in response to student needs caused by the COVID pandemic (November 2020).
   
• The Salem Advisory Board established a scholarship in memory of Russ Loudon, former board member (December 2020)
   
• Secured $105,000 donation from the Marion G. Resch Foundation for the Rising Scholars Program for Columbiana County.
   
• The Columbiana County Rising Scholars Program is listed again as a line item on the State of Ohio Biennium Budget for $100,000 per year for the next two years.
   
• Obtained local funding ($100,000) for English as a Second Language support in the Learning Commons, as well as direct scholarship funding.
   
• Currently, the campus is trending to achieve a six-year high in pledges from local donors. 

Personal
 

• Lead negotiations for the Mercy Health/Trumbull Campus facility collaboration.
   
• Lead conversations regarding the Draime Legacy Garden relationship with Kent State.
   
• Served as a member of the University Reopening Steering Committee which was responsible for all decisions regarding the reopening of Kent State University during the COVID-19 crisis.
   
• Co-Chaired the Regional Campuses Reopening Committee which provided insight and guidance for all regional campuses during the COVID-19 crisis.
   
• Provided leadership and guidance on identifying system integration opportunities in business operations, student support services, and shared scheduling.
   
• Provided key input and guidance as a member of the University Budget Development Group.
   
• Establish a universal bell schedule for all campuses, enabling program and faculty sharing to be expanded.
   
• Initiated the collaboration system-wide to expand and simplify online access to tutoring and other learning support services for Regional Campus students.
   
• Provided several community lectures including “The Past, Present and Future of Kent State University at East Liverpool” as part of the Legends and Lecture Series at the East Liverpool Community Center.
   
• Panel participant at the AEFIS Academy on Democracy and Assessment Series.
   
• Professional consultation on democratic leadership for Modesto Junior College, Modesto, CA.  

COVID-19 
 

• To respond to campus needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salem Campus invested $81,914.47 for various items and activities. These include:

Classroom and Lab needs	$  15,877.11	(PPE, gowns, gloves, etc.)
Custodial and Maintenance	$   7,464.09	(Cleaning supplies, signage)
Technology	$  58,573.77	(Software, computers, etc.)

• Other technical/technology upgrades on the campuses needed to provide continuity and effective delivery of curriculum included:
  • Installing two new state-of-the art Zoom rooms per campus
  • Updating 35 non-Zoom room classrooms with new cameras and microphones, allowing on and off campus students to participate
  • Replacing all classroom teacher’s stations that were more than four years old
  • Configuring and deploying laptops for all faculty and staff that needed the equipment to work from home
  • Installing web cameras on several office PC’s to be used for Teams and Zoom meetings  
  • Extending the Wifi to the parking lots for students and staff without high-speed internet at home
  • Configuring group learning rooms in the Academic Learning Commons area into remote learning rooms  
  • Distributing laptops and Wifi hotspots for students who needed this assistance
     
• Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, campus leaders worked closely with the Columbiana County Health Department, as well as the East Liverpool City Health District, to monitor the COVID-19 situation and its impact on our campuses. Received guidance with implementing safety measures and practices in response to the pandemic, including classroom set-ups, gatherings, events, housekeeping measures and signage.
   
• Ventra Salem donated 1,100 plastic face shields that were distributed to students and faculty on the Salem and other Kent campuses. The face shields were particularly helpful for the allied health programs because students and faculty needed to navigate situations that include hands-on instruction and movement in clinical-like settings while maintaining safety precautions. Matt Zines, a Kent State graduate who attended the Salem Campus, is a program engineer at Ventra and helped with this specific project. Ventra Salem is a division of Flex-N-Gate. It manufactures a wide range of engineered mechanical assemblies, precision molded, painted and plated plastic components and lamp systems. 
   
• Dr. Sarah Smiley, professor of geology published: Smiley, Sarah L., Benjamin Agbemor, Ellis Adams, and Raymond Tutu.  2020. COVID-19 and Water Access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana’s Free Water Directive May Not Benefit Water Insecure Households. African Geographical Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2020.1810083.