2023 Academic Year Progress

During the fall and spring semesters our work focused on:

• Completion of Faculty Listening Tours
• Formation and work of three subcommittees:
  • Design
  • Distinctiveness
  • Budgetary Reform

Initial focus on six areas of student outcomes:

• Effective Communication
• Information Literacy
• Ethical, Equitable, Socially Responsible Decision-Making Skills
• Effective Collaboration Skills
• Self-Discovery and Personal Development
• Creative, Critical and Integrative Thinking Skills

Current work:

• Use Q-Sort to inform prioritization of strategies (educational experiences) supporting student outcomes 

Design Subcommittee Membership:

• David Dees, Associate Professor (Co-chair)
• Jenny Marcinkiewicz, Associate Professor & Director CTL (Co-chair)
• Tina Bhargava, Associate Professor
• Ken Bindas, Professor
• Laurie Camp, Director I
• JR Campbell, Executive Director
• Nathanuel Cooper, Graduate Student 
• Jen Cunningham, Associate Professor
• Mike Ensley, Associate Professor
• Vicki Gutierrez, Senior Instructional Designer
• Ellie Hansen, Director, Academic Advising
• Shannon Helfinstine, Associate Director Assessment
• Robert Kairis, Library Director, RC
• Megan Krippel, Director II
• Sydney Maller, Undergraduate Student
• Jennifer McCullough, Associate Professor
• Mindy Nett, Associate Professor
• Andrew Palmer, Assessment & Accreditation Coordinator
• Lex Patton, Undergraduate Student
• James Redfearn, Assistant Professor
• Renee Roll, Associate Professor
• Mary Russell, Associate Professor
• Deb Smith, Professor
• Keith Smith, Associate Director
• Blake Stringer, Associate Professor
• Molly Wang, Professor
• Deirdre Warren, Associate Dean
• Maria Zaragoza, Chairperson
• Kathy Zarges, Assistant Dean
   

Identified four broad themes that encompass distinctiveness:

•  Culture of Care, Access, and Community
•  Civic responsibility builds from the past toward a future vision 
•  Local to international partnerships lead to cross-  cultural learning 
•  Innovations to improve the world   

Embedded in these four themes developed initial list of items that are distinct to Kent State University.

Distinctiveness Subcommittee Membership:

• Charmaine Crawford, Associate Professor (Co-chair)
• Robin Vande Zande, Professor (Co-chair)
• Denise Bartell, Associate Provost
• Craig Berger, Associate Director, Community Engaged Learning
• Greg Blundell, Professor
• Mark Bracher, Professor
• Kenneth Burhanna, Dean, University Libraries
• AJ Conway, Assistant Dean, Special Initiatives
• Neil Cooper, School Director
• Amber Cruxton, Director, Education Abroad
• Michael Fisch, Associate Professor
• Ashley Galati, Associate Professor
• Marie Gasper-Hulvat, Associate Professor
• Carla Goar, Director, Anti-Racism Equity Institute
• Sarah Harvey, Professor
• Jay Hays, Academic Program Director
• Leslie Heaphy, Associate Professor
• Elda Hegmann, Associate Professor
• Jonghan Hyun, Assistant Professor
• Sameer Jaleel, Associate Chief Information Officer
• Valerie Kelly, Associate Vice President, Continuing & Distance Education
• Ashley Maher, Assistant Director, Academic Partnerships
• Alicia Marchand, Senior Applications Support Analyst
• Shelley Marshall, Associate Lecturer
• Eboni Pringle, Senior Associate Vice President and Dean, University College
• Alyssa Robinson, Director, Philanthropy
• Jessica Roshak, Assistant Director, Student Leadership Development
• James Seelye, Associate Professor
• Elizabeth Sinclair, Assistant Dean, ACCBE
• Sarah Smiley, Provost Fellow
• Kedron Trapp, Director, Strategic Communication & External Engagement
• Laurie Wagner, Associate Professor
• Theresa Walton-Fisette, Professor
• Lana Whitehead, Assistant Vice President, Lifelong Learning
• Seth Young, Undergraduate Student
• Melissa Zullo, Interim Associate Dean, Public Health
   

Four areas of initial focus:

• Costs associated with offering different courses; 
• Identifying the pedagogical best practices in offering Core courses; 
• Decisions in Core offerings and role of budgetary model 
• Budgetary Model and Gen Ed at other universities

Initial take-away and future work:

• Data suggests that the current budget model is influencing discussions and decisions around the Kent Core 
• Further explore effect of budget model on Kent Core
• Integrate work with design and distinctiveness committees

Budgetary Subcommittee Membership:

• Mandy Munro-Stasiuk, Dean (Co-chair)
• Lock Reynolds, Professor (Co-chair)
• Leigh Archibald, Director, Academic Budget
• Andrew Barnes, Associate Professor
• Bradley Bielski, Dean & Chief Administrative Officer KSU at RC
• Marie Bukowski, Associate Dean
• Alicia Crowe, Associate Dean
• Ryan Hediger, Professor
• Ben Hollis, Executive Director, Kent State Online
• Mike Johnson, Associate Vice President, University Budget & Financial Analysis
• Bathi Kasturiarachi, Associate Professor
• Darci Kracht, Professor
• Mary Kutchin, Associate Lecturer
• Deepraj Mukherjee, Associate Professor
• Colby Reinhart, Undergraduate Student
• Dirk Remley, Professor
• Sean Veney, Associate Professor
   

Phase V – Summer 2023 (June – August) 

• Design and launch Advisor Listening Tour.
• Use subcommittees recommendations to begin research on infrastructure and implementation.
• Develop strategy to conduct Student Listening Tours.
• Complete data analysis of Academic Unit Listening Tour, NSSE data (2014, 2017, 2020) and Advisor data (2018).
• Launch Alumni Phone Campaign.

Phase VI – Fall 2023 (September – December) 

• Fall Kickoff Summit (details TBD).
• Finalize initial phase of Budgetary Reform, Design and Distinctiveness subcommittee work. 
• Subcommittee work focusing on:
  • Diversity Requirement
  • Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR)
  • Writing Intensive Requirement
  • Integrative and Interdisciplinary Experiences
  • Competency and Skill-Based Learning
  • College Credit Plus (CCP), Transfer Credits, and Associate Degrees
• Create Core Sustainability Subcommittee.
• Develop initial Pilot Implementation Strategy.
  • Present Pilot Implementation Strategy to Academic Units and stakeholders.

Phase VII – Spring 2024 (January – May) 

• Begin Pilot phase (contingent on feedback from Faculty Senate).
• Begin assessment of Pilot with AAC&U Assessment Rubrics.

Phase VIII – Summer 2024 (June – August) 

• To be determined.

Phase IX – Fall 2024 (September – December) 

• Present Implementation Strategy to Faculty Senate. 

Phase X – Spring 2025 (January – May) 

• To be determined.

Phase XI – Summer 2025 (June – August) 

• To be determined.

Phase XII – Fall 2025 (September – December) 

• Implementation for Freshman Fall 2025 Cohort through Fall 2028. 

This timeline is subject to change and will continue to be updated.