Kent State University President Todd Diacon today announced the appointment of Valoree Vargo to the position of vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, effective Aug. 1, 2021. Vargo has served the university since 2010 as the associate chief of staff in the president’s office, the senior associate vice president for the Division of Institutional Advancement (now the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement) and as the interim vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement since June 2020. “Valoree has shown time and time again that she is committed to our stude...

Kent State has won the Mid-American Conference's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) Academic Achievement Award for men's sports for the first time in school history. The award is given annually and designed to recognize the conference institution with the highest overall combination of both grade point average (GPA) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) rank by gender for the entire academic year. "I am thrilled with the successes in the classroom of our men's programs this past year leading to this incredible accolade," Randale L. Richmond, director of athletics, said. "We pride our...

WARREN, Ohio (Aug. 31, 2021) -- Dealing with uncertainty is tough, especially when it deals with your health. Many have come to grips with this struggle over the last 18 months as surges of COVID-19 have come and gone. Cross-country coach Bill Hess takes uncertainty in stride, moving forward with a positive attitude and a smile. He was already running the race of his life. In 2008 at the age of 44, Hess was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease a degenerative disease that eventually breaks down the nerves in the brain, causing physical and cognitive disorders. “It’s a genetic disease,” Hes...

In August 2021, a research team from Kent State University's School of Information working in partnership with Kent State’s College of Nursing received a National Leadership Planning Grant for Libraries from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) for $99,982. The funds will support the first stages of what Katie Campana, Ph.D., principal investigator, and Michelle Baldini, MLS, co-investigator from the School of Information, and Elaine Thomas, MSN, RN, CNE, co-investigator from the College of Nursing, have named Project SHIELD (Supporting Healthy Infant Early Learning and Develo...

 FAIRPORT, New York – Eileen Merberg, Executive Director of Alpha Lambda Delta Academic Honor Society, announced that the Kent State University chapter has won the prestigious Order of the Torch Award for their activities during the 2020-21 academic year. This award highlights excellence in programming, internal communications, campus visibility, and overall presentation of their application. This is Kent State’s third Order of the Torch award; previous awards were won in 2017 and 2000.This year the Board of Directors of Alpha Lambda Delta recognized four chapters across the nation with t...

Dean Angela Spalsbury invited faculty, staff, and students to nominate Kent State Geauga and Twinsburg Academic Center full-time and part-time faculty members as well as a full-time or part-time staff member to be selected for the Spring 2021 Excellence Awards. The faculty award recognizes the importance placed on superior teaching and encourages teaching achievement. The staff award is equally important but emphasizes an employee who supports the day-to-day operations of the two-site campus and the Students First priority. Dean Spalsbury is thrilled to announce the Spring 2021 Excellence Aw...

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Stores and malls buy into ponds and rain gardens for flood control Extra bonus: These rainy-day ponds clean up dirty water Next time you go to a mall or a large chain store, such as Walmart, take a look around. Beside the parking lot you may find a pond. Its purpose is not to make the stores look nicer, although the water may indeed look pretty. These ponds are there to help manage water that flows off parking lots when it rains. Anne Jefferson works at Kent State University in Ohio. There she studies water as it moves through the environment. Of urban rain gardens, she notes, “Once y...

Kent State alumna Ericka Shoaff, ’11, has returned to Kent State University in a newly created position designed to further support students as a central hub for basic needs resources. She is the assistant dean of students and director of student advocacy and support in the newly created CARES Center. Q. How would you describe your position? In my role as an Assistant Dean of Students and the Director of the CARES Center, I have the opportunity to provide leadership to the center while working alongside a wonderful team of caring and dedicated individuals who make the work possible. I vi...