Each fall, hope springs anew as we celebrate the start of the academic year and welcome the arrival of new students, faculty and staff to our undeniably Kent State family. And, on every campus and in every department, there is a palpable enthusiasm and spirit for the beginning of a promising and aspirational 2016-2017 academic year.
As we begin year two of our ambitious six-year vision, A Strategic Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State, we know that our success depends on your success as a student, a faculty member or as a staff member. We are already seeing abundant evidence of the remarkable achievements that emerge when we join our unique passions and creative potential with collective action and support. For example:
- We are welcoming another record-setting freshman class, the 10th consecutive year of enrollment growth on the Kent Campus with increasing diversity and academic success, and with growing enrollments expected on two of our Regional Campuses.
- On the Stark Campus, we anticipate welcoming 5,000+ students, including 27 Chinese students for a second year as part of a valuable partnership that is expanding our global reach and bringing the world closer to the Stark County community.
- We will open the semester with 76 new faculty members, including 15 new tenure-track faculty members from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds who were recruited as a result of our strategic investment fund. We are delighted to welcome such a talented and diverse group of faculty who will assist us in continuing our commitment to inclusive excellence and meaningful voice.
- We are moving forward with our desire to enhance the university's research agenda and to increase the percentage of our full-time faculty who are tenure-track. We have launched a national search for a director of the research initiative in brain health, one of five research initiatives we will launch in the coming academic year.
- And, as we offer our first classes in the new cutting-edge Center for Architecture and Environmental Design, and with the highly innovative Integrated Sciences Building in the making, we are creating settings to facilitate epic thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration and mold-shattering discoveries.
You — the students, faculty and staff members on every campus of our wonderful university — are the reason I have so much hope for our future. You are the reason I could not be more enthusiastic about Academic Year 2016-2017 and the privilege of telling the world about the inspiring place I am so thankful to call my home. It is thrilling to see this community embrace its role as a world-class center of learning, innovation and public service.
As I thank you in advance for helping Kent State shine even more brightly, I wish for you a great semester. Please feel free to contact me at any time at beverlywarren@kent.edu and via Twitter @PresBWarren. Please consider using the hashtag #MyKSUVoice when your social media posts reflect your best ideas, meaningful voice and purpose-driven actions.
With best regards,
Beverly Warren