Strategy 2 Stories: Securing Our Financial Future
2. Create and encourage non-traditional revenue streams.
The narratives below define and bring clarity to what each of the University Strategic Goals means to Academic Affairs. The narratives express our values and beliefs, and create a context to guide implementation efforts. To learn more about the specific strategies and tactics involved in securing our financial future, please view our Academic Affairs Strategic Plan.
The campuses and colleges continually look for ways to reduce their costs, maintain academic quality, and be more accommodating to the changing needs of our students. Increasing the number of online courses saves the university money and provides scheduling flexibility for students. Online courses also frees up space to accommodate our increased enrollment. Kent State offers more than a dozen online graduate degrees in diverse areas such as User Experience Design, Public Relations, and Instructional Technology; three undergraduate programs in Insurance Studies, Public Health and RN to BSN; and, over a dozen online certificate programs with focused curriculum and specialized knowledge for topics that include Behavior Intervention, Health Informatics and Nursing Education.
The Office of Continuing and Distance Education and Everspring, Inc. entered into a partnership in November 2013 to develop online programs. Beginning in fall 2014 three new fully online masters degrees will be launched including the online MPA, User Experience Design, and Criminology and Criminal Justice. These fully online master’s degree programs will be marketed nationwide. The strategic plan for online learning projects nine more fully online master’s degree programs over the next three years. Everspring will provide support for online marketing and enrollment management as well as student retention services. They will also partner with OCDE to develop fully online faculty training programs and an online student orientation. The partnership will feature a new mobile app for online learners enrolled in the new online master’s degree programs.
The University Degree Completion Office helps students who have stopped out, complete their bachelor’s degree in a convenient and flexible manner. Eligible students must have:
- Completed 90 credit hours or more at any KSU campus
- Earned at least a 2.0 or higher GPA
- Stopped attending Kent State University for at least two years
Students must choose to earn a degree in either the Bachelor of Integrative Studies or the Bachelor of Science in Educational Studies. An office has been established within Undergraduate Studies to recruit students and work with them on completing their degree.
