Flashes of Success

KSU Students and Staff recognized by the United Way of Portage County as the recipient of the 2022 Community Impact Group Award

This award was presented in recognition of Kent State's commitment to the Literacy Kit program, which aims to improve early-grade reading, encourage the love of reading and generate long-term school success. Thanks to KSU students and staff, over 1,000 literacy kits were distributed in Spring of 2022 to Portage County Kindergarteners. 

Students and local families facing food insecurity receive needed relief through Simply Give partnership program!

Flashes Fighting Hunger is proud to announce a partnership with Meijer to provide much-needed relief to students and local families facing food insecurity through the retailer’s customer-driven hunger relief program, Simply Give. The program encourages customers to purchase $10 Simply Give donation cards, which are then converted into Meijer food-only gift cards which will be donated to Flashes Fighting Hunger.

Williams to share KSU internship successes with regional employment leadership

Kristin Williams, the Executive Director of Career Exploration and Development, will be sharing these developmental student internship experiences with regional employment leaders at the SIM Cleveland panel discussion on November 8th. 

March Food Distribution Event

Kent State's Football team and other Kent State students volunteered at Campus Kitchen's March food distribution in collaboration with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Wednesday, March 17, at Dix Stadium.

This volunteer opportunity will continue on the third Wednesday of every month through June, thanks to a food bank grant from Feeding America. Additionally, Campus Kitchen student volunteers hold food pantries in Tri-Towers three times per week as well and support the food pantry within the Office of the Dean of Students. 

Students to be supported with immersive opportunities centered on service and career-related experiences. 

CommUNITY Lab is a new four-year cohort program coordinated through Community Engaged Learning that offers scholars a network of care and resources while removing financial, academic, and personal barriers to success. Participants reside in a Living-Learning Community located in Lake Hall on the Kent Campus where they learn through specially selected courses, plug into campus resources and co-create individualized achievement plans with their support networks.

Nicole Kotlan has been selected as a Team Lead for the review of Academic Advising Approaches: Strategies That Teach Students to Make the Most of College (2013) by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising.

Nicole is one of a group of Team Leads for the comprehensive review of this book to determine whether or not a new edition and/or new content is needed. As a Team Lead, Nicole is responsible for organizing a team of reviewers to lead the review conversation and synthesize feedback to develop an executive summary and recommendation for review of the NACADA’s Publications Advisory Board chair.

Nicole Kotlan has been invited to be a reviewer for a national publication, The Journal of Campus Activities Practice and Scholarship.

Nicole Kotlan has been invited to be a reviewer for a national publication, The Journal of Campus Activities Practice and Scholarship. The Journal consists of Empirical Research Paper of original quantitative or qualitative research.  Papers include a review of relevant literature, a clear explanation of methodology that was conducted by the author or authors, a review of all relevant research findings, and a discussion of the implications and recommendations from the author that stem from the research project.   

NICOLE KOLTAN INVITED TO BE A REVIEWER FOR NASPA EXCELLENCE AWARDS. 

 In this role, Nicole will serve on the committee reviewing applications for Academic Advising, Careers, Graduate, Professional, and related category and Assessment, Persistence, Data Analytics, and related category to review.  As a reviewer, Nicole will be charged strategically evaluating award applications and thoughtfully selecting innovative and exemplary programs.

MELANIE JONES ACCEPTED INTO PRESTIGIOUS NASPA INSTITUTE

Congratulations to Melanie Jones, Director of Academic Diversity Outreach. She was recently accepted into the NASPA Ujima Institute. Melanie had to complete a competitive application process for this Institute. Congratulations, Melanie!

MELANIE JONES PRESENTS AT NASPA SSHE 2022

Melanie Jones attended and presented at the NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education (SSHE), which convened June 26-29 in Baltimore, MD. Attendance at the conference was part of the First-Gen Forward designation program, which Kent State earned in 2020.

HELP CELEBRATE JULIE PASKIET AS SHE RECEIVED THE MARSHALL AWARD

Congratulations to Julie Paskiet as she receives The Marshall Award from the American Association for Employment in Education. AAEE provides resources and networking opportunities for students, employers, and career services professionals in the field of education. 

Student Support through the Flash Connections Program is recognized by winning the 2022 Region IV-East NASPA Innovative Program Award

Kent State Flash Connections program is recognized for the support students receive in innovative learning through the assessment, enhancement of student life on campus through collaboration, adaptability at other institutions, and more! It is the cross-campus collaboration that has been instrumental to the success of the Flash Connections program. The Innovative Program Award is presented to an outstanding innovative program within the Region IV-East. 

Exploratory Program students are given amazing opportunities via the award-winning Flash Connections Program 

Exploratory Program students are given amazing opportunities via the Flash Connections Program which has been recognized as a NASPA Excellence Award - Gold recipient.

Students participating in Flash Connections have the opportunity to create a sense of belonging and purposeful learning around career exploration, community engagement, and personal development.

Exploratory Program students are given amazing opportunities via the award-winning Flash Connections Program 

Exploratory Program students are given amazing opportunities via the Flash Connections Program which has been recognized as a NASPA Excellence Award - Gold recipient.

Students participating in Flash Connections have the opportunity to create a sense of belonging and purposeful learning around career exploration, community engagement, and personal development.

Exploratory students receive unparalleled support through the Flash Connections program.

Flash Connections are enhanced sections of the Exploratory First Year Experience course that include an exclusive out-of-class and overnight experience either before the start of the semester or during the semester.

Students are supported by a collaboration of the college and campus partners including Community Engagement Learning, Career Exploration and Development, Student Success Programs, University College Dean’s Office, the Department of Recreation Services and more! The Flash Connections program has been recognized for the second year in a row and awarded NACADA Region 5 Innovation in Advising Award.

Academic Success Center SI Leaders participate in UMKC webinar

Students at Kent State are provided amazing Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leaders in various courses. Our SI Leaders Mark Abunda, Torrance Gaskins, and Ben Rininger from the Academic Success Center recently led a Fresh Perspectives Webinar Series Session entitled "Using SI Techniques to Develop Fellow SI Leaders", hosted by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction. At the session, facilitated collaborative discussion and activities across institutions to develop SI Leaders' and SI Mentors' skills.

National Recognition: The Campus Kitchen

Students have endless volunteer opportunities with University College's Campus Kitchen. The Campus Kitchen, in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, won the 2021 Campus Race to Zero Waste case study competition in the “Summary of Waste Reduction Efforts” category.

Celebrating Success: Exploratory Program & NASPA Region IV-East Innovative Program Award

Kent State Exploratory students experience award-winning advising with the Major Action Plan (MAP): Start to Finish Program. This program, which recently received the NASPA Region IV-East Innovative Program Award, uses innovative advising strategies to assist students in declaring their major.

The Ohio Transfer Council presented the Vandermeulen Award

Transfer students find their home at Kent State, feel supported and graduate as Golden Flashes with the help of Barb Miller-Harris who has been awarded the Tom Vandermeulen Award. Her contributions have enhanced relationships among people of diverse cultures, ethnic groups, first-generation students and students with special needs.

Exploratory Program selected as the 2021 Outstanding Advising Program by NACADA

Assisting Exploratory students with confidently declaring their major by connecting with intentional action items is the goal of MAP. The MAP has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 NACADA Outstanding Advising Program Award. The NACADA Outstanding Advising Program Award recognizes advising programs that are innovative and/or exemplary practices resulting in improvement of academic advising services. The Outstanding Advising Program Award application was judged on the following criteria: innovative quality, creativity, currency, institutional commitment, impact evident by assessment and transferability.

Young professionals benefit from personal and professional development through Engage! Cleveland. 

Katie Kimble assists in this endeavor as a member of the leadership council for Engage! Cleveland. 

Exploratory Program's Major Action Plan receives 2021 NASPA Excellence Award- Bronze Award recipient

Assisting Exploratory students with confidently declaring their major is the goal of the Exploratory Program's Major Action Program (MAP).

The MAP has just been selected as the recipient of the 2021 NASPA Excellence Bronze Award in the Academic Advising, Careers, Graduate Professional Category. The program connects students with intentional action items based on their career readiness, thus informing how, what, where, and why they may explore majors that align with their strengths and career interests.

The Excellence Award recognizes and highlights innovative initiatives that relate to the programs, policies, procedures, best practices or services. The Excellence Award application was judged on the following criteria: impact on student learning, relevance to our mission, successfully addressing students' needs and program concerns and issues (e.g. retention), collaboration with campus partners, use of innovative and creative methods/technology, application to the theoretical framework and evidence of program assessment. The award will be shared publicly during the 2021 NASPA Virtual Conference. 

2021 ACPA Distinguished Commission Award

Students at Kent State get expert career insight from our Senior Career Advisor Krittika Grau, who is a member of the ACPA Commission and has just been awarded the Distinguished Commission Award for 2021.

Her commission was recognized for working with the resources it had at its disposal and demonstrating distinguished leadership by providing balanced, innovative and sustainable products, projects and services within or across the commissions and to ACPA.  

Another Suit Up Success

Over 325 students pre-registered for a Suit-Up event hosted by Career Exploration and Development in partnership with JCPenney.

Discounts were available to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Jody Patterson and Aryanna Sciranka planned the virtual shopping event and hundreds took advantage, resulting in thousands of dollars in savings on professional attire.

KSU Students and Staff recognized by the United Way of Portage County as the recipient of the 2022 Community Impact Group Award

This award was presented in recognition of Kent State's commitment to the Literacy Kit program, which aims to improve early-grade reading, encourage the love of reading and generate long-term school success.

Thanks to KSU students and staff, over 1,000 literacy kits were distributed in Spring of 2022 to Portage County Kindergarteners. 

Underserved Students Supported through Gift from KeyBank Foundation

Underserved students, including first-generation students and students from limited-income backgrounds who will enroll in Fall Semester 2022, will continue to receive support through student success initiatives through the Key Connections program due to a new gift of $200,000 from the KeyBank Foundation. This gift has been awarded to Kent State University to continue KeyBank Foundation’s support for the successful Key Connections Program offered by University College at Kent State.

During the next four years, students will receive support in professional development, including internships and conference participation, research support and other student success initiatives for students from the direct funding of this gift.

PNC Foundation awards $75,000 in support of student success 

Students to be supported with immersive opportunities centered on service and career-related experiences. CommUNITY Lab is a new four-year cohort program coordinated through Community Engaged Learning that offers scholars a network of care and resources while removing financial, academic, and personal barriers to success. Participants reside in a Living-Learning Community located in Lake Hall on the Kent Campus where they learn through specially selected courses, plug into campus resources and co-create individualized achievement plans with their support networks.

Students Benefit from UC Collaboration on the “Academic Success Plan” web application.

When students log in to this app, they are automatically provided a list of academic support opportunities offered by the ASC based on the student's schedule of classes for the semester. Both previous Directors, Amanda Shah and Matt Bungard had been working on the article: The academic success plan: personalized web application which was just published in the Fall 2022 NCLCA Newsletter!  Brittany Lash was responsible for the coding of the Academic Success Plan app.

THE EXPLORATORY MENTOR PROGRAM HAS RECEIVED COLLEGE READING & LEARNING ASSOCIATION (CRLA) INTERNATIONAL PEER EDUCATOR TRAINING PROGRAM CERTIFICATION (IPTPC). 

The certification was based on the 2021-2022 Exploratory Mentor program led by Layne Crow (Sr. Learning Community Coordinator) and Megan Medfisch (Graduate Assistant). The work included a training curriculum to following CRLA training requirements. The certification requirements include providing documentation and materials that demonstrate the use of multiple training formats, that the training include advanced topics such as conflict resolution, mentoring boundaries, cultural awareness and academic majors and advising. Mentors in our program must meet our own selective criteria and are required to accumulate 75 hours of mentoring experience during their time as an Exploratory Mentor.

CELEBRATING ALTERNATIVE WINTER BREAK TO JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

CEL partnered with the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, which hosted our group of ten participants and leaders and facilitated an incredible learning experience. 

During their time in Mississippi, our group met with powerful leaders from the Jackson area, including two survivors from Jackson State’s Gibbs-Green tragedy in May 1970, and three young women—Representative Zakia Summers, Maisie Brown, and Arekia Bennett—who are advocates and organizers in Mississippi today. Participants also learned about the Freedom Rides with the youngest Freedom Rider Hezekiah Watkins and met with Dr. Daphne Chamberlain, the Associate Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Tougaloo College, which served as a refuge for activists during the Civil Rights Movement and became a central gathering place for organizers in Mississippi.

Additionally, the group walked the Mississippi Freedom Trail, seeing sites like the Greyhound bus station where Freedom Riders ended their ride, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and the home of Medgar and Myrlie Evers. The group met in the very rooms where civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Bob Moses, and others changed the world. Participants even learned that Daniel Ray Thompson, a member of the Kent State Class of 1966, was arrested as a Freedom Rider and served time at the notorious Parchman Farm (the Mississippi State Penitentiary).

CONNECTING THE EXPLORATORY KUPITA/TRANSICIONES' (K/T) STUDENTS TO THE EXPLORATORY PROGRAM AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

our goal was to connect students to their peers, student leaders/mentors, University College resources and a success start to the fall semester with identified goals. This was truly a college-wide effort and I am so grateful to have such amazing partners in University College!