Destination Kent State welcomed 4,088 Incoming students into the Kent State community through the DKSmobile app and website between May and August 2020. The Destination Kent State New Student Orientation program helped our new Flashes find their home at Kent State, prepared them to excel academically, and introduced them to student organizations.
More than 600 students enrolled in the Peer Leader Training course this academic year (57% were first year students, 30% underrepresented students, and 35% first generation students).
Seventy-nine students were welcomed to the Provost's Leadership Academy and will spend the year working with university leadership to identify projects that will positively impact the student experience at Kent State.
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.
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.
Support for First-Generation Students is featured in the NASPA Center for First-Generation Student Success Blog. Melanie Jones, Director of Academic Diversity Outreach, and Alexandra Henry, an intern, worked together to highlight the support given to First-Gen students at First-Gen Forward Institutions by writing a blog that was recently promoted on the Center’s social media.
Exploratory Program students are given amazing opportunities via the Flash Connections Program which has been recognized as a NASPA Excellence Award - Gold recipient.
Students at Kent State get expert career insight from our Senior Career Advisor Krittika Grau, a member of the ACPA Commission, who 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.
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.
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.
