Kent State University Geauga Memorializes Longtime Employee John Granny
Kent State University unexpectedly lost one of its most dedicated and longtime employees in July 2020. John Granny, director of Business Affairs for Kent State Geauga and the Twinsburg Academic Center, passed away suddenly after more than 30 years of service to the university.
“John’s genuine smile and welcoming demeanor made him a beloved member of our campus for the many years he called the Geauga Campus home,” said Angela Spalsbury, dean and chief administrative officer at Kent State University Geauga and the Twinsburg Academic Center
Granny’s career at Kent State University included serving in various roles at several campuses where his dedication, infectious smile, and laughter impacted his coworkers and students. The Kent State Geauga Campus in Burton is building a new Memorial Patio to honor Granny’s memory. Read the full story.
Dean of Students Receives Higher Ed Alumni Award
In an academic year full of distinction, Kent State Dean of Students, Talea Drummer-Ferrell, gets to add another. She has been named the Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs (HIED) Personnel Alumni Award recipient for 2020-2021.
She was selected for the award by the Kent State’s Higher Administration and Student Affairs program faculty. Read the full story.
Advocacy, Support and Well-Being: A Pillar of the Division of Student Affairs
When Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) expanded earlier this year, it answered the call when it came to the mental health of students being front and center.
Shortly after that, the Crisis, Advocacy, Resources, Education, and Support (CARES) Center added additional resources to support students facing challenges with basic needs. Read the full story.
Summer Faculty/Staff Group Exercise Classes Begin May 24
Spring semester faculty and staff group exercise classes will conclude on May 14. But not to worry – classes will resume for summer semester starting May 24. The class offerings remain the same for summer and will continue to be delivered virtually to ensure your safety. Employee Wellness, in collaboration with Recreational Services, is pleased to offer the following sessions each week at no cost to employees. All fitness levels are welcome.
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Monday/Wednesday |
Total Body Toning |
12:15 - 1 p.m. |
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Tuesday |
Lunchtime Yoga |
12:15 - 1 p.m. |
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Friday |
Cardio Kickboxing |
12:15 - 1 p.m. |
These classes are open to all full- and part-time employees. Those participating in the wellness rewards program earn 10 Tier 2 points for each session they attend. Pre-registration is required. Visit the Employee Wellness calendar to register for each session you would like to attend.
For on-demand classes, visit the Virtual Recreation Options web page provided by Recreational Services. You will find a variety of recorded sessions led by all your favorite Recreation and Wellness Center instructors under "Virtual Fitness." Access even more free options to fit exercise into a busy schedule on the Virtual Resources to Support Health and Well-Being web page.
For questions regarding health and wellness offerings for faculty and staff, please contact Employee Wellness at wellness@kent.edu, or 330-672-0392.
Don't Forget the Fiscal Year-End Deadlines
Managers and supervisors should have received information from the Controller's Office regarding the cut-off dates for financial transactions for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30. View the deadlines for receipt of information and other year-end announcements online. The Controller's Office appreciates timely submissions of documents to ensure that a timely year-end cut-off has occurred.
The FY2021 year is scheduled to close the evening of July 14, 2021 and the final June Flashline reports should be available to departments the morning of July 15, 2021.
Expense Reimbursements
Travel or miscellaneous expenses incurred on or before June 30 are considered Fiscal Year 2021 activity. To ensure these expenses are recorded in the appropriate fiscal year, expense reimbursements must be approved by the final approver on or before June 25, 2021. Any expense reimbursements in draft status or submitted but not approved by this date will not be processed as fiscal year 2021 activity.
Travel or miscellaneous expenses that span both fiscal years or are incurred after June 30 should be considered new fiscal year activity. Therefore, these expense reimbursements should be processed and approved on or after July 1, 2021.
Purchasing Cards
All P-Card reconciliations for the June cycle must be completed by July 6, 2021. All transactions that are not fully reconciled (allocated, reviewed, and approved) by 5:00 pm on this date will be charged to your departmental index under office supplies (72017). In addition, the P-Card will be suspended for non-compliance and the cardholder and/or approver will be required to repeat purchasing card cardholder or approver training before the card can be reinstated.
Compensated Absences
All compensated absences should be both reported and approved no later than July 2, 2021 for any remaining FY2021 activity.
KSU Foundation
The KSU Foundation reminds department heads and fund administrators that June 21, 2021 is the deadline to submit any funding requests for the current fiscal year. This will ensure that the transfer of Foundation funds to a university index will be recorded in Fiscal Year 2021. All requests must be submitted using the Foundation Funding Request form and must have the appropriate signatures and documentation. For more information, contact Jessica Vargo at 330-672-0432.
Please continue to review and reconcile your monthly Flashline reports to ensure all transactions are complete and proper. If there are any issues or discrepancies, please contact the appropriate finance department below to resolve them. This includes any issues involving your budget, your actual YTD transactions and your encumbrances.
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Budget transactions (position and non-position) and transfers |
Budget Office 2-3750 |
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Credit Card Expense Allocations, Expense Reimbursements, Check Requests, and other A/P transactions |
Accounts Payable 2-2607 |
Pcard payments – pcard@kent.edu Payment inquiries – APcustomerservice@kent.edu Vendor onboarding – vendmgmt@kent.edu |
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IDCs/COR entries |
Contact the initiating department and/or Controller’s Office 2-2392 |
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Other Journal Entries |
Controller’s Office 2-2392 |
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Payroll entries |
Payroll Office 2-8640 |
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Requisitions, Purchase Orders and Related Encumbrances |
Procurement 2-2276 |
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Student Receivable Accounting entries |
Student Receivable Accounting 2-8635 |
Important Information about Final Grading of Spring 2021 – Full Term, Third 5 Weeks, and Second 7 Weeks Classes
Online final grading for Spring 2021 Full Term (POT 1), Third 5 Weeks (POT F3), and Second 7 Weeks (POT W2) began Monday, May 3, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any Spring 2021 course section that was flexibly scheduled. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Sunday, May 16. Any final grades for Spring 2021 courses not reported in FlashFAST by the grades processing deadline will have to be submitted using the Grade Change Workflow. These Spring 2021 courses will be available in the Workflow on Tuesday, May 18.
To access Final Grades via FlashFAST, log into FlashLine and click on the Faculty & Advisors Category/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources Section.
Blackboard Grading Process:
The Grade Push application has been developed as an option to assist in streamlining the university grading process. The use of this application is not mandatory, though it is encouraged. Grade Push will allow you to “push” the final grades recorded in Blackboard into our KSU Final Grade Roster, thus eliminating the time and effort spent manually entering them.
To access Grade Push, log into FlashLine and click on the Faculty and Advisors/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources. If you have questions or concerns, please go to support.kent.edu and search “Grade Push.”
Incomplete Mark Workflow:
The instructor must create and submit an Incomplete Mark contract via the workflow. Instructors are no longer able to select the incomplete mark (IB+, IC+, IC-, etc.) from the final grade roster in FlashFAST (Self-Service Banner). The primary instructor must initiate and submit the contract using this new workflow process, which mimics the old paper process. Once the contract has been accepted by the student and approved by the department chair/campus dean, the student’s grade will be updated automatically. The primary instructor will be able to initiate and submit the contract for a student after the deadline to withdraw (10th week of a regularly scheduled section in fall and spring, or prorated for flexibly scheduled sections) through the end of final grading.
Access the Incomplete Mark workflow in FlashLine from the Faculty Dashboard under Grading Resources or Faculty Workflows.
NF/SF Administrative Marks:
The administrative mark NF (Never Attended–Fail) denotes that the student neither attended one class session nor formally withdrew from the course. If a student has never attended your course, mark the student as “Not Started” on the Academic Presence Verification Roster, and the NF will automatically populate to your Final Grades roster.
The administrative mark SF (Stopped Attending–Fail) denotes that the student stopped attending the course and did not formally withdraw and must be accompanied by a date of last attendance in the course. If a student has stopped attending your course the SF can be entered on the Final Grade Roster along with the student’s last date of attendance.
For complete information on university grading policies, including Incomplete Mark and NF/SF grading policies, procedures and timelines, please visit the Grading Policies and Procedures section in the University Catalog.
Grades Processing Tips and FAQs may be found on the Registrar's website. Any faculty member needing personalized instruction on submitting grades via FlashFAST should contact your campus Registrar's Office during normal business hours for assistance.
Troubleshooting TIP: FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. We recommend that you clean out your cookie and cache files regularly to help your computer run faster, and to potentially restore and improve your access to FlashFAST and FlashLine by improving your connection to the server. Our Helpdesk is prepared to assist with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues.
Follow Training and Development on Social Media to Win Kent State Swag
Training and Development has learning opportunities for employees at the individual contributor level and for employees in the supervisory or managerial role. We encourage you to take some time to review the offerings. If you find a topic of interest be sure to visit the Training and Development website.
The HR Training and Development staff is available to customize any of these offerings to meet your department’s specific needs. You can contact them directly at 330-672-2100, or hrd@kent.edu.
And follow us on Instagram and Twitter for a chance to win Kent State swag!