Standing Committees

The Division of Student Life supports five standing committees for division-wide opportunities for employee engagement.

Employee Engagement

The purpose of this committee is to determine ways to recognize staff, plan celebrations throughout the year, and welcome new employees to the division.

Focus Areas: Employee Excellence Awards & staff recognitions, Informal social events, Division On-Boarding, Volunteer and Community Service

Employee Excellence Award

A special award program administered through the Division of Student Affairs to recognize our employees who provide exemplary service to Kent State University, its students, internal and/or external constituents of the division, or whose efforts enhance the focus of the division's mission.

2023-24 Winners

Melissa Engler, DeWeese Health Center
Sarah Helmick, Center for Adult and Veteran Services
Stephanie Evans, Office of Student Conduct

2022-23 Winners

Tiffany Reed, University Housing
Alice Fermaintt, E. Timothy Moore Student Multicultural Center
Tony Licata, University Housing
Bryant Rogers, University Bookstore
Sydney Jordan, CARES Center
Yvette Roberts, Center for Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services (SRVSS)
Nancy Groves, Culinary Services
Jeff Kingery, Recreation and Wellness Services

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted in 2011 to honor individuals (living or deceased and no longer working at Kent State) who have devoted significant time and energies and whose actions bring to life the mission of the division. These former employees of the division can be nominated by anyone in the division. The former employee may be from any department currently in the division or was in the division in the past (e.g., Women's Center, Multicultural Center) the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the award winners at the annual division breakfast held in the spring.

Student Life Buddy

What is a Student Life Buddy?

A new employee’s onboarding can be greatly enhanced with a Student Life Buddy, an employee from another part of Division of Student Life who provides advice and guidance on the different aspects of working within the division and at the university. A Student Life Buddy can also act as a “sounding board” who offers encouragement as the new employee acclimates to the university culture and workplace.

Selection Criteria and Process

A successful Student Life Buddy is an employee who fully understands the university’s culture and environment, can be positive and constructive in the face of challenges, and wants to be a Student Life Buddy.

Additional criteria include:

Worked at Kent State and within the Division of Student Life for at least 1 year.
Time to be available to the employee.
Work in a divisional department the employee may not otherwise interact with
A solid performer.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Exemplifies the division’s values.
Well regarded and trusted by others.

To kick off the program, the Employee Engagement Committee will invite people to be buddies and match them with new employees. As program matures, individuals can volunteer to be considered as a Student Life Buddy or can be recommended by others. The Student Life Employee Engagement Committee will make Student Life Buddy employee matching decisions.

Buddy Responsibilities

In assisting a new employee acclimating to the division and the university, a Student Life Buddy serves as a valuable resource by creating a trusting relationship and maintaining confidentiality.

Responsibilities include:

Providing information on policies and procedures.
Identifying resources in the workplace.
Familiarizing the employee to Student Life culture, norms, and unwritten guidelines.
Introducing the employee to others in the division and throughout the university.
Taking the employee on an expanded tour of the workplace and campus.
Answering questions and referring the employee to the appropriate resources.

Suggested Structure

Ideally, there is a formal, six-month relationship between the Student Life Buddy and the new employee. Toward the end of the six months, they can discuss if and how to continue their relationship outside of the structured Student Life Buddy role. Within the employee’s first 2-weeks, introduce the Student Life Buddy and employee. This introduction can be facilitated between the Student Life Buddy and hiring department. Topics shall include discussing the Student Life Buddy’s role and responsibilities as well as the employee’s needs and answer any questions. The Buddy and employee shall decide on the frequency, length, topics, and method of interaction between the two of them. The structure will vary. What’s important is that the arrangement is clearly defined and works for both the employee and the Student Life Buddy.

Marketing/Program/Calendar Committee

This committee aims to develop a strategy to coordinate social and intra-divisional programming to intentionally streamline communication within the division to reduce costs, eliminate duplicative co-curricular activities and programs and market division events university-wide.

Assessment Counsel

The division assessment counsel will facilitate, identify needs and develop recommendations on assessment and strategic planning while serving as an advisory group to the division's senior staff.

Professional Staff Development

The purpose of this committee is to identify professional development opportunities for all division staff, examine HR training & development offerings and create and/or promote those opportunities for division staff. Review ACPA & NASPA professional competencies and identify gaps in current training programs while assessing current staff competencies to propose division-specific programs.

Projects: Professional competencies framework (classified and unclassified staff), lunch and learn, webinars etc.

Cultural Competency Committee

The purpose of this team is to coordinate all division diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. This team is comprised of all division staff who are members of committees such as University Diversity Action Council, Great Place Initiative, and other similar groups. This team will coordinate division initiatives emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion along with division climate study results.

Current Initiatives:

Cultural Connections

Cultural Connections is a self-paced set of learning modules designed to assist in expanding our cultural competence through learning about ourselves and others and provide strategies to produce a more inclusive environment. 

This Canvas course is structured around identity areas that impact marginalized populations with modules on Implicit Bias, Disability, Gender, Race, Religion/Worldviews, and Sexual Orientation.

Each module contains three levels; Knowledge to increase participants' awareness and knowledge of equity and cultural intelligence, Strategy, to influence equity and to increase  confidence  to  interrupt bias through reflection and planning; and Action, to implement  systemic change to facilitate ongoing action and learning  to produce a more  inclusive environment.    

We encourage you to fully engage in the offerings of the modules. By doing so, you contribute to a climate where all students, faculty, and staff can thrive, survive, and flourish. 

Listening Project

The Listening Project provides a format where meaningful conversations are held to increase participants’ cultural competence.  The project is designed to move participants through a natural process from sharing individual experiences to gaining a deeper understanding of those experiences to committing to collective action.

The project poses targeted dialogue questions to foster deeper understanding, awareness, and sensitivity to differences as participants move through four phases of exploring and building on shared experiences. Each phase is introduced and led by a trained coach to foster dialogue and understanding and prepares partners for the ensuing conversations to be completed during their pairing sessions.   

The goal of the project is to:

CommBuild new relationships and bring individuals together that may not typically interact with each other.

Increase the understanding of diversity and inclusion as it relates to gender, ethnic backgrounds, and other related topics on difference and diversity.

Strengthen the campus climate and success of diversity efforts at KSU by providing opportunities for to building trust and credibility, and foster community within Student Life.

Contineo  

Contineo is an interactive training tool that feels like a game! Participants will spend 3.5-4 hours working in teams to better understand and articulate the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Contineo can be facilitated upon request for groups of 8-28, and Division of Student Life staff members can sign up for one of several Contineo sessions offered throughout the semester.

If you would like to offer Contineo to a specific group, please get in touch with Stephanie Evans (sevans31@kent.edu) or Shana Lee (slee@kent.edu).

Upcoming Session:
Nov. 15 | 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.