Banner reading "Student Life Means Student Success: 2025-2028 Strategic Plan." The words are surrounded by a collage of photos featuring students in various settings and activities. The Kent State Student Life logo is centered at the top of the banner.

Strategic Roadmap

Our vision is bold, and guided by the simple truth: when students flourish, the university flourishes.

At the heart of the Kent State University experience is Student Life, where learning, leadership and belonging come alive. Through our programs, services and partnerships, we empower students to become leaders and engaged citizens.

As we move into our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, we stand united in advancing a bold vision: to lead the nation in transformational experiences that propel our students’ current and future success through exploration and engagement.

This plan outlines four priorities to guide our collective efforts:

  1. Discovery, Student Experience, and Belonging: Advancing personal growth, leadership, and a sense of community across all student populations.
  2. Health & Well-being: Delivering comprehensive resources that nurture resilience, emotional and mental health, and personal success.
  3. Strategic Partnerships: Building collaborations that enrich student learning, enhance operational excellence, and deepen community engagement.
  4. Organizational Stewardship: Ensuring that our people, resources, and practices are sustained through innovation, accountability, and investment in staff and student employees.

Division Vision:

To lead the nation in transformational experiences that propel our students’ current and future success through exploration and engagement.

Division Mission:

The Division of Student Life provides co-curricular experiences that foster holistic well-being. We transform the student experience through advocacy, support, engagement, and inclusion.

Division Priorities:

Priority 1: Discovery, Student Experience, & Belonging

We create opportunities for students to embark on a transformative journey that fosters self-discovery, active learning, belonging, and community engagement.

  • Division Goal 1.1 – Promote personal growth and self-exploration to identify and build essential life skills.
  • Division Goal 1.2 – Establish a comprehensive support system that emphasizes resilience and campus engagement for non-residential, graduate, and online students.
  • Divisional Goal 1.3 – Foster lifelong learning and career readiness through improved communication and problem-solving skills.
  • Divisional Goal 1.4 – Cultivate leadership development, collaboration, resilience, and global awareness to thrive in a connected world.
  • Divisional Goal 1.5 – Develop a supportive and accessible environment, with attention on the cultivation of spaces and opportunities for self-expression.
Several graduating students at commencement, dressed in their caps and gowns, getting ready to turn their tassels to signify graduation
Priority 2: Health & Well-being

We offer comprehensive programs aimed at nurturing the physical, mental, and emotional health of our Golden Flash community.

  • Divisional Goal 2.1 – Create a supportive environment that facilitates college completion by proactively addressing students’ academic, personal, and emotional challenges.
  • Divisional Goal 2.2 – Develop and deliver tailored programs, initiatives, events, and services that support the holistic well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
Three students walking through a green part of the Kent campus, surrounded by trees, bushes, and flowers. There is a black squirrel statue in one of the mulch beds.
Priority 3: Strategic Partnerships

We cultivate and strengthen partnerships to unlock opportunities that enrich educational pursuits, increase operational efficiencies, and deepen community engagement.

  • Divisional Goal 3.1 – Collaborate with academic units to provide integrative learning experiences that support student development and academic success.
  • Divisional Goal 3.2 – Develop and deliver tailored programs, initiatives, events, and services that support the holistic well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
  • Divisional Goal 3.3 – Leverage partnerships to enhance operational efficiencies and support key initiatives across the university and community.
Aerial view of a fall semester Blast Off event, featuring the Kent Student Center and dozens of people on the green and walkways
Priority 4: Organizational Stewardship

We manage our resources wisely, use innovative teaching and technology methods, and take responsibility for our organization’s long-term success.

  • Divisional Goal 4.1 – Prioritize operational excellence and adaptability in the ever-changing environment.
  • Divisional Goal 4.2 – Identify, cultivate, and secure alternative revenue streams, including the development a comprehensive divisional fundraising strategy.
  • Divisional Goal 4.3 – Implement a robust and functional onboarding process for all student and staff employees.
  • Divisional Goal 4.4 – Promote an evidence-based and outcomes-driven organizational culture.
  • Divisional Goal 4.5 – Establish practices that enhance staff development, empowerment, and a commitment to transparency.
A group of students, some wearing safety glasses, gathered around an orange and black drone sitting on a table

The greatest impact appears to stem from students' total level of campus engagement particularly when academic, interpersonal, extracurricular involvements are mutually reinforcing, and relevant to a particular educational outcome.
-Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, How College Effects Students, p. 647

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