Patricia A. Robinson

Patty has more than 15 years of experience in higher education, championing educational opportunities for individuals aspiring to pursue post-secondary education. She is the founder of Litprofessionals, which advises education, nonprofit, faith-based, and small-business organizations on grant strategy, evaluation, and reporting. 

Patty supports the Office of University Outreach and Engagement (UOE) with evaluation and grants management. In this role, she provides research, data collection, proposal writing, and evaluation for grants and UOE special projects under the oversight of the Executive Director—conducting needs assessments to shape competitive proposals, analyzing RFPs for eligibility and deadlines, coordinating evaluation and reporting, and tracking submission schedules to keep funded work on time and in compliance. Building on more than a decade of grants and college-access leadership at Kent State, Patty brings continuity and deep institutional knowledge to UOE's evaluation and grant-development work. 

Patty began her Kent State tenure working with TRIO Upward Bound college access programs, serving in multiple roles including director and principal investigator. Over 13 years at Kent State, she led evaluation and grant development for university and community initiatives spanning TRIO, AmeriCorps, the Teagle Foundation, prison reentry, and violence-prevention programs. Before joining Kent State, she had professional experience in workforce development, high school and college admissions, and program design and implementation in roles at The University of Akron, Medina County Career Center, Jobs for Ohio's Graduates, and Akron Children's Hospital. Her work has supported historically excluded groups through her commitment to inclusive practices. As a first-generation college graduate, she intimately understands the challenges and triumphs of breaking new educational ground.