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With a goal of becoming one of the nation’s top public universities in aeronautics and engineering education and research, the ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ University Board of Trustees approved changing the name of the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology to the College of Aeronautics and Engineering. 

¾«¶«Ó°Òµchange better reflects the expansion of the college’s programs and accentuates its highly trained and sought-after graduates who go on to work for commercial airlines, corporate flight departments, the military and the Federal Aviation Administration.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµrevised name further positions the college’s aeronautics programs, with three degrees and four concentrations, in an elite group of universities. Only two others have as many accredited programs in this field. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ Aeronautics major is the longest-standing, fully-accredited Aviation Accreditation Board International program in Ohio. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµAeronautics Systems Engineering Tech program is one of only two such programs in the world to be Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accredited. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµprogram is also the only in Ohio to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration as a designated Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative Program.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµengineering program is also positioned to shift to an advanced level of distinction beyond the Applied Engineering major that has previously been offered for nearly 70 years. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµrevised name will help advance the opportunity to create a college that offers unique, cutting-edge degrees in engineering, including the recently launched aerospace engineering degree and a proposed degree in mechatronics.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµname change is effective July 1, 2017.

Board Approves Continuation Budget for FY 2016 Pending Finalization of State Budget

With the Ohio General Assembly’s deliberations still under way regarding the state budget bill (House Bill 49) for the next biennium, the Board authorized ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ President Beverly Warren and the university’s chief financial officer to spend university funds beginning July 1, 2017, until the new state budget is finalized in September. This budget will operate at the same expenditure levels established by the Board for fiscal year 2016-2017. Once the state budget is finalized, a complete operating budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 will be prepared and submitted to the Board for approval at its Sept. 13 meeting.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµ Sets 2017-2018 Tuition

As the state has not yet acted on tuition rates for 2017-2018, no change was recommended at this time in undergraduate in-state tuition, keeping the rate $5,006 per semester for full-time undergraduates attending the Kent Campus. Tuition at the Regional Campuses holds at $2,832 for lower division courses and $3,319 for upper division courses per semester.

¾«¶«Ó°ÒµKent Campus annualized full-time undergraduate tuition remains seventh of the 13 Ohio public higher education institutions. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµlower tuition rate and continued investments in institutional financial aid reflects the university’s ongoing commitment to affordability.

Non-Ohio residents are assessed a surcharge in addition to tuition. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a 2 percent increase or $84 per semester (from $4,182 to $4,266) in the undergraduate full-time rate effective for fall 2017. A portion of the increase will be used to fund the scholarship program available for non-Ohio residents.

To continue to offer quality academic programming and research opportunities, additional investments are needed in graduate programs. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard increased graduate tuition by 2 percent (from $5,545 to $5,655) and the non-Ohio resident surcharge by 10 percent. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s graduate tuition rates per credit hour rank ninth of the 13 Ohio public higher education institutions for both Ohio and non-Ohio residents. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµimpact of these increases is $10 per credit hour for graduate tuition and $37 per credit hour in the non-Ohio resident surcharge.

¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard also authorized changes in a variety of special program, course and other student fees, including eliminating 72 fees. University staff, including executive officers, extensively reviewed the fee changes for fall 2017 to ensure that all are in the appropriate amounts and are necessary to protect program quality.

Board Approves Plan to Invest in Additional Tenure-Track, Research Faculty

¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a plan to redirect up to $18.6 million in cumulative savings toward hiring research-active, tenure-track faculty to further pursue the .

Funds to hire these vital faculty members will come from a one-time offering of a voluntary University Employee Separation Plan for full-time tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty who have 15 years or more of service to ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ or are eligible to retire (full or reduced retirement) from the State Teachers Retirement System or equivalent eligibility under the Alternative Retirement Plan.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµplan is designed to optimize personnel costs and contribute to the university’s efficiency and effectiveness objectives. Those who apply for the University Early Separation Plan and are accepted will separate by May 31, 2018, and receive one year’s salary to a maximum cap paid in equal monthly installments into a qualified retirement account over a five-year period.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s Division of Human Resources will be communicating additional details to eligible faculty over the summer period.

Board Approves Vendor Selection for Copiers and Print Management Solution

In keeping with the requirements issued by the Governor’s Task Force on Affordability and Efficiency, ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ led a request for proposals issued by the Inter-University Council Purchasing Group (IUC-PG) to identify a qualified vendor to provide copiers and a print management solution for IUC-PG member schools. A cross-functional evaluation team, in conjunction with similar teams at three other IUC-PG member schools, and led by the executive director of the IUC-PG, selected ComDoc/Xerox as the vendor that offered the best overall value.

¾«¶«Ó°Òµproposed purchase agreement will be for an initial term of five years at approximately $2 million, with university options to renew up to three additional one-year periods at approximately $400,000 each year, for a potential total contract of eight years. Anticipated annual savings from the current contract is expected to be approximately $400,000. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµtotal cost of the agreement will be funded by the operating budgets of the university departments requiring copiers and print management services.

In other news:

• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard named ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s Center for Undergraduate Excellence WiFi Area the KeyBank Lobby. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµlobby is located just inside the main entrance of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence and is a large space for students to gather formally and informally to study and socialize. KeyBank and KeyBank Foundation have had philanthropic connections to ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ for many years with gifts and grants totaling more than $2 million. KeyBank Foundation’s most recent commitment of $1 million supports the Dynamic Education and Engagement of Diverse Students (DEEDS) program.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard named ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s Online Master of Arts in Translation Program the Gawlicki Family Foundation Online M.A. Translation Program. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµprogram is offered by ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s Institute for Applied Linguistics, a research and training unit affiliated with the Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµGawlicki Family Foundation has made a grant of $1 million to fund the development of a state-of-the-art distance learning translation studies program. This three-year pledge marks the foundation’s initial commitment to ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard named ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s Integrated Sciences Building main entrance the Lubrizol Foundation Lobby. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµIntegrated Sciences Building will provide students and faculty with a state-of-the-art facility that includes new instructional spaces, research labs and offices, study space and an atrium/event space. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµLubrizol Foundation has a long history of philanthropic support of ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ, with special emphasis directed toward the support of STEM education. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµLubrizol Foundation awarded a $25,000 capital grant to support the construction of the Integrated Sciences Building and pledged $100,000 to support the creation of a scholarship program for ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in applied engineering or chemistry. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµnew Integrated Sciences Building will be open and ready for fall 2017 classes.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµShannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising, rated one of the top in the world, will soon have additional design studios, classrooms and offices. ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a $2.7 million project to renovate the currently vacant second floor of Terrace Hall to provide more space for the Fashion School. With enrollment doubling over the past decade, the new space is essential to providing more room for the program and meeting accreditation requirements for the program’s design studios. Renovation of the 9,500-square-foot space will include demolition of existing walls and improvements to the 30-year-old mechanical and electrical systems and restrooms. In the event that the Fashion School outgrows or no longer needs the space, it will be transformed to meet other university needs. Construction is expected to be complete by the start of the 2017 Fall Semester.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard authorized ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ to approve a new long-term agreement with the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority (PARTA). ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ10-year contract will provide transportation services to students and employees on campus, effective July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2027. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµcurrent contract expires June 30, 2017. In accordance with the Governor’s Taskforce on Affordability and Efficiency, the university reviewed its transportation services with PARTA. As a result, more efficient routes were included in the contract, saving the university more than $175,000.  
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard voted unanimously to re-elect Beverly Warren to a fourth term as ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ president. ¾«¶«Ó°Òµuniversity constitution requires the Board to hold an annual election of the president.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard re-elected the following officers for 2017-2018: Lawrence Pollock, chair; Ralph Della Ratta, vice-chair; and Margot Copeland, secretary.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard reappointed Michael Solomon as National Trustee for another three-year term.  Solomon was first elected to this role in 2011 and again in 2014.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard welcomed new trustee Donald L. Mason, who was appointed by Governor Kasich to a three-year term to fulfill the unexpired term of the late trustee Richard Marsh. 
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard endorsed the awarding of the President’s Medal to ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ Distinguished Professor of Human Evolutionary Studies C. Owen Lovejoy, Ph.D. He received the medal from Warren during ¾«¶«Ó°Òµâ€™s recent One University Commencement Ceremony.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a resolution of appreciation to Stephen Colecchi. Completing his nine-year term as a trustee, Colecchi has served on all board committees and provided leadership as vice-chair, secretary, chair of the Finance and Administration Committee, chair of the Compensation Workgroup and member of the Joint Project Oversight Committee, which led development of the historic Foundations of Excellence facilities improvement initiative.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a resolution of appreciation for Jennifer A. King, who has completed her two-year term as a student trustee and recently graduated with her Ph.D. in Public Health specializing in Health Policy and Management.
• ¾«¶«Ó°ÒµBoard approved a resolution of appreciation for Paul L. Gaston, who served the university in various roles, including provost, Trustees Professor and professor of English, since 1999 and will retire June 1, 2017.

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Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595