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Dedication to Diversity: Tracey Motter Builds a Pathway to a Diverse Nursing Workforce

Although widely acknowledged that greater diversity among nurses reduces health disparities and improves quality of care, the U.S. nursing workforce does not mirror the nation’s increasingly diverse population. According to the most recent Ohio Workforce Data Summary Report from the Ohio Board of Nursing, 88.7 percent of registered nurses reported their race/ethnicity as White/Caucasian, followed by 6.6% who reported their race/ethnicity as African American/Black.

With over 25 years of experience at the ������ College of Nursing, Dr. Tracey Motter, DNP, RN, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, has devoted her career to addressing the diversity of the nursing student population and improving transition to practice for new graduates. In addition to overseeing the traditional BSN, Accelerated BSN, and RN-to-BSN programs, Dr. Motter has developed programs and sought funding support to more effectively recruit, retain, and graduate a more diverse nursing student population. She explains her dedication to these efforts and the urgency of supporting minority nursing students, explaining, “If we are going to improve equity in healthcare, we must increase the diversity of the nursing workforce. As nursing leaders, we have the ability to be catalysts for change, and we must act now.” Read the full story.

Division of Student Affairs Fellows Program Caps Inaugural Year

Always big on professional development opportunities, Vice President for Student Affairs Lamar Hylton had to get creative when executing those plans during a pandemic.

Enter the Division of Student Affairs Fellows program.

“I have always had a commitment to making sure that division staff takes advantage of as many professional development opportunities as possible,” said Hylton. “With the onset of the pandemic, we knew that funding for more traditional forms of professional development like conferences and institute travel and things like that we were not likely to happen [so] we needed to think of in-house ways of providing professional development experiences in the context of our situation.”

Starting with an application process, those interested could self-apply and, in a few instances, others were nominated by their respective supervisors. Once the process was complete, the historic first cohort consisted of 14 fellows who gained valuable skills over the past academic year.

Read the full story that includes a complete list of the inaugural class.

From Mexico to Kent State Geauga, Paving Her Way to Help Others

Magaly Rios was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. She was 11 years old when she and her family moved to Chardon, Ohio, and she became a United States Citizen in 2016.

Throughout her adolescent years, Magaly spent the majority of her time learning the English language and culture. As she grew older, she realized the importance of spreading public and mental health education to younger generations. 

Rios graduated from ������ at Geauga in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health, but that was not her original plan.

Rios originally started out at Kent State Geauga in the Department of English with a concentration in Teaching as a Second Language. After spending her entire childhood with her English as a second language (ESL) instructor, Rios had wanted to help young kids. Read the full story.

Annual Sick Leave Conversion Period Coming Soon!

The annual sick leave conversion for eligible staff employees will take place September 1, 2021 through September 14, 2021. During this period, eligible classified and unclassified employees with a continuing appointment may convert accrued sick leave to vacation per administrative policy 3342-6-11.2.

Eligible full-time employees who have a balance of at least 500 hours of sick leave may convert:

• A maximum of five days (40 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation; or
• A combined maximum of five days (40 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation and personal leave.

Eligible part-time employees who have a balance of at least 250 hours may convert:

• A maximum of three days (24 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation; or
• A combined maximum of three days (24 hours) per fiscal year of vacation and personal leave.

Eligible classified employees represented by AFSCME who have a balance of at least 500 hours of sick leave may convert a maximum of five days (40 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation.

The conversion process will be done online through . The system will tell you how much sick and vacation leave you currently have and how much you are eligible to convert. With the electronic process, employees will receive a confirmation email and will see the conversion reflected immediately in their  leave balances.

If you have questions, contact a member of the Human Resources Records team at 330-672-8316 or hr-records@kent.edu.

Recreation and Wellness Center Memberships for Faculty and Staff 

Did you know that Kent State faculty and staff can purchase a membership to the Beverly J. Warren Student Recreation and Wellness Center (SWRC) for only $19.58 per month? Take advantage of payroll deduction and you'll spend less than $10 per pay.  

New for fall 2021, faculty/staff annual memberships include access to ALL group exercise classes, in-person and virtual (over $145 annual value). Members also receive two free guest passes each semester and discounted pricing on programs, facility rentals, and additional guest passes.   

Recreational Services' faculty/staff membership pricing is due in part to the full-time faculty/staff benefit paid by each hiring department, which equates to a $60 annual discount. With flexible payment options, including monthly auto-debit and payroll deduction, you can't find a better value. 

Need more convincing? See below how participating in the Wellness Your Way Rewards Program can allow your membership to basically pay for itself. 

As part of the Employee Wellness program, all full-time, benefits-eligible employees can earn $300 annually for completing Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the wellness rewards program, which covers the cost of a faculty/staff SRWC membership and then some! 

The goal of Tier 2 of the wellness rewards program is to earn 350 points by engaging in healthy lifestyle activities. As an active member of the SRWC, you can earn the following Tier 2 points:

• Group Exercise – 10 points per session, up to 100 points per cycle 

• Mindfulness/Yoga – 10 points per session, up to 60 points per cycle 

• 3/3/30 Exercise Tracker – Track three months of exercise to earn 50 points 

• Wellness Your Way – Training for something specific? Prefer to work out alone? This is Wellness Your Way! Earn up to 40 points in this Tier 2 category 

• Wellable Challenges – Have an activity tracking device or app? Then you might consider joining a Wellable challenge, which allows your steps and exercise to translate to Tier 2 points! Points vary. Learn more here 

Sign up for your membership today in the SRWC Pro Shop which is currently open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (hours will adjust once fall semester begins). For additional membership information, please visit the Recreational Services membership web page, or contact Jim Kraus at 330-672-0465 or jkraus8@kent.edu. 

Paper Shredding Day

To accommodate the shredding needs of faculty and staff returning to campus from remote work, Weaver SecurShred will be at the Ice Arena parking lot on the Kent Campus for paper shredding on Tuesday, August 10, from 8 – 10 a.m. This event is for university-related shredding only, and is not intended for personal papers or the surrounding community. There is no weight or box limit.