Ohio higher education leaders heard firsthand how Kent State brings a major return on investment as a students-first university at the university’s Board of Trustees quarterly meeting held March 9 in Columbus.
President Todd Diacon took the opportunity to make the presentation “Kent State Works” at the Board of Trustees meeting, which was held at Le Meridien Columbus, The Joseph. The presentation illustrated how Kent State prepares its students for job readiness and gives an economic boost to the communities it serves.
Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education Randy Gardner and the new President of the Inter-University Council Laura Lanese attended the Board of Trustees meeting.
“It is imperative that we share the Kent State story in a provocative way that illustrates the great return on investment Kent State provides for our students, the region and the nation as well,” Diacon said.
The occasion was historic in that for the first time ever, Kent State’s Foundation Board and the Board of Trustees met jointly.
Kent State hosted a reception March 8 at the Museum Gallery in the Statehouse, in which state legislators and their staff members were among attendees.
In the Kent State Works presentation, Diacon shared a video featuring Will Kalkhoff, Ph.D., a professor of sociology who is studying the brain waves and heart rates of police officers during training exercises to help to improve police performance and increase safety.
Kalkhoff, executive director of the Electrophysiological Neuroscience Laboratory of Kent and an executive committee member of Kent State’s Brain Health Research Institute, recently conducted a study for the Kent City Police Department to see how a police officer’s performance is impacted by wearing a body camera.
The Kalkhoff video featured Haley Crews, Graduate Student Trustee, who assisted Kalkhoff with the research. Crews, who started out as a student at the East Liverpool Campus before transferring to the Kent Campus, will earn a master’s degree in sociology later this year.
The Board passed a resolution of appreciation to Crews, who was appointed to the Board on Aug. 27, 2021, as Graduate Student Trustee.