Kent State's Jessica Conrad Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Austria
Jessica Conrad, Ph.D., a lecturer of English at Â鶹´«Ă˝ at Stark, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Austria.
The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced that Conrad will lecture and research at the University of Graz as part of her project, “Perspectives of American Protest Literature and Culture from Abroad.”
Conrad’s project traces connections between historical examples of early American literary activism to current cultural expressions of protest, particularly in social justice and climate activism. While teachings and scholarship often focus on nonviolent action, such as sit-ins and marches, less attention has been paid to how literature and the arts may have been – and continue to be – used to get the word out, inspire new thinking and call for change. Read the full story.
From Soldier to Student, Graduate Finds Passion in Service
When Richard Lehman Jr. joined the Army in 2010, he planned to make it a career. One night changed those plans when he was loading 30 mm ammunition onto an AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. However, as is sometimes true, when one door closes, another one opens.
Lehman was stationed at Ft Campbell, Kentucky and deployed to Afghanistan twice in 2011 and then again in 2014.
He was an armament avionics electrician and one of his duties was to load ammunition and to do it quickly. One night in extreme darkness, he was running toward the Apache and he fell over weights that had been left out from the day’s exercises. He hit the ground hard but didn’t realize the extent of the damage for three months. During that time, he continued his job, with something not feeling right and with a great deal of pain.
“By the time I finally had it checked out, I found out I had a dislocated rib and three herniated discs,” Lehman said. “The news was tough to take. I realized my days in the military were coming to an end.”
Lehman left the Army on Dec. 23, 2015 on a Medical Discharge. He was back home, now in Diamond, OH, with his wife, Desiree, and two daughters, Arianna and Arabella. He immediately considered going to college and began submitting applications for spring semester. Caught in the middle of holidays and winter break, he struggled to get a response.
“I wanted to get back on track and I wanted to do it quickly,” Leahman said. “I am not one to sit around. Luckily, we drove by Kent State Trumbull one weekend and I realized it was closer than most of the schools I had applied to and when I looked at the website, I quickly noticed the campus is Military Friendly®.”
He called the school on Monday, and he was able to complete the application and he would have no problem starting that spring on his way to earning a Bachelor of Technical & Applied Studies degree. However, he was a little apprehensive.
“Entering college as a 29-year-old, I was nervous,” Lehman said. “In the military I had made many friends from all over the United States. Here, I assumed I would be the oldest student and I would have a tough time fitting in.”
That wasn’t the case. Lehman made more friends, younger and older. He worked at the Computer Center and then the Learning Center as a tutor. In 2019, he was named Homecoming King and represented the Trumbull Campus at Kent State’s Homecoming event.
He also discovered what he hopes to be his new passion, helping veterans. Lehman hopes to work for Veteran Affairs
“One of my projects was an essay,” he said. “I wrote about educational benefits and entitlements for veterans and how to navigate the system to overcome obstacles to take advantage of these programs.”
In May, Richard Lehman, Jr. walked across the stage having earned a Bachelor of Technical & Applied Sciences degree with a minor in Software Development. He also served as the commencement speaker, looking out at his class and family: Desiree and daughters Arianna (13), Arabella (7), and the newest members of his family, Avalise (4), and Adeline (3).
August LinkedIn Learning Resource Kit
As you begin planning for fall, Training and Development would like to share the . In it you will find, two new monthly challenges, the August and September webinar schedule, content on LinkedIn Learning Hub, and seasonal promotional materials.
Contact Training and Development with questions about LinkedIn Learning at hrd@kent.edu.
Financial Wellness Webinar: Money Matters - Finding Common Ground in a Relationship, August 12, 7 p.m.
The subject of finances can be a concern and place unnecessary strain on many relationships. Your Employee Wellness team will host a special evening session of on Thursday, August 12. This virtual session is designed so that employees and their families may participate together. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Session facilitators DJ Enga and Megan Cooper will help attendees identify financial triggers that can impede a relationship from moving forward. They will discuss how we can determine our 'money personalities' and share methods that partners can use to help find common ground while budgeting finances.
This webinar is open to all full- and part-time faculty and staff. For full time, benefits eligible employees participating in the wellness rewards program, this session is worth 10 points toward your Tier 2 total. . &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
For questions related to health and wellness offerings for staff and faculty, contact Employee Wellness at wellness@kent.edu or 330-672-0392. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Webinar: Immunizations for Your Lifespan, August 17, Noon
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you get immunizations throughout life to protect against viruses. The vaccines you may need as an adult depend on everything from your age and lifestyle to medical conditions, travel plans, and which shots you've had (or not) in the past. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Join Dr. Lisa Dannemiller, chief university physician at Â鶹´«Ă˝ Health Services, on Tuesday, August 17, as she discusses immunizations for children, teens, young adults and adults, as well as provides an overview of seasonal influenza, DPT, shingles, pneumococcal disease, hepatitis B, MMR, and the COVID-19 vaccination.
This webinar is open to all full- and part-time faculty and staff. For full time, benefits eligible employees participating in the wellness rewards program, this session is worth 10 points toward your Tier 2 total. . &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
For questions related to health and wellness offerings for staff and faculty, contact Employee Wellness at wellness@kent.edu or 330-672-0392. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Important Information about Final Grading of Summer 2 (POT S2) Classes
Online final grading for Summer 2021 Summer 2 (POT S2) begins Tuesday, August 3, via FlashFAST. Grading is also now available for any Summer 2021 course section that was flexibly scheduled. The deadline for grading submission is midnight on Sunday, August 8. Any final grades for Summer 2021 courses not reported in FlashFAST by the grades processing deadline will have to be submitted using the Grade Change Workflow. These Summer 2021 courses will be available in the Workflow on Tuesday, August 10.
To access Final Grades via FlashFAST, log into FlashLine and click on the Faculty & Advisors Category/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources Section.
Blackboard Grading Process:
The Grade Push application has been developed as an option to assist in streamlining the university grading process. The use of this application is not mandatory, though it is encouraged. Grade Push will allow you to “push” the final grades recorded in Blackboard into our KSU Final Grade Roster, thus eliminating the time and effort spent manually entering them.
To access Grade Push, log into FlashLine and click on the Faculty & Advisors/Faculty Dashboard/Grading Resources. If you have questions or concerns, please go to support.kent.edu and search “Grade Push.”
Incomplete Mark Workflow:
The instructor must create and submit an Incomplete Mark contract via the workflow. Instructors are no longer able to select the incomplete mark (IB+, IC+, IC-, etc.) from the final grade roster in FlashFAST (Self-Service Banner). The primary instructor must initiate and submit the contract using this new workflow process, which mimics the old paper process. Once the contract has been accepted by the student and approved by the department chair/campus dean, the student’s grade will be updated automatically. The primary instructor will be able to initiate and submit the contract for a student after the deadline to withdraw (10th week of a regularly scheduled section in fall and spring, or prorated for flexibly scheduled sections) through the end of final grading.
Access the Incomplete Mark workflow in FlashLine from the Faculty Dashboard under Grading Resources or Faculty Workflows.
NF/SF Administrative Marks:
The administrative mark NF (Never Attended–Fail) denotes that the student neither attended one class session nor formally withdrew from the course. If a student has never attended your course, mark the student as “Not Started” on the Academic Presence Verification Roster, and the NF will automatically populate to your Final Grades roster.
The administrative mark SF (Stopped Attending–Fail) denotes that the student stopped attending the course and did not formally withdraw and must be accompanied by a date of last attendance in the course. If a student has stopped attending your course the SF can be entered on the Final Grade Roster along with the student’s last date of attendance.
For complete information on university grading policies including Incomplete Mark and NF/SF grading policies, procedures and timelines, please visit the Grading Policies and Procedures section in the University Catalog.
Grades Processing Tips and FAQs may be found on the Registrar's website. Any faculty member needing personalized instruction on submitting their grades via FlashFAST should contact their campus Registrar's Office during normal business hours for assistance.
Troubleshooting TIP:
FlashFAST is accessible from any Internet-capable computer that has the cookies function enabled. We recommend that you clean out your cookie and cache files regularly to help your computer run faster, and to potentially restore and/or improve your access to FlashFAST or FlashLine by improving your connection to the server. Our Helpdesk is prepared to help with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues.