Hawkins, Hoopes Selected for Employee Awards
Â鶹´«Ă˝ at Salem recently recognized two employees for exemplary teaching and service to the campus for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Receiving awards for outstanding service on the Salem Campus are (from right) Krista Hawkins and Deb Hoopes.
Krista Hawkins was named outstanding faculty member and Deborah Hoopes was recognized as the outstanding staff member.
Each was selected based on nominations from students, staff and faculty members of the Salem Campus.
Hawkins is a registered nurse and a lecturer in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program on the Salem Campus, where she has taught fulltime for four years. She earned her BSN from Â鶹´«Ă˝ in 2012 and her MSN-Education in 2017.
Hoopes has 13 years of service as a custodian with Â鶹´«Ă˝â€™s maintenance and grounds department. Her first four years were spent on the Kent Campus and the last nine years have been on the Salem Campus.
While a bit reluctant to talk about herself, Hoopes is known on campus for her hard work and dedication to Kent. She always takes the initiative to do what needs done and takes great pride in making the campus shine. Read the full story.
Kent State Ashtabula Wines Announces Release of Radiance
White wine features grapes from historic Markko Vineyard in Conneaut
Following the success of its initial three wines, Â鶹´«Ă˝ at Ashtabula’s Kent State Ashtabula Wines label is announcing the release of its newest vintage, Radiance.
Produced through a partnership with Laurello Vineyards, Radiance is a white wine blend made from Pinot Grigio, Muscat and Chardonnay grapes harvested from the historic Markko Vineyards located in the Conneaut Creek valley.
Markko Vineyards is the award-winning vineyard and winery founded by the late Ohio winemaking pioneer Arnulf “Arnie” Esterer, who passed away last year at the age of 88.
“Arnie Esterer was a big supporter of our wine program and our campus, so we are particularly excited that this wine contains grapes from the 2020 harvest at Markko Vineyards,” said Lori Lee, Senior Special Assistant and Wine Degrees Program Liaison. “Radiance is a dry white blend crafted using different methods than Arnie’s approach to winemaking, but with grapes he was passionate about. It is crisp and unoaked with a smooth mouth feel.”
As part of a unique, blended learning experience and partnership between the campus and Laurello Vineyards, students and faculty in the Kent State Ashtabula viticulture and enology classes assisted with the production and bottling of the wine as part of their hands-on training program. Read the full story.
Anti-Bias Workshop Participants Selected
Kent State remains committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace. The staffers listed below have been selected to participate in the Anti-Bias workshops in support of this commitment.
Participants are required to attend all five sessions and submit reflections for each session before receiving a $1,000 stipend. All sessions are synchronous and will be held virtually. All courses must be completed in the timeframe allotted. There will no make-up sessions.
Thanks to everyone for submitting an application for the Anti-Bias Workshops. Congratulations to those who were selected. The response was overwhelming. We do not yet have the workshops dates for the fall sessions. All participants will be uploaded into the registration system next week and will automatically receive email notifications on how to access the Zoom link and add reflections after each workshop.
| James | Andrassy | Intercollegiate Athletics |
| Brenda | Augusta | Academic Affairs |
| Meagan | Blake | Student Affairs |
| Keith | Boggs | Informational Technology |
| Brenda | Boykin | Finance and Administration |
| Winnie | Bush | Student Affairs |
| Dornetta | Campbell-Curgil | Enrollment Management |
| Mark | Carbone | Enrollment Management |
| Todd | Carpenter | Finance and Administration |
| Michelle | Casto | Enrollment Management |
| Ava | Chaney | Student Affairs |
| Patricia | Deeb | Academic Affairs |
| LaTesha | Dukes | Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement |
| Antonette | Ferritto | Academic Affairs |
| Kelsie | Fezell | University Relations |
| Chris | Fornadel | Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement |
| Anita | Francisco | Academic Affairs |
| Lisa | Fry | Student Affairs |
| Terri | Harmon | Academic Affairs |
| Dale | Holcomb | Finance and Administration |
| Ben | Hollis | Academic Affairs |
| Angela | Jackson | Human Resources |
| Sherle | Johnson-Moore | Academic Affairs |
| Cynthia | Jones | Enrollment Management |
| Norma | Karam | Human Resources |
| Leslie | Langenfeld | Student Affairs |
| Elizabeth | Lee | Human Resources |
| Melissa | Lott | Finance and Administration |
| Ian | Lucas | Academic Affairs |
| Sarah | Malcolm | Academic Affairs |
| Babacar | Mbaye | Academic Affairs |
| Joshua | Miller | University Relations |
| Anthony | Mozer | Finance and Administration |
| Andrew | Palmer | Academic Affairs |
| Joe | Richardson | Human Resources |
| Joshua | Rider | Student Affairs |
| Carmen | Roberts | Finance and Administration |
| Janell | Ryan | Finance and Administration |
| Cynthia | Schalmo | Enrollment Management |
| Sarah | Schmidt | Academic Affairs |
| Debra | Schneider | Academic Affairs |
| Denise | Seachrist | Academic Affairs |
| Sara | Smith | University Relations |
| Stephanie | Snyder | Academic Affairs |
| Karol | Spano | University Relations |
| Richard | Thomas | Academic Affairs |
| Julie | Vandegrift | Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement |
| Jenefer | Villanueva | Student Affairs |
| Hao | Wang | Research and Sponsored Programs |
| Lu | Zou | Academic Affairs |
Workshop schedule:
Session 1: What is Equity?
Tuesday, July 6th 10 a.m. - noon
Session 2: Recognizing Bias & Addressing Microaggressions
Wednesday, July 14th 10 a.m. - noon
Session 3: Understanding Race, Racism and Anti-Racism
Tuesday, July 20th 10 a.m. - noon
Session 4: Safe Space Ally Training
Tuesday, August 3rd 10 a.m. - noon
Session 5: Creating an Inclusive Workplace
Wednesday, August 11th 10 a.m. - noon.
Thank you for your commitment in making Ken State a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace.
Selected participants can contact Training and Development at hrd@kent.edu, or the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at diversity@kent.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
Discount Theatre Tickets Available Through July 3
Porthouse Theatre is offering buy one, get one free tickets to Kent State faculty and staff for the remaining performances of "Quilters," through July 3.
Tickets can be purchased online, or by phone using the discount code: QUILTERS.
July LinkedIn Learning Resource Kit
The is available. In it you will find the July Hello Hybrid learning challenge, seasonal promotional ideas for the summer, a preparation guide for fall and so much more.
Contact Training and Development with questions about LinkedIn Learning at hrd@kent.edu.
Next Mindful Monday Session is July 12
Join one of the most skillful and down-to-earth mindfulness coaches, Daron Larson, for . Daron shares doable, challenging and liberating ways to practice mindfulness during these sessions. Develop attentional skills that lead to feeling more at home in the messiness of real life, and learn to savor pleasant moments more and fight less with the unpleasant ones. 
The July 12 Mindful Mondays session will take place from 8:30 - 9 a.m. and is open to all full- and part-time employees. For those participating in the wellness rewards program, each session is worth 10 Tier 2 points. .
Visit the Mindful Mondays page to learn more and access related resources, including Daron's FAQs featuring tips for practicing Mindfulness between sessions. 
Interested in one-on-one mindfulness coaching? Call the Impact Solutions Employee Assistance and Work/Life Program at 800-227-6007 to schedule a mindfulness coaching session. Daron is available as a coach!
Important Information about Final Grading of Summer 2021 First 7 Weeks (POT W1) Classes
Online final grading for Summer 2021 First 7 Weeks (POT W1) begins Tuesday, June 29, 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 Tuesday, July 6. 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 Thursday, July 8.
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 and/or FlashLine by improving your connection to the server. Our Helpdesk is prepared to offer assistance with these issues. Please contact them at 330-672-HELP (4357) for one-on-one assistance and technical issues.