5XÉçÇø

June 4, 2024  
  
Dear Colleagues,   
 
Thank you to the faculty and staff who indicated their interest in participating in Transformation 2028. We received an overwhelming number of volunteers - around 200 of you - which speaks volumes to the importance of our mission. Thank you!

The first round of volunteers selected for Summer will be receiving notification this week and we will continue to create committees as need arises throughout the summer as well as for the upcoming fall and spring semesters. If you have not done so already and would like to volunteer, you may fill out the .  

I am writing to you today to ask for your continued input on the organizational sustainability efforts for the Division of Academic Affairs. As a follow-up to my May 10th communication, I invite you to take the first of several surveys to identify opportunities to reduce academic costs at Kent State. 

In the last several months news outlets have reported on the many public and private universities dealing with financial struggles. Some even closing their doors. We are similarly impacted by such difficult financial realities (see for an overview of our financial forecast). 

Our objective with Transformation 2028 is to purposefully seek input and varied perspectives to ensure that the desired, sustainable future of Kent State that we are working towards creating aligns with our mission and values. Units outside of Academic Affairs are currently engaged in identifying efficiencies, cost-sharing opportunities, and/or revenue-generating opportunities, as well. Our focus, therefore, will be on developing the best path forward for the continued success of Academic Affairs. To kickstart our work, we created a designed to construct themes for institutional change within Academic Affairs that can help generate ideas and guide decisions. 

As you complete the , I ask you to think big: think beyond your program, department, or school and even beyond your college. (If you’re not familiar with all areas of our university, please check out the latest to see the array of our academic offerings.) Our sustainable future must have a reduced administrative structure which means we need to think organizationally as well as programmatically. 
 
This survey is anonymous. You can choose to answer any or all of the questions and you can submit answers to the survey at any time. You can even retake it later if other ideas come to you.  
 
The will be open until September 20, 2024. I will also be sending out additional surveys and thought prompts for your consideration throughout the summer on big ideas for you to consider. 

Thank you for your continued commitment to Academic Affairs at 5XÉçÇø. I appreciate your investment of time and knowledge to this important work!


My best,