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The Division of Information Technology has finalized a deal with Adobe that will give 5X���� the 

 Adobe Creative Campus designation. In addition to discounts on Adobe services, students and faculty will now have access to top-tier support and resources.

James Raber, associate chief information officer in the division, said being an Adobe Creative Campus means a lot for everyone in the Kent State community.  

“When you become an Adobe Creative campus, that typically empowers you with additional support and resources to make sure that faculty, staff and students are getting the absolute most that they can out of the Creative Cloud suite of tools,” Raber said. "So that ranges from additional engagements like more training, curriculum development and being able to leverage the most leading-edge portions of the Adobe suite. That's really kind of what it provides.”

Students enrolled at Kent State can now purchase Adobe Creative Cloud for $75 a year, which is a significant decrease in price from the original student discount of $240 a year.

Adobe Creative Campus designations are only given to approximately 60 other college campuses, making this a distinctive title for Kent State. To earn a partnership with Adobe, a university must display a commitment to digital literacy.  

Tom Mahon, training and outreach manager in the division, mentioned how, along with being an Adobe Creative Campus, Kent State also offers many other resources and support to students, such as workshops for Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Express and Acrobat.

The division plans to expand this support by developing an Adobe Creative Commons, which will be on the first floor of the library and will provide on-demand tutoring for students needing help with Adobe programs.  

“The Creative Commons will have visual communication design majors, fashion majors communication majors, etc. who are well versed in the Adobe tools available for in-person tutoring on Adobe applications,” Mahon said.  

In addition to student resources, faculty will also have options to learn about the software and explore opportunities to incorporate software into their class curriculum.

Kent State annually hosts Education Elevated, a conference for staff and faculty to discuss using digital tools for effective teaching. This year's conference, to be held on March 8, will have representatives from Adobe there to challenge, support and inspire Kent State faculty wanting to know more.

“One of the things that we're trying to do now is basically build a small committee of faculty to help us understand what would be beneficial to the faculty population as a whole,” Raber said. “When it comes down to leveraging technology, we want to make sure that we have the right type of support and scaffolding to enable success.”

According to Mahon, a formal "ribbon cutting" day titled “Kent State Adobe Day” will be held Tuesday, April 23, and will feature an entire day of training and information from Eric Rowse. senior solutions consultant at Adobe. Before joining Adobe in 2012, Rowse was a Creative Suite instructor, adjunct professor, art director, animator and pre-web CD-ROM era designer. Rowse says he is a firm believer that passion and vision — when paired with the correct tools — can produce outstanding digital stories the world can enjoy. Visit the division's website for more details about Kent State Adobe Day.

Learn more about Education Elevated.

Read more about the Division of Information Technology.