Regional Campuses Reimagined

Regional Campuses Reimagined

Welcome to the dedicated online hub for faculty and staff at С��Ƭ��Ƶ’s Regional Campuses. We are excited to inform you that consultations are currently underway with Faculty Councils across the system, as we work collaboratively to enhance and streamline the educational experience for our diverse student body. This webpage serves as your go-to resource for staying informed about the latest developments, updates and discussions taking place within the Regional Campus System. We encourage you to check back regularly, as this dynamic platform will provide a comprehensive source of ongoing information and engagement opportunities.

Together, we aim to strengthen our collective commitment to delivering exceptional education and fostering academic excellence throughout our Regional Campuses.

IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM DR. PEGGY SHADDUCK: LEADERSHIP CHANGES AND NEW ROLES

Dear colleagues,

The Regional Campus System of С��Ƭ��Ƶ is pleased to announce recent organizational changes and introduce key personnel overseeing several essential functional areas.

Each of our four Campus Deans/CAOs will now focus on two locations within the Regional Campus System, in addition to guiding the entire system toward a successful future.

Faculty & Staff Resources

Updates from Dr. Shadduck

Important update from Dr. Peggy Shadduck, Vice President for Regional Campuses and Dean of the College of Applied and Technical Studies
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Dear Regional Campus faculty and staff,

I am pleased to announce a series of upcoming Stakeholder Sessions that we will be hosting for our Regional Campus community this fall. We hope this will provide an opportunity for us to come together, learn more about the various areas and departments within our Regional Campus System, and discuss key topics that are important to our continued success. READ MORE

All Updates

Faculty, Staff & Community Presentations

Regional Campus System Staff Town Hall (Mar. 8, 2024)

Presidential Town Hall (Feb. 23, 2024)

University Accreditation Reaffirmation

Accreditation Brief (March 2024) (PDF)
Accreditation Presentation (March 2024) (PDF)

Individual Campus Updates - PDF (Nov. 2023)

Regional Campus System Updates (Nov. 2023)

Regional Campuses Academic Affairs Faculty Council Presentations w/ Ad Hoc Think Tank Results (Oct. 2023)

Your Questions, Answered: Action Plan for the Regional Campus System

If you have a question you would like to find in this FAQ, kindly email regionals@kent.edu, and we’ll strive to provide answers on this site.

Don’t forget to revisit for additional updates.

1. Why are Regional Campuses (RCs) part of С��Ƭ��Ƶ?

Regional Campuses are a crucial part of С��Ƭ��Ƶ because they help us achieve our mission of making education accessible to people in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania who might face challenges like time, location or money.

2. What is the North Star for С��Ƭ��Ƶ Academic Affairs?

The main goal for С��Ƭ��Ƶ Academic Affairs, which includes RCs, is to help students complete valuable educational credentials and degrees.

3. Why do we need an action plan for RC organizational management?

The RC system will be facing quite a few challenges in the upcoming years, including the predictions of continued enrollment decline, expenses outpacing revenues, declining emphasis on earning a degree, increasing emphasis on workplace skill attainment and increasing competition among institutions of higher learning. Our action plan is about adapting to these trends and educational needs.

4. What are the main goals of the RC system?

RCs will provide learning opportunities and support for educational credentials within our budget.
RCs will work together as a team.
RCs will help students earn degrees that are needed in their communities.

5. What does the future look like for the RC system?

In the future, we see our campuses offering:

Hands-on learning for technical programs.
Select degree programs and microcredentials.
Good support for online learners.
Help for students and community members to make their lives better.

6. How was input received in developing a plan for the Regional Campus System?

Since January, an Ad Hoc Think Tank of elected faculty representatives from every Regional Campus has been meeting for three hours every other week (nine meetings). They returned to their campus Faculty Advisory Committees (FCs), discussed developments and made themselves available to colleagues. Now, we’re reporting back to individual campus FACs about the Think Tank’s work. In addition, campus deans, assistant deans and budget managers met regularly to consider options.

The campus deans and Vice President Peggy Shadduck followed up over the summer of 2023 with further discussions about the Regional Campus System’s mission, future and organizational structure.

7. What did the Think Tank do?

The Think Tank shared many of the challenges and issues associated with faculty work at the Regional Campuses, considering similarities and differences between the campuses and the work they accomplish. They considered how to tackle some of the challenges and voted to take a proposal — about faculty disciplinary groups that span across the Regional Campus System — to the campus faculty councils for review. The proposal included 10 disciplinary groups that would work together across the RC system to consider issues related to curricular opportunities and challenges. Each of the disciplinary groups would be facilitated by a faculty coordinator, selected by that group.

8. What have the campus faculty councils been asked to do this fall?

The faculty councils have been asked to provide feedback to the Provost and the VP for Regional Campuses about the disciplinary groups proposed by the Think Tank. They have also been asked to give feedback on the statements of goals and objectives articulated by the VP and the campus deans.

9. How do the RC system and CATS work together?

The College of Applied and Technical Studies (CATS) and the RC system help each other. CATS focuses on technical and applied areas of study, some of which need hands-on learning, which can be implemented via the RCs. Others can be done online. As needs are identified in our communities, CATS can help to provide some of the educational programs that can be implemented at the RCs.

10. Who are the students the RC system serves?

We help many types of students, including current high school students (CCP students), recent high school graduates, adults looking for a career change, people who want to learn new skills, and those who want to improve their professional skills.

11. What is the “Theory of Change” for the RC system?

Holistic support + Learning + Collaboration + Culture of Caring = Completion

12. What are the plans for the RC system?

We will:

Make sure our revenue and expenses are balanced.
Collaborate to achieve positive outcomes.
Talk to each other and work as a team.
Learn about community and student needs and share those with our KSU colleagues.
Work with the colleges and other units to adjust programming to fit the needs of our learners.
Offer great educational experiences.
Make sure students get the help they need to succeed.
Work with groups in our communities to help our students.

Please keep in mind that we’re always working on strategies and tactics to achieve our goals. As specific details are worked out for a new part of the plan, we will collaborate at the level of our campuses, our RC system, the full university and beyond to achieve our objectives.

Q: Can you elaborate more on what a collaborative RC system would look like?
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A: A more collaborative Regional Campus System model begins with the idea that we support one another rather than compete with one another. For each decision we make, we can start by:

Discussing and considering alternatives that might benefit the full system — help with recruiting, supporting, retaining and completing learners across the system;
Helping to reduce expense or time investment across the full system through the sharing of resources, knowledge and skill;
Or developing a new program that could benefit the system by being implemented in multiple locations.

We realize that what one campus does affects all other campuses. Sometimes, these discussions will result in an approach that combines resources or processes across the RC system. Other times, it will result in something done at only one campus because the need or priority is too campus-specific to allow for a broader approach. Basically, a collaborative system triggers us to reverse our conversations from starting with the campus to starting with the system, in its entirety.

A collaborative RC system would look more like braided lines and less like parallel, non-crossing lines.

-Peggy

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