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Kent State University Honors College
Parents & Friends Newsletter
October 7, 2021
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Photo Above: Freshman Honors Colloquium professor Charles Malone, stands in background, while instructing a Freshman Honors Colloquium course outside of the Honors College, as students enjoyed sitting in the grass on a beautiful fall day.
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A Message from the Dean
Fall 2021
Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome to our Fall edition of the Honors College Parents & Friends Newsletter! We hope you will find a useful summary here of Honors College key events, stories and services involving our students this year. We also hope you will find topics to discuss with your Honors student, and perhaps find alerts and services you may want to bring to their attention!
First of all, it is truly wonderful to see a lively campus again. After eighteen or so months of reduced campus activity due to COVID, it is a joy to see our students engaged with campus life once again. This fall, we welcomed 572 freshmen to the Honors college-the most diverse class in the history of the college, as well as welcoming back over 1,200 upperclassmen. Move-in Days were great! We had alumni volunteers as well as upperclassmen volunteers and “Movers and “Groovers” to help with the details of move-in, and I know I enjoyed talking with parents as the “controlled chaos” unfolded. On Sunday, we had an ice cream social that was a big success. Our 572 freshmen have come from 22 states and 3 countries outside the U.S. They have all begun the process of settling in, finding their routines, establishing friendships and in short, finding themselves.
The settling-in process for freshmen is highly individualized, and it is important to know that the Honors College staff and the university staff are ready and able to provide a wide range of services to aid in the transition from home to campus, from the familiarity of high school to the new world of the university.
Here are some services we offer, and that you may want to remind your students about:
First and foremost: Staying healthy - mentally, physically, financially, environmentally. Where can students find assistance with…
Where can I find Health and Wellness Resources?
Don’t forget about that flu shot! Students call 330-672-2322 to schedule an on-campus flu shot or visit the website for more information at University Health Services webpage.
How about Residence Hall Questions or Issues?
What about Commuter Students?
Kent State has a Commuter Student Organization entitled “COSO”, which stands for Commuter & Off-Campus Student Organization; view more information at www.kent.edu/coso.
The Honors College offers Honors College Student Commuter & Off Campus Special Events - our commuters just enjoyed their own community social for our 'Cookies & Registration' event!
Where do I go for Financial Aid Questions?
Where can I find information about Kent State's coronavirus safety principles and the Flashes Safe Eight?
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Heads-Up Parents!
Stress, Anxiety and the Modern Honors Student
The Honors College is dedicated to providing the best academic experience the university offers for your student. Just as important and hand-in-hand with this goal, is the goal of providing the environment to allow students to grow, mature and learn independence of mind.
For them right now, that means learning to handle stress and anxiety, and to develop Resilience - the ability to bounce back from set-backs. If you have been reading the papers lately, you may know that college students face unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety.
What is Kent State’s Honors College doing to help students develop resilience and address their anxieties? We are engaged in new endeavors to support our students - one of these is the new Honors College Peer-to-Peer Support Program.
This “best practices” program deploys a cohort of trained and mentored Honors undergraduate students as peer supports - students listening to students, and helping them locate the appropriate counseling services. Why Peer-to-Peer? Because national studies have shown that honors students prefer talking about their anxiety and stress issues with their peers, rather than going to academic advisors or professors. Getting students to the right professional campus help source for them is the goal of the Peer-to-Peer Support Program.
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Frequently Asked Questions about the new
Honors Peer-to-Peer Support Program:
- Are the students in this program counseling other students?
No. Their role is to be an accessible, listening peer that can direct a
student to the appropriate campus professional help.
- How do the students in this program know how to do this?
Training and Mentoring. These students receive training (how to be a
good listener, how to know where to direct students) and year-long
mentoring from licensed counselors in the College of Education, Health
& Human Services.
- Where are these students deployed?
They are on the Kent Campus in Honors Living-Learning Communities
(LLC), and also in other parts of campus to be available for commuter
students.
- How can my student find out about this program?
They have received announcements in their eNews and in the Living-Learning Communities, there are posters up with a QR code for them to access information.
What can parents and friends do to help their students cope with anxiety and stress?
Think about ways to build resilience and talk to your student (at Fall Break, or by phone/text) about how to do this. Tell them about tough problems you faced and share how you got through them - they will listen and think of those stories when they face different issues themselves.
The university and the Honors College staff are working hard to provide the services for students needing help with these issues. You can help too, by helping them to build resilience.
And now, for news about Honors College activities – read on…
Best regards,
Alison J. Smith, Ph.D.
Honors College, Dean
Kent State University
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Click the image above, scan the QR code or visit this link for more information!
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Freshmen Class Welcome Events
Honors Students Return to Campus; Welcome Class of 2025
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Pictured Above: Honors College incoming freshmen Class of 2025 students gathered together around the Honors College sign outside of Stopher-Johnson Halls during the 'Ice Cream Social' Welcome events.
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This fall, the Honors College hosted 'Welcome Events' at Kent State, following move-in of on-campus students and the incoming freshmen class. On Sunday, August 22, the Honors College freshmen class of 572 students gathered, along with many upperclassmen, to enjoy a sweet treat provided by New Baltimore Ice Cream, and had the chance to mingle and meet other classmates, while enjoying the opportunity to be back on-campus.
The incoming freshmen honors class fills a record number of over 14% of the total first-year students this fall semester at Kent State. The newest students are entering the Honors College with impressive numbers, including an average unweighted GPA of 3.88. This class boasts excellent academic achievement and leadership skills, essential for their success in their next four years. Welcome Honors College freshmen!
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Pictures Above: Honors College incoming freshmen Class of 2025 students posing for photos during the 'Ice Cream Social' event held after move-in before the start of the fall 2021 semester.
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2021 Portz Scholar
Honors College
10th Awardee Announced
"Each year, the NCHC awards four Portz Prizes, one to a student in each of the four broad academic areas, in a competition for most excellent undergraduate thesis," Honors College Dean Alison J. Smith, Ph.D., notes. "Sarah receives this year’s Portz Prize in the Humanities, becoming our 10th Portz scholar. We are so proud of Sarah for her outstanding scholarship and we note the excellent advising she received from her thesis co-advisors, Dr. Gustav Medicus (School of Art) and Dr. Matthew Crawford (Department of History)."
Hagglund graduated from the Honors College at Kent State University in May of 2021 with University Honors and Distinction in History. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Kent State in history and anthropology. She was also inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, in 2020. Hagglund states that she always had an interest in completing a Senior Honors Thesis, since it was first mentioned to her by her honors academic advisor, Frank Congin. Hagglund says, “I figured the thesis would provide some really good practical experience for grad school and I was really excited to have the opportunity to research a topic I could choose and explore on my own.”
Hagglund’s award-winning thesis is entitled, "The Myth of Bologna? Women's Cultural Production During the Seventeenth Century." She explains that her thesis “approaches the experiences of women in the city of Bologna through three lenses: history, art, and material culture.” Hagglund says that it also investigates the difference in opportunities presented to women of different social classes during that time period. The city of Bologna was said to have been described as a place of progressive culture for the female population, where women were afforded opportunities that far exceeded the culture norm present in other city-states at that time. Through her thesis, Hagglund explores why there was such a difference in opportunities available to women in Bologna, as opposed to other areas, and she also investigates if this statement about the women of Bologna was indeed true for females in all social classes.
Photo Above: Photo of Kent State Honors College 10th Portz Scholar, Sarah Hagglund.
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Honors Leadership Academy
A Year of Leadership and Civic Engagement
The college's Honors Leadership Academy (HLA), now in its fourth year, is comprised of 16 freshmen honors students who have dedicated themselves to a year of leadership, learning and civic engagement during their first collegiate year at Kent State. Students completing the leadership academy class program will receive 2 honors credits in the fall and 2 credits in the spring to count towards the total 24 required honors credits for graduation. One of the first tasks assigned to class members this year included welcoming new honors freshmen classmates to campus as part of the Honors College 'Welcome Events'.
The group will partake in a variety of field trips and presentations throughout the year to become familiar with leadership connections and resources both on and off campus. Planned visits for the class include Kent Historical Society and the Ben Curtis Family Foundation, as well as many other on-campus programs.
The Honors Leadership Academy is run by program instructors Erin Ahrens and Stacey Spearman, who also serve as academic advising staff for the Honors College. Ahrens, who first started the program back in the fall of 2017, looks forward to the fourth year of the program, stating that, "We are very excited to see these experienced high school student leaders grow into Kent State leaders. We are so proud of the accomplishments of our first three classes, and can't wait to see how the 2021-2022 HLA students positively impact the Kent State campus."
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Pictured Directly Above: Honors Leadership Academy (HLA) 2021-2022 members pose for a group photo with HLA instructors and mentors on their first day of introductions and team-building activities on campus.
Pictured Top Right: Kent State Dean of Students and Associate Vice President, Student Affairs, Taléa R. Drummer-Ferrell, Ph.D., opens with welcoming remarks to the Honors Leadership Academy 2021 class at Kent State.
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4th Annual Career Conversations Series
Kent State Alumni to Participate in Honors College Events
The Honors College is hosting its 4th annual Career Conversation Series this fall. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these conversations will be virtual and bring Kent State students and alumni volunteers together via Zoom.
Each session will feature alumni panelists from the same industry and an Honors College staff member will ask the panel questions about their field, Kent State education and career. Students will have the chance to ask the panel their own questions as well. The virtual format will give alumni the chance to show off their work space and discuss how the pandemic has affected their industry.
These one-hour sessions will take place from 4:00-5:00 p.m. EST on weekdays. Students can join and leave sessions as their schedule allows. All students (honors and non-honors), staff, and faculty of Kent State are invited!
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Cookies & Registration
For Spring 2022
On Thursday, September 30, honors students residing both on-campus and off-campus were given the opportunity to attend one of various 'Cookies & Registration' events, hosted by the Honors College. Students were able to drop by the Honors College (or their Living-Learning Community Lounge), grab a cookie, and relax with other honors classmates, prior to the early access priority registration, which opened for all honors students later that evening.
All 'Cookies & Registration' events included representatives of the Honors College's newest initiative, entitled the 'Peer-to-Peer Support Program'. Students participating in the new program were on-hand to introduce themselves to fellow students, pass out brochures and information, and share their knowledge and experience of how the 'Peer-to-Peer Support Program' can help others in the Honors College.
Photo Above: Honors students and staff pose for a photo at the 'Commuter's Cookies & Registration' event, held on September 30.
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Honors
First Year
Experience Course
At the start of the fall semester, our Honors First-Year Experience (FYE) class visited the Kent State Women's Center, and assisted Community Engaged Learning and the Center for Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services (SRVSS) by making fleece blankets. The blankets created by the honors students during the service project will be given to Safer Futures, a domestic violence and resource center, located in Portage County.
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Photos Above: Honors students from the Honors First-Year Experience course visit the Women's Center to create fleece blankets for Safer Futures of Portage County.
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Follow us on our social media accounts for information on
events, programming and reminders!
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