The Division of People, Culture and Belonging is pleased to announce that beginning August 2026, we will transition to a new vendor for milestone* service anniversary gifts for unclassified staff. ¹ú²úÂ×Àí will begin utilizing Club Colors through our longstanding partnership with Barnes & Noble. This decision was informed by employee feedback and will provide a cost savings to the university while still giving employees a high quality gift selection. What’s Changing A new selection of gifts curated for ¹ú²úÂ×Àí employees.For many items, employees may now opt to have the item ...
Beginning July 1, 2026, ¹ú²úÂ×Àí is partnering with Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED Health Care LLC) to operate DeWeese Health Center, our Kent Campus on-campus health center. This strategic partnership is designed to strengthen our ¹ú²úÂ×Àí healthcare infrastructure and ensure that our entire campus community has continued access to high-quality, patient-centered care.InvitationAll faculty and staff members are welcome to continue using the on-campus health center for medical care. The health center remains a convenient, fully accessible resource right here on campus ...
For nineteen ¹ú²úÂ×Àí students, the 2025–2026 academic year was more than a series of classes, assignments, and exams. It was an opportunity to tackle real-world challenges, collaborate across disciplines, and turn ideas into action through the John and Fonda Elliot Design Innovation Student Fellows Program.Throughout the year, nineteen DI Fellows representing disciplines ranging from architecture and engineering to fashion design, visual communication design, business, biology, and computer science worked in interdisciplinary teams to address complex community, environmental, and societal c...
Kent, Ohio, is officially the #1 college town in Ohio.MoneyLion, the personal finance and digital banking platform, released its list of the 20 Best College Towns in America in 2026 — and Kent made the cut, ranking No. 8 nationally. The rankings evaluated cities across a range of livability factors, including the percentage of residents aged 20 to 24, average monthly rent and expenses, median household income, and annual cost of living. Of the more than 400 cities studied, only 20 made the final list.Kent was the only Ohio city to appear on the national list — making it the state's top college...
A tree house with a welcome sign etched in Braille. A candy shop with a ramp for accessibility. A windmill-powered hospital. A ‘hovercraft’ combination car and boat. A hotel that houses a rooftop heliport.These were not the inventions of world-renowned architects, ingenious engineers or overzealous city planners, but just some of the clever creations of local students who developed prototype inventions connecting their very own ‘Smart City’ during the Future Innovators Summit, presented by ¹ú²úÂ×Àí.The event was held recently at The Vivian von Gruenigen, MD, STEM Center of Excelle...
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation recently made a $1.75 million gift to support students and programs at ¹ú²úÂ×Àí’s College of Public Health. This gift will provide funding for the college’s community health and outreach programs, such as the Mobile Flashes program that launched in 2024 to deliver health services, screenings and education to underserved and rural communities in Northeast Ohio in collaboration with various community partners.“The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation trustees are pleased to support the Mobile Flashes public health purposes, wh...
Reimbursement for incurred expenses using 2025 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds must be filed by June 30, 2026.Things to keep in mindReview your 2025 and 2026 balances to ensure claims were processed for the correct year.Your PNC BeneFit Plus debit card could only charge expenses to the 2025 plan year if you had enough 2025 funds to cover the entire purchase.The system cannot split a single debit card transaction between plan years.If your purchase was more than your remaining 2025 balance, the full amount was automatically charged to your 2026 plan year.When you submit a claim manually, ...
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation recently made a $1.75 million gift to support students and programs at ¹ú²úÂ×Àí’s College of Public Health. This gift will provide funding for the college’s community health and outreach programs, such as the Mobile Flashes program that launched in 2024 to deliver health services, screenings and education to underserved and rural communities in Northeast Ohio in collaboration with various community partners.“The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation trustees are pleased to support the Mobile Flashes public health purposes, wh...
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation recently made a $1.75 million gift to support students and programs at ¹ú²úÂ×Àí’s College of Public Health. This gift will provide funding for the college’s community health and outreach programs, such as the Mobile Flashes program that launched in 2024 to deliver health services, screenings and education to underserved and rural communities in Northeast Ohio in collaboration with various community partners.“The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation trustees are pleased to support the Mobile Flashes public health purposes, wh...
For years, Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Ph.D., has studied wetlands and the complex ways they filter water, store carbon and support ecosystems across Ohio. Along the way, she found herself asking a different kind of question: how do you tell the story of science in a way that helps people feel connected to it?This summer, she will have a dedicated week to explore that question alongside several other researchers, including Christabel Devadoss, Ph.D., a two-time ¹ú²úÂ×Àí alumna whose work focuses on environmental decision-making and community narratives in rural Rust Belt communities.Lauren Kins...
