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For 15 years, ����ɬ����’s Provost Leadership Academy has offered first-year students an in-depth education on the university's inner workings while challenging them to identify ways to improve campus life.

High school seniors identified through the college application process as high-achieving or students who would bring unique skills to the academy are invited to apply for membership.

An interview process follows the application before students are offered a spot in the group, John Jewell, Ph.D., associate dean for Academic Student Support Services in University College told ����ɬ���� Today.

“It’s really a way of connecting with students,” he said.

The group meets weekly during the academic year. For the fall semester, students learn about the university from the bottom up. During the spring semester, the group is divided into teams that are challenged to produce projects to improve life at the university, Jewell explained.

Making the campus a smoke-free, tobacco-free zone was a project that came out of the academy, as was the PARTA bus tracker app for students to find out how long until the next bus arrives, he said.

“They are really interesting students, motivated, creative and smart,” Jewell said. Sometimes, an invitation to apply for the academy is what motivates a student to choose ����ɬ���� for their education, he added.

Lucas Tarr, a finance major from Steubenville, Ohio, said he pretty much had his mind set on attending ����ɬ���� once he toured the new Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, but the invitation to join the academy seemed like a terrific opportunity for him and his résumé.  

He liked the prospect of “being able to make a difference on campus.”

Tarr, who entered his first year with enough credits to be classified as a sophomore, said he also liked the idea of becoming rooted in Kent, after moving often while growing up. Tarr, who aspires to work as a financial manager, said he looks forward to the academy’s weekly meetings.  

“It’s where I connect with people the most,” he said.

Denajah Spivey, an aeronautical studies major from Bowie, Maryland, said she came to ����ɬ���� for the College of Aeronautics and Engineering, and is also a member of Air Force ROTC, after serving in Junior ROTC in high school.

“You can’t beat a college with its own airport,” she said. “The instructors are great, and the program is really world-renowned.”

Spivey applied to be part of the leadership academy because she thought it would be a good fit for her. “I’ve met really great people and a lot of good contacts,” she said.

Morgan Robinson, associate director of Student Success Programs in University College, said this year’s academy has 80 members. Student Success Coordinator Celeste Dawson and graduate assistant Dolen Helwagen run the program.

“Being a part of this extracurricular activity allows students to engage with students they might not engage with otherwise, depending on their major,” Robinson said. “It’s something that brings them together that centers on ����ɬ����.”

Because the academy is for first-year students, they also become very well informed about the university and how it operates, a sentiment echoed by Sophia Lovinski, an Honors College student from Kent, Ohio, majoring in human development and family science in the College of Education, Health and Human Services.

“I feel like I know more about the university than other first-year students,” Lovinski said.

During the spring semester, the students are asked to look at ����ɬ���� through a critical lens with an eye toward how they would change or improve some aspect of university life, Robinson said.  

“Having a group of first-years who have a fresh eye on what the university is doing and being able to give suggestions based on their experience is a very powerful, unique experience,” she said.

Academy members recently began their team research into potential projects.

Both Spivey and Tarr said among the ideas their teams were hashing out were proposals to expand university laundry facilities, because finding an open washer and dryer can be challenging, depending on the residence hall.  

One team already has had its idea to change the lighting on one floor of the from fluorescent to ambient approved to move forward.  

Addie Garst, a criminology and justice studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences from Stow, Ohio, came up with the idea due to her struggles with working in fluorescent lighting for extended periods due to ADHD. Garst functions better under softer lighting conditions.  

The group’s preliminary research shows that too much exposure to fluorescent lighting can cause eye strain and fatigue, induce stress and anxiety, and disrupt one’s circadian rhythm causing sleep problems, she said.

Neurodivergent students, Garst said, often struggle to function well in bright fluorescent lighting, so creating a space in the library with ambient lighting would be beneficial to them, too. Knowing that ����ɬ���� is focused on inclusivity and helping communities such as the neurodiverse, Garst said she is hoping the project will find favor with the university administration.

Academy member Mason Schulz of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is studying interior design in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, noted that the cost of changing a few areas from fluorescent to ambient lighting would be minimal.

“It’s cost-effective and a reachable goal,” he said.

The students shared that many instructors already turn off the overhead lighting in their classrooms in favor of natural lighting coming through the windows, so they believe that many already recognize that overhead lighting can be harsh and difficult for many people.

The group also has identified the lower level of the Kent Student Center as another location to be switched from fluorescent to ambient lighting, said Kelsi Guerrier, an exploratory major in University College from Norwalk, Ohio.

The team’s next step is to create a student survey to learn more about students’ issues with fluorescent lighting to help inform their proposal.

In the spring, the teams will present their projects to Executive Vice President and Provost Melody Tankersley, Ph.D., The groups also will present their projects during the Undergraduate Research Symposium in the spring.

“The idea is to either improve something about the student experience or the university experience, or a process or procedure or identify a gap,” Jewell said.

After students complete their academy year, some opt to return to serve as mentors for the following year, Robinson noted.  

“They can continue to be engaged,” she said.