Board of Trustees approve measures to expand university influence

NORTH CANTON – The Kent State Board of Trustees approved several measures today that will allow the university to extend its influence in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

The board, which met at the Kent State Stark Campus, approved a measure that will allow Kent State to purchase property on College Street as part of an ongoing initiative to extend campus life to downtown Kent.

The university hopes the initiative will make the entire city of Kent more appealing to current and prospective students, said Yank Heisler, interim vice president for business and finance.

In addition to extending the university’s influence farther into the city of Kent, the board approved a measure that will help expose graduate architectural students to architecture styles of urban Cleveland and even Italy.

The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, which is currently housed in the Pointe Building in Cleveland, allows graduate students to do pro bono work in Cleveland. It also gives them the opportunity to travel to Italy to study Italian architecture.

The measure the board voted on today will allow the university to finalize a deal with Playhouse Square, which will move the design program from its current home to Playhouse Square on Euclid Avenue.

This will expose students to urban architecture, in addition to placing the Kent State name in the middle of downtown Cleveland.

A third item the board voted on will place another university within Kent State. The board approved a measure that will allow Bahcesehir, a private university from Turkey, to house a study program in Van Campen Hall.

Heisler said Van Campen Hall, which isn’t ready to house such a program, will need to be renovated before Bahcesehir can be ready to operate.

Check tomorrow’s Daily Kent Stater for more information about the board’s other actions.

– Maria Nann