Akron Reporter

The Kent State Athletic Department is excited to share an update on the Department's Play as One Strategic Plan Initiative.

The Strategic Plan was created and developed in the summer of 2021 to set the path for the future of Kent State Athletics. A tremendous amount of time and effort was put into setting that plan into motion in an expedited fashion (big thank you to Dr. Kathy Wilson for her leadership), culminating in a plan that has eight Priority Areas, 20 Goals, 45 Goal Strategies and 100 Action Items.

"I am proud of the work our department has done over the past year," Director of Athletics Randale L. Richmond said. "The time, effort, and care that has gone into implementing Play As One showcases how special a place Kent State is. It is exciting to see the plan come to life as we continue to deliver and improve upon a first-class, Division-I student-athlete experience that focuses on graduating student-athletes, boldly prepared for life after sport, and winning championships."

While this plan launched a year ago, but the tangible impacts have already shaped our Athletic Department .Heading into the fall of 2022, we have collectively completed 43 of our 100 Action Items.

Highlights of our completed Action Items Include:

In Academics and Career Development: Creating and implementing our Name, Image and Likeness educational platform, the NIL Nest. Establishing the KSU Connect mentorship program, partnering athletic alumni with current student athletes.

In Engagement and Collaboration: Establishing a directory of youth organization and leaders, partnering with campus leaders and groups, and creating a graduate assistant focus on gameday experience for student-athletes and fans.

In Competitiveness: Launched the Coaches' Leadership Academy which in one year will focus on the continued professional development of our assistant coaches. This program will collaborate with the current Kent State faculty and utilize national resources.

In Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: Kent State Athletics established a newly developed position that is dedicated to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. This position serves as a direct liaison to the DEI strategic planning committee and spearheaded a new educational initiative for staff and coaches in a partnership with Return on Inclusion.

In Facilities: A special task forces has been created to strategically analyze athletics facilities and created an index to provide metrics to assist in the identification of priorities.

In Resources: We have implemented a donor-centric philanthropic approach, which yielded over $325,000 in donations for new state-of-the-art training equipment for the field house weight room.

In Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being: Kent State Athletics partnered with the Office of Counseling and Psychological Services to provide a full-time mental health professional that is embedded within athletics to serve student-athletes.

In Organizational Excellence and Culture: The creation of an on-boarding process for new employees that helps to provide a consistent experience and information based off the Department's mission and core values.

We invite you to view our progress in our book located at the bottom of the page as we continue to implement the strategic plan and its action items in years to come.

Original source can be found here.