SMART START is an academic support initiative designed by Residence Services to provide students and their families with a quick reference to the information important to a student’s transition from living at home to living on Kent’s campus. The subtle changes in everyday living situations can often be very stressful and challenging for students and their families to overcome. This added stress can distract a student’s focus from their intended academic purpose. These resources have been made available to help students and their families through this transition to life on Kent’s main campus. These topics have been identified as the most helpful during that initial transition period.

Students living on campus can expect Residence Services staff (Resident Advisors, Residence Hall Directors, Assistant Residence Hall Directors, Faculty) to contact them concerning these topics, during the first few weeks of being on campus, as part of their role in supporting students during this time of transition. As fellow students and educators, we are concerned with student success and want to do our best to shed light on the paths that lead to academic achievement. Awareness and use of these resources provides students the level of support they often need to be successful students as well as successful residents of the campus community.

Click on the topics to the right to begin exploring the resources available to you. Or, if you don’t know where to start check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help you get started. And, as always, your Residence Hall Staff are there to help you. Feel free to contact them for further assistance.

The difference that living on campus can make for students is the ease with which they are able to develop a support network from the wealth of resources, faculty, staff and fellow students available to them in the surrounding university community. We at Residence Services hope that this site helps you make a SMART START toward developing those connections to the Kent State University community.

Sincerely,

Joel Bynum
Senior Learning Community Coordinator
Department of Residence Services