What does The Office of Corporate and Community Services do exactly? What services are provided through The Office of Corporate and Community Services?

The Office of Corporate and Community Services at Kent State University Stark Campus provides the link between the university and the Stark County community, and provides organizational consulting, employee training, research and evaluation services and small business counseling.

Our professionals work with you to develop comprehensive, customized consulting and training services based on your organization’s strategic objectives. The sampling of consulting and training (or human performance improvement) initiatives below provides examples of the kinds of work The Office of Corporate and Community Services provides to area organizations:

Strategic planning           
Change management
Project management
Development of a corporate university
Computer consulting and training
Training needs assessment
Organization cultural assessment
Team building
Management coaching consulting and training
Effective communications skills training
Continuous improvement projects
Decision-making skills training
Problem solving skills training
Conflict management skills training
And many others…

These services can be provided at Kent State Stark in the first-rate Professional Education and Conference Center or at the organization’s site.  

In addition to customized employee training programs for organizations, The Office of Corporate and Community Services offers similar programs for professionals in public/open enrollment sessions. In cooperation with national professional associations, we offer professional development opportunities for those in leadership and human resources. Supervision and Management Certificate programs are offered for new and veteran supervisors and managers.

Serving as a community data center, The Office of Corporate and Community Services at Kent State Stark also provides research and evaluation services to community groups and organizations. Click Here to read about the statistical research and analysis projects that have recently been completed.

Through the Ohio Small Business Development Center, business owners and managers receive free counseling, information and technical assistance from certified business counselors. This consulting with start-up and existing businesses is on a confidential, one-on-one basis in areas such as business plan development, acquiring capital, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and manufacturing. The Center also offers regular workshops to ensure that business owners have the support and training that will lead to profit and long-term success.

Can you customize training for my specific organizational needs? 

The Office of Corporate and Community Services is in the business of developing training programs that meet the strategic objectives of your organization. We take the time to learn about your organization and the industry in which it operates.

Our facilitators have years of “real world” experience along with meaningful credentials, which means that you get highly experiential and interactive training programs. In addition, our professionals manage the training project from beginning to end to ensure a positive and successful experience for all involved.

Examples of the training programs that we have facilitated for organizations include leadership, project management, team building, supervisory skills, computers, process improvement, conflict management and many, many more.

We can deliver the training at your site, a site near your facilities or at our Professional Education and Conference Center.

Contact Kelli Baxter or Harold Sargus to make an appointment to begin developing a customized training program for your employees.

Are the facilitators of these programs well qualified?

Those who facilitate programs for The Office of Corporate and Community Services are carefully screened through interviews, references, pilot programs and credential reviews. All of our facilitators have many years of experience and expertise in their respective fields of interest. Our facilitators have the highest level of professionalism, experience, expertise and credentials.


Will the information learned in the programs help me in my job performance?

All of the non-credit professional development programs offered by The Office of Corporate and Community Services at Kent State University Stark Campus are developed by university faculty or experienced professional consultants to teach the attendees skills to improve job performance. The skills are identified through research and with input from the Office of Corporate and Community Services Advisory Board. Members of our board are local business executives and owners, management and human resource professionals. By attending our programs you will benefit from a program designed to provide you with the “take away” tools to improve your job performance.

Do you offer any certificate programs?

The Office of Corporate and Community Services currently offers certificate programs in Supervision and Management. The certificate programs are developed based on our years of experience consulting with organizations about the training needs of these levels of employees. The non-credit programs that make up these certifications include topics such as leadership, interpersonal communications skills, problem solving, decision-making, conflict management and other areas.

We also offer The Certification for Human Resource Professionals, which prepares human resource professionals to take the national Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resrouces (SPHR) certification exams. Upon successfully passing this test, you will become recognized by the Society of Human Resource Professionals as a professional who has achieved a high level of knowledge and success in your field. As a result of receiving the certifications, recipients are often able to gain stature and advance professionally.

In addition to this certification, Your Corporate University offers the Certificate of Advanced Human Resource Management, a skill-based program built with input from human resource managers and from expert facilitators.  This certification helps you advance your knowledge to the next level, focusing on strategic human resource management and leadership.

For what local companies has The Office of Corporate and Community Services provided customized training?

The Office of Corporate and Community Services has trained supervisors and managers from more than 100 local organizations. Click here to review a list of some of our clients.

Directions to Kent State Stark/OCCS office?

For a map of the campus, click on the link at the bottom of this page.

If you’re coming to the campus from I-77 North of Portage Street:

Take I-77 south to the Portage Street Exit (111). Turn right onto Portage. Turn left onto Frank Road, after The Strip Shopping Center. Go past the first entrance for Kent State University Stark Campus on the left, and continue to the traffic light at University Drive. Turn left onto University Drive. The Office of Corporate and Community Services is located in the Professional Education and Conference Center, and is most easily accessed from University Drive (which connects Dressler and Frank). Go to the campus entrance on University Drive on the left. Once you enter at the campus entrance from University, the Conference Center will be immediately to your left. Park in the parking lot in front of the building. The offices are toward the rear of the building. For the location of a program you are attending, please see the monitors in the conference center.

If you’re coming to the campus from I-77 South of Portage Street:

Take I-77 north to the Portage Street Exit (111). Turn left onto Portage. Turn left onto Frank Road, after The Strip Shopping Center. Go past the first entrance for Kent State University Stark Campus on the left, and continue to the traffic light at University Drive. Turn left onto University Drive. The Office of Corporate and Community Services is located in the Professional Education and Conference Center, and is most easily accessed from University Drive (which connects Dressler and Frank). Go to the campus entrance on University Drive on the left. Once you enter at the campus entrance from University, the Conference Center will be immediately to your left. Park in the parking lot in front of the building. The offices are toward the rear of the building. For the location of a program you are attending, please see the monitors in the conference center.

What are CEUs? Does this apply to teaching graduate re-certification requirements?

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) represent a system for tracking an individual’s non-credit educational training. These opportunities can include professional development, human resources, supervisory and management training and leadership development that include meaningful instruction but have no university accreditations attached to it. Each CEU is the equivalent of ten, 50-minute contact hours (10 hours = 1.0 CEU). The programs offered at Kent State Stark usually do not apply to teaching re-certification. However, many programs have been approved for re-certification requirements in a specific field.

How would I get a list of what non-credit programs are offered?

All of our programs are listed in our Corporate University Catalog. You can request this information in several ways. You may telephone The Office of Corporate and Community Services at 330-244-3508, Click on the link below titled "Review and Register for Programs," or you could fax your request to 330-244-3535. Your information should arrive within a few days.

What kinds of training do you offer?

The professional development programs offered by The Office of Corporate and Community Services are listed in our Corporate University Catalog and are scheduled on a quarterly basis. You can request a catalog be mailed to you by calling (330) 244-3508. Program areas include:

· Human Resources,
· Leadership Skills,
· Management Certificate,
· Professional Development,
· Supervision Certificate and
· Web-based programs.

Additionally, The Office of Corporate and Community Services offers customized, contracted employee training to organizations in all types of industries, from manufacturers and hospitals to federal, state and local government agencies. Ask us about our customized performance improvement consulting services, which include:

· training needs assessments,
· organizational cultural assessments,
· wage and benefit surveys,
· development of a corporate university,
· strategic planning services,
· employee training in a range of topic areas,
· supervisory/management certifications,
· leadership development and
· computer training, among others.

How do I register for a program offered by The Office of Corporate and Community Services or The Small Business Development Center?

For non-credit professional development programs:

Click on the link at the bottom of this page titled "Review and Register for Programs," contact Mona Zink at (330) 244-3508, fax information to (330) 244-3535, or send an e-mail message to YourCorporateU@stark.kent.edu. You may also send your registration information to:

Mona Zink
Kent State University Stark Campus
Office of Corporate and Community Services
6000 Frank Avenue NW
Canton, OH 44720

For programs offered by the Small Business Development Center:

Contact Shawn Turner at (330) 244-3279, by fax to (330) 244-3340, or by e-mail message at sturner@stark.kent.edu. You may also send your registration to:

Shawn Turner
Kent State University Stark Campus
Small Business Development Center
6000 Frank Avenue NW
Canton, OH 44720

What is Web-based learning?

Web-based learning enables registrants to enroll and complete the coursework via the Internet by accessing a specified Web site. In today’s fast-paced world, Web-based learning accommodates busy schedules by allowing the registrant to access their on-line classes virtually 24 hours a day. The Office of Corporate and Community Services offers Web-based programs in a broad range of computer applications training.

Can I get college credit for open enrollment professional development programs?

Because the professional development programs offered through The Office of Corporate and Community Services are non-credit classes, no credit is received. Certificates of completion will be issued for these non-credit courses. Continuing education units (CEUs) may also be issued for most professional development programs.