Jim Gaudino, dean of the College of Communication and Information, has visions for CCI Commons.

“The way our majors are structured, you tend to take just one or two courses your first year,” Gaudino said. “The Commons is designed to give you a sense of the schools you are going to be in.”

Gaudino hopes the program will help engage the students in the university community. The more students are engaged with their schools, the more successful they will be, he said.

This type of engagement encourages retention rates, which Gaudino likes to think of as student success or student persistence rates.

More involved students are more likely to stay through graduation, he said. From last fall, the College of Communication and Information has an undergraduate retention rate of about 74 percent.

Planning for incoming students

Gaudino said he’d someday like to see computer labs with Adobe and InDesign programs, special printers for VCD students and film viewing rooms. Students could work on a project during class and have the materials at hand back in their residence hall to finish that night.

“Whatever the kind of tools you need to get better at what you do, we want to give you those tools,” Gaudino said.

goal: an entire residence hall for CCI majors.

“The endpoint would be that we created an environment like the Honors College, but for our purposes,” he said.

Gaudino said he has heard concerns that such an all-inclusive environment could be isolating, but he said the school is working to combat that possibility. An initial idea to have all the CCI Commons students take their introductory elective classes together was nixed for just that reason.

Currently, students can interact with others in their elective classes or down the hall because Verder is not home to just CCI majors.

“We’re less concerned about who you live next door to or who your roommate is than about having a space to congregate,” Gaudino said.

Making the college experience memorable

Whenever Gaudino meets Kent State alumni, the first thing they ask about is their old residence halls, he said. It’s not until later that they think to ask about favorite professors or classes.

The Commons combines the academic and social community many feel is hard to create at a large school like Kent State, compared to universities such as Harvard or Yale.

“We wanted to help build that network,” he said.

Not only do students get to know faculty members and area professionals through the Commons, but they also have the opportunity to interact with upperclassmen in their majors.

Gaudino said he hopes more current students will stay with the program to mentor freshmen and sophomores.