Kent State University Looking to Improve Reputation, Hires New Senior Vice President

KENT, OH - Kent State University is looking to improve its national reputation and has hired a new senior vice president of strategic communication and external affairs to advance that goal. Karen Clarke will assume the role.

Clarke comes to Kent from Temple University in Philadelphia, where she served as vice president for strategic marketing and communications. Last year, the American Marketing Association named Clarke its “National Higher Education Visionary Leader in Marketing.” She will officially join Kent State on Jan. 3, 2017.

Clarke will report directly to Kent State President Beverly Warren and will serve on the President’s Cabinet as a member of the university’s senior leadership team. Clarke will lead a division of approximately 85 staff and has responsibility for systemwide communications and marketing, corporate and professional development, and Kent State’s award-winning public radio station, WKSU. She also will collaborate closely with members of the External Relations and Development Committee of the Kent State University Board of Trustees.

“Karen has an impressive track record of helping large public universities increase their impact, raise their profile and stand out with distinction,” Warren said. “I’ve come to know and respect Karen as a strategic thinker and inspiring leader who can help us execute our Strategic Roadmap and take Kent State to bold, new heights.”

At Temple, Clarke launched the university’s first comprehensive brand strategy, which increased alumni membership and engagement, yielded three consecutive years of record-breaking philanthropic giving and supported an advocacy campaign resulting in an unparalleled increase in state funding. She introduced a proactive media relations strategy that increased positive front-page newspaper stories, magazine placements and national news about the university’s top priorities. She led a team that developed an innovative enrollment strategy for millennials using new media that resulted in 485 new enrollees from a single campaign.

During Clarke’s tenure at Temple, the university has risen to the top tier of public research universities ranked by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, surged 11 spots over four years in U.S. News & World Report rankings, achieved record-breaking philanthropic and alumni support, and developed a reputation for accountability, transparency and laser focus on strategic goals and tangible progress.

Image from Kent State University and Google Earth