Amoaba Gooden
Professor & Vice President, People, Culture & Belonging Kent State University
Seminars
Wednesday 24th June 2026
Discover: Centring Care Through Transformation: How Kent State Is Redesigning Culture, Division Structure & Workforce Experience During Major Organizational Change
3:50 pm
- Leading DPCB-managed offboarding and internal job transition processes in support of a university-wide academic transformation, including staff reductions and college/department mergers, by designing a care-centered framework focused on clear communication, employee support resources, and compassionate transition experiences.
- Merging the divisions of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Human Resources into a unified People, Culture & Belonging structure using a bell hooks– inspired “margin to center” framework shifting HR away from purely transactional work toward a more relational, transparent, community driven operating model
- Tracking culture change through climate, engagement, wellbeing, and exit survey data, targeting improvements in trust, belonging, and manager effectiveness indicators by feeding data back to leaders, identifying red flag divisions, and designing tailored interventions that move culture from insight to action
Wednesday 24th June 2026
Develop: How Can Higher Education HR Functions Strengthen Trust and Decision‑Making While Navigating Disruption and Change?
4:10 pm
- How can HR redesign workflows and decision rights in higher education to reduce rework, escalation, and confusion without shifting undue burden back to departments?
- What behaviors and operating norms help HR move from reactive, transactional support to a trusted, authoritative partner for leaders, faculty, and staff?
- How can care‑centered approaches to restructuring, offboarding, and internal transitions be delivered with clarity and consistency in shared‑governance environments?
- What data sources best help institutions understand where trust, belonging, and manager effectiveness are breaking down across colleges and divisions?
