The Corporate University

Faith Sheaffer-Polen
Director
fsheaffe@kent.edu
330-244-3505

As director of The Corporate University, Faith manages the personnel and operations of the department, as well as overseeing the Small Business Development Center, a nonprofit organization hosted by Kent State Stark. Utilizing her skills in one-on-one career counseling, group facilitation and business development, she aspires to help the department increase its responsiveness to the region’s professional needs by providing timely and relevant training and support.
 
Faith holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Kent State University and a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from The University of Akron. She is on the leadership team of the North Canton Executive Networking Group and serves as a member of several professional organizations, including the Stark County Human Resources Association, the American Society for Training and Development and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists.


Julie Bland
Client Relationship Manager
jbland2@kent.edu
330-244-3515

Julie is a client relationship manager for The Corporate University. She works with area companies to customize training programs and research projects to help organizations and their employees succeed. Her goal is to respond to client needs by helping to provide solutions in a timely fashion.

Julie came to Kent State Stark with more than 12 years of experience in the field of human resources, which included training and development needs for adult learners. She is a national member of SHRM and is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR). Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Malone University.

Marshall Hill
Relationship Manager, Surveys and Research
mhill6@kent.edu
330-244-3530

Marshall is the relationship manager for surveys and research in The Corporate University, Kent State University at Stark. Marshall holds a master’s of science degree in industrial/organizational psychology from Grand Canyon University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kent State University. His duties include developing and delivering customized survey, research and consulting services to provide organizations with the information they need to make data driven-decisions.

In this position, he utilizes the latest research technologies in survey development, deployment, data collection and analysis in the completion of research projects. Marshall has been involved with various aspects of research, technology and management during the past 18 years. His diverse background has spanned survey research, product deployment, customer relationship management, systems analysis and technical support.

Willie Shoemaker
Client Relationship Manager
wshoemak@kent.edu
330-244-3517

Willie holds a bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Kent State University and a master’s in technical education from the University of Akron. Formerly a member of the adjunct faculty at Stark State College, she has 15 years of teaching experience. Before entering the classroom as an instructor, Willie was the assistant director of clinical chemistry at a local hospital.

Willie coordinates the public professional development programs for The Corporate University at Kent State Stark. With input from working professionals, Willie coordinates the supervision and management certificate programs, as well as the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training and certification program. She is a Certified Program Planner, a designation awarded by the Learning Resource Network (LERN), an international association that benchmarks lifelong learning programs.


Tami Huff
Client Relations Associate
thuff3@kent.edu
330-244-3512

Tami assists the contract services team by providing support for customized performance improvement projects, professional development programs and conferences developed through The Corporate University. She serves as the liaison for corporate clients and program consultants during the planning, execution and post-evaluation phases of each project.

Tami is responsible for coordinating various aspects of training projects including contracts, materials, logistics and financials. Tami utilizes her skills in the area of organization, administration and customer service to ensure the continuous delivery of premier programming and related services to our clients and partners. Tami received her bachelor's degree in communication arts from Eastern Nazarene College in Boston, MA.

Mona Zink
Customer Service Specialist
mzink@kent.edu
330-244-3508

Mona serves as the customer information specialist for The Corporate University by assisting program participants in the registration process and providing clients with all necessary program information. Mona assists the contract services team and public programs coordinator in providing support for open enrollment programs by processing participant registrations, maintaining program class files and coordinating program details. Mona is committed to providing excellent customer service to each client.

Small Business Development Center

Victor Pavona
Director
vpavona@kent.edu
330-244-3295

Victor C. Pavona is the Director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Victor has 40 years of experience in all facets of business management at the corporate and small business ownership levels.

During his career, he has purchased distressed companies, returned them to health and sold them. Along the way, he has participated in a White House Conference on Energy, a Harvard Business School Study on improving industry and consumer relations and a Michigan State University research project that established and published a guiding set of entrepreneurial principals. 

Victor has traveled worldwide, is a Canton native, Vietnam Veteran and Kent State alumnus.

Holly Bolinger
Certified Business Advisor
hbolinge@kent.edu
330-244-3296

Holly Bolinger is the Certified Business Advisor at the Small Business Development Center. With 20 years of experience in commercial lending and nine years of business ownership, Holly is a valuable asset to the Stark and Wayne County areas. Her career began at National Bank of Detroit where she was involved with several segments of commercial lending, including middle market, small business, and asset based lending. Subsequent commercial lending positions honed her skills in workout/turnaround management and management of commercial lending departments. 

After leaving banking in 2000, Holly became an entrepreneur, starting a full service embroidery firm. In 2004, Holly also joined the staff of the Small Business Development Center and successfully completed an intensive certification process. In this position she assists existing and prospective small business owners with whatever challenges they are facing.

Holly currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Voices of Canton, Inc. (VOCI).  In the past she has also served as a board member for the Great Trail Girl Scouts Council and the Jackson YMCA.

A Detroit native and a Malone alumnus, Holly and her family currently reside in Jackson Township.

 

Amy Schwitzgable
Program Assistant
aschwitz@kent.edu
330-244-3275