Collaborate With Us

This subcommittee reviews book nominations and selects the common book. If you are interested in joining the committee, fill out our interest survey and tell us about yourself.

Learn more about the book selection process and how to get involved

Each year, we plan a series of events connected to the common book, including a faculty lecture series, engaging activities, and we often invite the author to campus for a large, campus-wide event.

We would love to partner with you, your program, or department, to create something connected to the book! Reach out to kstatefirst@ksu.edu or to our PR/Events subcommittee to get things started for the fall. And if you'd like to join the committee, let us know!

Be a part of shaping our K-State First program as a whole as we think towards the needs of our students in the future! Below are the core expectations of our Workgroup members:

1. Attend meetings on a regular basis or send a representative.

   • Meetings are held approximately once per semester and are approximately one to two hours in length.

2. Advocate for first-year students and their success.

3. Develop a working knowledge of K-State First and the four programs that comprise K-State First.

4. Provide leadership, advice, and support for K-State First.

5. Disseminate information to your college, department or unit about K-State First initiatives and assessment results.

   • Workgroup members might provide updates to deans/department heads, make announcements at faculty/staff meetings, or forward information via listservs.

   • K-State Staff will provide on request brochures, information sheets, videos, website information, and more.

6. Serve on subcommittees or assist with other activities sponsored by K-State First.

   • Subcommittees include Research & Assessment, Communications, K-State First Book (KSFB), and ad hoc subcommittees as needed.

7. Support the work of K-State First. Your expertise may be called upon to assist with fundraising efforts, speaking to key constituencies, providing faculty training sessions or other activities.

Contact our Director, Dr. Brie Heidbreder, at heidbr@ksu.edu if you would like to be part of our Workgroup Committee.

Each year, our team, along with core partners in Office of Recruitment and Admissions, Housing and Dining, Athletics, the Division of Communications and Marketing, and the Alumni Association, works to create an event for all new incoming students to welcome them to K-State.

At the beginning of each school year, thousands of students, faculty, staff, and administrators gather together at the New Student Convocation event. It is an opportunity to formally welcome our first-year students to Kansas State University and provide an introduction to our campus. Students are greeted by and hear stories from current students, alumni, and key stakeholders of the university who share a collective voice of a community that cares for and is focused on our students' success.

Learn more about New Student Convocation

If you'd like to get connected to the planning committee, contact kstatefirst@ksu.edu.

Wildcat Dialogues is one of K-State's signature intercultural learning events for all new students. It is a space to begin intentional building of cross-cultural relationships through vital and meaningful dialogues. We do this to develop, empower, and equip leaders who can navigate a global society with authentic curiosity, empathy and confidence. During Wildcat Dialogues, students gather to:

1) Learn the importance of engaging in meaningful dialogues

2) Learn tools to engage in dialogue about our cultural similarities and differences

3) Strategize and act to create a community of belonging at K-State

Students will engage in a small group of around 10, led by a student, faculty or staff facilitator.

This event is coordinated in partnership between the Staley School of Leadership, K-State First, the Division of Student Belonging and Inclusion, and the K-State Student Union, alongside a large committee representing students, faculty and staff. This collaboration represents the commitment by our campus community to create a culture of belonging for all.

Learn more about Wildcat Dialogues

Email Mariya Vaughan at mbjv@ksu.edu or Tamara Bauer at tamara@ksu.edu, Co-Chairs of the planning committee, to get involved.

K-State First invites learning community and first-year seminar proposals

Each year we look for faculty and departments who would like to offer new learning communities (CAT Communities) or First-Year Seminars (FYS) for the next school year.

The CAT (Connecting Across Topics) Communities pair two regular, lower-level courses. A cohort of 22 students enrolls in both classes, and the students also meet once a week in a one-hour connections course taught by an instructor from one of the two larger courses. The smaller, one-hour class is a place for the students to dive into some active learning and to explore the connections between the two regular classes.

Faculty members who teach the one-hour connections class receive a $1,500-$1,700 stipend and the support of an undergraduate Learning Assistant for the semester.

Learn more about CAT Communities

K-State First is also looking for FYS classes, which are smaller versions of regular, lower-level classes that enroll first-year students only. Departments offering FYS classes receive compensation to help cover the costs associated with offering small classes taught by exceptional faculty.

Learn more about First-Year Seminars

Proposers should contact Brie Heidbreder (heidbr@ksu.edu) with expressions of interest or questions. Learn more here and submit your proposals to Dr. Brie Heidbreder by October 9 at heidbr@ksu.edu.

EDCEP 111 and DAS 100 Instructors

Each year, we seek qualified instructors to teach EDCEP 111 Foundations of College Student Success and DAS 100 Introduction to K-State Culture. We offer several sections of EDCEP 111 Foundations of College Student Success as a high-energy, active-learning First-Year Seminar that meets twice a week. For first-year students only, this course is designed to introduce students to K-State and teach them the skills they will need to thrive in a college learning environment. The fall 2024 schedule will also include six sections of DAS 100 Introduction to K-State Culture. These First-Year Seminars provide an introduction to the intellectual and cultural life of the university and support in the transition to college-level learning and college life.

K-State First looks for faculty, student life professionals or advisors at K-State who have experience working with new students and an interest in new student success. Instructors of EDCEP 111 will receive professional training, a stipend of $2,000 that can be taken as professional development funds or salary, and the support of an undergraduate learning assistant. DAS 100 faculty will also receive training, a $2,000 stipend and complimentary admission to the performances and events on the fall DAS 100 schedule.

Learn more about the timeline and how to apply here

K-State First Learning Assistants (LAs) and Residential Learning Assistants (RLA) have an important experiental learning opportunity through interactions from the K-State First Program, which assist first-year students.

This is a peer mentoring opportunity for undergraduate students to show off their leadership skills both in and out of the classroom.

Learn more about the Learning Assistant role

K-State First is the advisory body for the university's Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society. As a student honor society who's mission is to actively encourage and reward academic excellence in the first year of collegiate study, Phi Eta Sigma plays a vital role in fostering student leadership, service, and community engagement on campus.

Learn more about Phi Eta Sigma