K-State Today June 4, 2018
From the Administration
A message from Dean Goetsch and CIO Pratt
Dear K-Staters,
As many of you are aware, Hale Library experienced a fire on May 22 that resulted in significant smoke and water damage to the building. As President Myers stated in his letter, Hale Library is the heart and soul of our campus. It is home to nearly 30,000 visitors each week when school is in session. They walk through our gates daily to conduct research, study, search our collections, review our rare books, hold meetings, participate in conferences, get library and IT help, scan documents, create videos, check out equipment and more.
We cannot thank the emergency response crews enough for their efforts to save our building. Because of their work, our nationally known special collections and university archives on the fifth floor are relatively unscathed except for smoke damage.
However, while the fire was contained to the roof, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water had to be pumped into the building to control the blaze. As a result, there is extensive water and smoke damage to every square inch of Hale Library.
We’ve contracted with an international disaster recovery company, Belfor. They have hundreds of individuals onsite helping us with the process of removing ceiling tiles and other debris, dehumidifying the building and recovering collections. It is estimated that it will take more than 30 days to dry out the building. We are also in the process of drying out our data center and working with vendors to bring university IT systems back online. A major challenge is to restore electricity to Hale in the midst of significant water damage.
While the damage to the library is heartbreaking, it is the people who make Hale Library truly special. We are dedicated to serving the K-State community, and we are working on alternative ways to provide our services. We are setting up alternative service points and working to provide alternative computing labs and printing services. This will help ease the loss of more than 400 computers and printers that were available in Hale.
We are relocating over 250 library and IT staff and students who call Hale Library home to temporary spaces for at least the next few months. Departments from across campus have made room and welcomed us with open arms. We are extremely grateful.
To view frequently asked questions about library services, please visit guides.lib.k-state.edu/faq.
A disaster of this magnitude will take time to recover, but we are determined to come back even better than before. We can’t do it alone, and the K-State community has already shown us that they are here to help any way they can.
We ask our university family, the Manhattan community and individuals around the world who use our services for your patience while we work to prioritize the work for the restoration company and our staff.
Lori Goetsch, Dean of K-State Libraries
Gary Pratt, Chief Information Officer
News
University Printing is open for business
University Printing is accepting printing requests. Find out how to submit a job.
K-State launches new Office of First-Generation Students
Under the umbrella of the Division of Student Life and a critical partner in the University Success Center, Kansas State University has opened the Office of First-Generation Students to work on behalf of students who are the first in their families to attend college.
First-generation students make up over 25 percent of the undergraduate population at K-State.
Funded through a generous donation from the Suder Foundation, the office will offer support to first-generation students and the university community by coordinating efforts across campus to close the achievement gap to degree completion at K-State. The office will serve as a model for universities across the country — informed and inspired through a unique partnership with the NASPA Center for First Generation Student Success, another key program funded by the Suder Foundation.
The Office of First-Generation Students is in the Academic Achievement Center, 101 Holton Hall. Rebeca Paz is serving as the inaugural assistant director and will report to Stephanie Bannister, assistant vice president for student life. Paz will provide critical project management support, working closely with the Higher Learning Commission Quality Initiative team to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of first-generation students.
A website is under construction to offer more detailed resources and program offerings. If you are a first-generation faculty or staff and would like to be involved with future efforts to help first-generation students, please email Paz at rpaz@k-state.edu.
Find out more about K-State’s land-grant mission to offer first generation students a pathway to success: youtu.be/ydA80X5GMbk.
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