Letters to campus

March 2011

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am writing my monthly letter from a nine-day road trip, attending board meetings, visiting with alumni and friends, and working to find additional resources for K-State. I am completing a six-city tour which started in Kansas City, then on to Baltimore, Md., to Norfolk, Va., to Milwaukee, Wis., to Miami, Fla., to Dallas, Texas, and finally back to the Little Apple. So, for the next week or so, airports will be my home away from home.

Our son Tim was home from Mississippi State for his spring break (which is a week earlier than ours) and it was fun to have the entire family together. As you might imagine, the conversations around our family dinners tend to be light-hearted family banter, but occasionally we discuss things that the greater K-State family might find interesting.

Let's listen to a snippet of the Schulz family dinner conversation ...

Noel: My e-mail inbox is filled up everyday with lots of messages about things on campus. Isn't there some way to put all of these e-mail notes and announcements in one place?

Prez: Good grief! Did you have to bring this up at dinner? Well since you brought it up, we are working on this very issue. The Division of Communications and Marketing sends out a note each workday morning called "K-State Today." This e-mail note is sent to every faculty and staff member at Kansas State University, and has sections devoted to various announcements including News, Events, and University Calendar reminders. It is my hope that this will take the place of all of the different e-mail lists in use on campus, and put all of our announcements in one easy to find place each and every day.

Noel: Since you make this sound so great, I assume that you and the rest of the senior administration will also use the K-State Today for announcements and notices?

Prez: You mean the president's office would use a different set of rules than the rest of campus? Of course we are going to use K-State Today. As a matter of fact, this will be the last month we will use this list for dissemination of my monthly "Dear Colleague" letters. Next month, this letter will be featured in K-State Today.

Tim: Dad, I decided to check out the new K-State web page, and saw that the home page now has "Kansas State University" prominently displayed. What is up with that?

Prez: Jeff Morris and his staff have been working for the past year to roll out a new wordmark for K-State that will use "Kansas State University" for our academic marketing and branding. The font and style of "Kansas State University" as displayed on our home page is the result of countless meetings around campus with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends and will be our wordmark of the future.

Tim: So, does this mean that you will need to get new business cards (OK, so maybe most 20-year-olds wouldn't ask about business cards, but if you have read this far, stay with me!)

Pres: Yes, we will gradually replace our business cards, stationery, and other signage across campus with "Kansas State University" instead of the current "K-State" mark. The Division of Communications and Marketing has a website set up which will give details of the transition in our wordmarks.

Andrew: Does this mean that our sports teams will have to use "Kansas State University" instead of "K-State"?

Prez: No, our athletic teams will continue to use the Powercat logo and "K-State" for branding and marketing our athletic programs.

Noel: So when do we have to start using the new "Kansas State University" wordmark? Can I use it now?

Prez: We are going to work with the campus community on the transition, but will officially switch over on July 1, 2011. However, if anyone wants to start using the new wordmarks now, they are available from K-State's Trademark Licensing office, logos@k-state.edu, or phone 785-532-6269.

Tim: Boy, I bet people are going to be upset they have to throw away all of their old stationery and other K-State items.

Prez: Actually, we don't want people to throw away perfectly good materials, and we certainly will want people to use them until they run out. However, when they order any new items, we ask that they use the new wordmark.

Tim: It will be pretty cool that I can mix and match the Powercat logo with the new wordmark — I'll bet that your students, faculty, and staff will be pretty creative.

Prez: Not so fast on that one! We will publish a new all-university graphic identity guide for K-State, which will show how the different wordmarks and logos can be used. It will be important for us to be uniform in how we represent Kansas State University to the outside world, so we are going to try to be consistent in how we use the new wordmark.

Andrew: Dad, you are really traveling a lot. If you are gone so much, how can you keep up with what is happening outside of Anderson Hall? (pretty insightful question at dinner for a high school student!)

Prez: Andrew, you are right. When I first got to campus, I spent a lot of time visiting different groups on campus, and even going around to each college and spending some time with faculty and staff members. Your mother has gently suggested that I need to do this more frequently, so this fall I have already scheduled visits to all of our colleges to talk about K-State 2025 and listen to what our faculty and staff are thinking.

Until next month!

Go Cats!

Kirk