Letters to campus

August 2013

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Welcome back! To our new faculty and staff, I’m happy to have you join the Kansas State family — we are thrilled to have you as colleagues. To our returning faculty and staff — I’m glad to have you back, and I hope that you had a productive summer.

I am preparing my annual State of the University address, and I want to commend all of you on a record-setting academic year! While we are still compiling final figures, Kansas State had its best year ever in terms of new research grants and contracts, overall enrollment, private fundraising, diversity of our student body, participation of alumni in university events, and championship performances by our student-athletes. I look forward to sharing with you more details on faculty and staff achievements and other hallmarks of the last academic year in the coming weeks.

One of my goals for this year will be to continue to keep communication lines as open as possible between the campus community and the senior leadership team. Please feel free to reach out via email at any time, and if I cannot answer your question I will try to find someone who can. As president, I am also available through social media (Facebook and Twitter).

The start of the school year brings with it many "beginning of the year" activities. For the last three years, April Mason and I have visited each of our colleges and similar units to describe progress on K-State 2025, to discuss some new initiatives for the upcoming school year, and to be able to respond in person to your questions and concerns. This year Cindy Bontrager will also be joining us to answer any questions related to budget and finance. The currently scheduled meetings include:

Tuesday, Aug. 27; 9:45-11 a.m. — K-State Salina (College Center Conference Room)

Thursday, Sept. 5; 3:15-4:30 p.m. — Arts and Sciences (227 Union)

Friday, Sept. 6; 9:45-11 a.m. — Continuing Education (31 College Court)

Monday, Sept. 9; 2:15-3:30 p.m. — Athletics (Bramlage)

Tuesday, Sept. 10; 2:15-3:30 p.m. — Architecture, Planning and Design (Pierce Commons)

Wednesday, Sept. 11; 2:45-4 p.m. — Veterinary Medicine (301 Trotter)

Thursday, Sept. 12; 3:45-5 p.m. — Business Administration (Cottonwood Room, Union)

Monday, Sept. 16; 1:45-3 p.m. — Graduate School (226 Union)

Monday, Sept. 16; 3:30-4:45 p.m. — Alumni Association (Tadtman Board Room)

Friday, Sept. 20; 9:45-11 a.m. — Human Ecology (Hoffman Lounge, Justin)

Thursday, Oct. 3; 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — Engineering (Fiedler Auditorium)

Thursday, Oct. 10; 2:45-4 p.m. — Vice President for Student Life (Forum Hall)

Friday, Oct. 11; 9:15-10:30 a.m. — Agriculture (Big 12 Room, Union)

Monday, Oct. 14; 3:45-5 p.m. — KSU Foundation (Second floor campaign room)

Tuesday, Oct. 15; 2:45-4 p.m. — K-State Olathe

Tuesday, Nov. 5; 2:15-3:30 p.m. — Education (21 Bluemont Hall)

Tuesday, Nov. 19; 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — Libraries (Hemisphere Room, Hale Library)

Friday, Nov. 22; 9:45-11 a.m. — President/Provost/Vice President for Administration and Finance/ Vice President for Research/Vice President for Communications and Marketing (Forum Hall, Student Union)

I encourage each of you to attend one of these sessions — and for those of you unable to attend one of the sessions, we will be posting copies of our presentation and will send a letter to campus summarizing the information shared.

I look forward to visiting with all of you during the visits outlined above. I also look forward to another great year, and appreciate all of the effort each of you contribute to ensure that we have a great educational experience for our K-State students.

Go Cats!

Kirk