11/07/18
K-State Current - November 7, 2018
K-State Current is a weekly news update for the Kansas Board of Regents to apprise the Regents on a few of the many successes and achievements made by K-State faculty, staff and students.
K-State News
K-State Dining Services is the Best in Kansas
Kansas State University has the best college dining program in Kansas, according to a set of rankings from Niche, a website that ranks schools, companies and neighborhoods. 
In its 2019 list of the nation’s best colleges, Niche assigned a separate ranking to several individual aspects of college life, including academics, campus, residence halls, student life and food. The food category caught the attention of Foodservice Director magazine, which noted the rankings were further broken down by state and published the results. In “The Best College Dining Program in Each State,” the magazine added comments about dining at K-State.
"The Manhattan school offers its 5,000-plus students three dining centers as well as a number of c-stores, restaurants and coffee shops. Its Union Station by JP’s is the school’s first gastropub, serving up beer, wine, cocktails and a variety of food options. Students looking for some bar grub to go can order through the concept’s Fast Track counter."
Housing and Dining Services at K-State has recently undertaken several projects to update or add to its facilities. The new Kramer Dining Center, Union Station by JP’s and Fast Track will soon be joined by renovations to Derby Dining Center. What hasn’t changed is the department’s approach to serving students.
“It is an honor to be recognized by a national publication as the best college foodservice in Kansas. The distinction serves to validate our success in meeting student needs through facilities design, but also through concept development, menu planning, and quality food production and service,” said Mary Molt, associate director of housing and dining services. “While we hear accolades daily from students, it is nice to be shown such national regard.”
K-State ranked highly in several other categories of the Niche rankings. Student life and the Manhattan campus were also No. 1 in the state, with national rankings of 37 and 26, respectively.
Interior design program ranked in top 10 by DesignIntelligence
Kansas State University's interior design program in the College of Human Ecology has again been ranked in the top 10 by DesignIntelligence, an independent company focused on the design and construction industry. It annually publishes results of a survey of design professionals ranking design programs nationwide.
The voter pool was comprised of 6,119 hiring professionals, 359 deans and department chairs, and 5,451 students in the design discipline who were asked "Which interior design schools do you most admire for a combination of faculty, programs, culture and student preparation for the profession?" The K-State interior design program was recognized among hundreds of undergraduate programs in the U.S. as one of the top 10 most admired programs.
Along with its top marks as an admired program, the interior design program received top five rankings in 10 of the 12 design education focus areas used in this year's survey. Focus areas include topics such as construction materials and methods, design technologies, engineering fundamentals, healthy built environments, research, project planning and management, and communication and presentation skills. A full list of the focus areas can be found at di-rankings.com.
"Our exceptional faculty and students produce educational excellence that is respected year after year by those polled in the DesignIntelligence survey," said Barbara Anderson, head of the department of apparel, textiles, and interior design. "It is especially rewarding that we are ranked in the top 10 in all 12 focus areas evaluated this year."
K-State Faculty Highlight
K-State's Higgs, Jankowiak selected for Higuchi-KU research awards
Two distinguished Kansas State University researchers are recipients of the prestigious Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, which are presented for scholarly excellence. Winners will be recognized at a Nov. 29 ceremony.
Stephen Higgs, university distinguished professor, associate vice president for research and director of the Biosecurity Research Institute, is receiving the Dolph Simons Award in the Biomedical Sciences.
Ryszard Jankowiak, university distinguished professor of chemistry and ancillary professor of physics, is receiving the Olin K. Petefish Award in Basic Sciences.
This is the 37th annual presentation of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, which were established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at KU from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya. The awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each award includes a citation and a $10,000 award for ongoing research efforts. The money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, hiring research assistants or other support related to research.
K-State Student News
The flight team at Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus will compete on a national level next spring after placing second in its region during an annual collegiate aviation competition.
The Kansas State Polytechnic Flight Team attended the National Intercollegiate Flying Association Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference, also known as NIFA SAFECON, Oct. 14-17, battling other colleges in their region for a chance to advance to the national championship. After participating in a variety of events consisting of tests both on the ground and in the air, the Kansas State Polytechnic Flight Team earned several individual awards and placed second overall, securing a spot at nationals in May 2019.
In preparation for regionals, the flight team had the unique responsibility of both training for the competition and helping organize the contest as this year's host. Ten universities from seven states visited the campus to compete in two different regionals. Kansas State Polytechnic faced the colleges in NIFA SAFECON's Region VI: Oklahoma State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, St. Louis University-Parks College, University of Central Missouri, University of Nebraska Omaha and University of Oklahoma. Minnesota State University-Mankato, University of Dubuque, University of North Dakota and University of Wisconsin challenged one another in NIFA SAFECON's Region V.
"It was such an honor to welcome other universities to our campus and connect with so many students that share the same interest in aviation," said Maddie Perry, Wichita, senior in professional pilot and captain of the flight team. "Having the competition close to home also helped our strategy: Because we weren't traveling out of state, which costs more per person, we were able to increase the number of flight team members participating and each was able to focus on the event or events they best excelled at. Overall, it was a valuable learning and networking experience and I'm proud of what this team accomplished."
The competition consisted of nine ground and flight events that ranged from determining different types of aircraft from ambiguous photos to attempting to hit a ground target from the air to landing a plane as close as possible to a specific line painted on the runway. Participants earned points for their efficiency in each event entered, which were accumulated to score single event placings as well as each team's overall performance. Winners in each category received a medal or plaque and the top three teams in each region were selected to move on to nationals.
Fifteen members competed for Kansas State Polytechnic at NIFA SAFECON and more than half of them scored in the top 10 in various events. Their individual placings are as follows:
Jacob Hecker, sophomore, Hays, eighth in Message Drop; Robert Weesner, sophomore, Leawood, eighth in Aircraft Recognition and eighth in Message Drop; Caleb Strahm, senior, Sabetha, first in Short Field Landing, second in Power-off Landing, fourth in Traditional Navigation, and eighth in Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation; Logan Klein, junior, Salina, 10th in Ground Trainer and 10th in Message Drop; Marc Hinnen, sophomore, Shawnee, first in Power-off Landing, fourth in Computer Accuracy, fourth in Short Field Landing, fourth in Traditional Navigation, seventh in Ground Trainer, and runner-up for Top Pilot; and Maddie Perry, senior, Wichita, fifth in Power-off Landing, sixth in Ground Trainer, and 10th in Short Field Landing.
Brandon Vu, freshman, Johnston, Iowa, 10th in Message Drop; Zach Smith, senior, Hendersonville, North Carolina, seventh in Navigation; and Satoru Okada, sophomore, Yokohama, Japan, second in Computer Accuracy, seventh in Navigation and eighth in Short Field Landing.
The Kansas State Polytechnic Flight Team also was selected as the safest team in both Region V and VI. Other members of the competition team include Brent Koenigsman, sophomore, Hays; Conrad Giebler, sophomore, and Grant Weldon, sophomore, both from Olathe; Cole Thornberry, junior, Troy; Zak Kierstein, junior, Erie, Colorado; and Charles Weeks, sophomore, Woodstock, Georgia.
Along with competing annually, the flight team uses its student organization as a way to give back to the community and to connect children with aviation. Throughout the year, the team is a part of several campus events like Open House and Candy Canes and Airplanes, and also conducts two aviation camps for kids and one for high school students in the summer.
K-State Sales Team brings home Top Salesperson Award from Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up
Kansas State University Sales Team member Abbie O'Grady, junior in marketing, beat out 70 competitors from 22 universities to bring home the Top Salesperson Award at the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up Oct. 18-20.
Hosted each year in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up is a national collegiate sales competition that showcases the talents of some of the top marketing and sales students from across the U.S. Sales competitions allow students to test their selling skills against their peers from other top sales schools through role-playing scenarios.
The Kansas State University Sales Team is comprised of students in the College of Business Administration's National Strategic Selling Institute. Marketing instructor David Lehman is the head coach for the K-State Sales Team. Kellie Jackson, program associate, coached and traveled with the team for the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up.
The team for the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up included Kaitlyn Porter, sophomore in management, Manhattan, and O'Grady, junior in marketing, and Katie Horton, sophomore in marketing, both from Overland Park. All three team members finished among the top 20 individuals at the competition.
For winning top honors at the competition, O'Grady received a trophy, a custom suit from Tom James valued at $1,000, and a $1,500 cash prize. Porter also was recognized as School Champion for K-State, and was awarded $150.
"Winning the Top Salesperson Award could not have been done without the hard work and preparation of all three sales team members working together," Jackson said. "I'm extremely proud of their efforts in preparing for this competition and look forward to their continued success."
The K-State Sales Team is housed in the College of Business Administration's National Strategic Selling Institute, which has been named one of the top sales programs in the country for seven straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. Students can earn a certificate in professional strategic selling from the National Strategic Selling Institute, which is open to all majors at the university. The certificate program introduces students to the fundamentals of sales and, through the innovative curriculum and sales labs, allows students to develop the skills needed to be successful. This fall, K-State became just the 19th university in the U.S. to offer a major in sales.