06/12/19
K-State Current - June 12, 2019
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
Bonnie Rush to lead College of Veterinary Medicine
Following a national search, Bonnie Rush has been selected as the new dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University.
Rush, who has been serving as interim dean of the college since 2017, was appointed by Charles Taber, provost and executive vice president. Her appointment begins June 16.
"Dr. Rush emerged as the clear leader following a competitive national search process. With her strong history of leadership for the College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Rush is the right choice to lead this college and its vital teaching, research, service, and outreach programs into the future," Taber said. "The college not only supplies the state of Kansas, the nation and the world with highly trained and skilled veterinarians, it is also a leader in infectious disease research that affects both animals and humans."
As dean, Rush will be charged with leading the college on a variety of fronts, including program development, faculty and student development, research, teaching and extension, program accreditation, diversity and the 2025 plans for both the college and the university.
The college has three academic departments, two service units — the Veterinary Health Center and Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory — and is home to a number of prestigious research centers and units, including the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases, Beef Cattle Institute, Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases and the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. The college's professional degree program provides broad training opportunities across a comprehensive range of companion and exotic animals, and livestock species.
"It has been an honor to serve as the interim dean," Rush said. "The students, faculty and staff of the College of Veterinary Medicine are tremendously talented and committed to advancing the missions to strengthen animal health and well-being through research, education and service. I look forward to honoring the traditions of the college, while working together to create new opportunities for the future."
A professor of internal equine medicine, Rush's area of clinical expertise is equine respiratory disease with an emphasis on respiratory physiology, immunology and aerosol drug therapy. She co-authored the book "Equine Respiratory Diseases" with Tim Mair from the Bell Equine Clinic, Kent, U.K.
Rush began her career as a faculty member at Kansas State University in 1993. She served as the head of the clinical sciences department from 2006 to mid-2017. She has been a core course coordinator, led curriculum reform and maintained responsibility for clinical outcome assessment. She is committed to the scholarship of teaching and has authored or co-authored more than 20 manuscripts in the Journal of Veterinary Education on effective instructional practices, communication training, and student welfare.
The recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Department Head in 2014, Rush also earned the 1996 and 2003 Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award, the 2002 Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, the 2004 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year and the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University.
Rush earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State University in 1989, completed internship training at North Carolina State University in 1990 and equine internal medicine residency training at Ohio State University in 1993.
Interim dean named for Carl R. Ice College of Engineering
Gary Clark, senior associate dean of the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering at Kansas State University, has been appointed interim dean of the college.
Clark's appointment, which takes effect June 16, was made by Charles Taber, provost and executive vice president, and will continue until a regular appointment is made following a national search for a new dean.
"As interim dean, Dr. Clark will provide the leadership to continue building on the success of the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering in the areas of teaching, research and scholarship, and outreach," Taber said. "He will work toward advancing the goals of the college and the university, including boosting enrollment and student success."
Clark will replace Darren Dawson, who accepted the position of president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It is Clark's second time serving as interim dean of the college. He also served in the position during the 2013-2014 academic year.
"Dean Dawson has well-positioned the college for success," Clark said. "As interim, it will be my goal to continue that path of excellence as we move forward to attract more outstanding undergraduate and graduate students as well as the best possible candidates for the next dean of engineering at Kansas State University."
Clark joined Kansas State University in 1994 with teaching and research responsibilities. In 2005 he was named head of the biological and agricultural engineering department and in 2009 he became the college's senior associate dean. Along with serving as the college's senior associate dean, he is a professor of biological and agricultural engineering and a registered professional engineer. His technical expertise is in the design and management of irrigation systems and in the administration/oversight of engineering degree programs and program assessment.
Clark earned a bachelor's degree, with honors, and a master's degree in agricultural engineering, both from the University of Florida, and a doctorate in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University.
K-State Faculty Highlights
Sociologist wins best article award at World Congress of Sociology
Matthew R. Sanderson, Randall C. Hill distinguished professor of sociology, anthropology and social work and professor of sociology, was awarded Article of the Year from the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on International Migration, for his paper, "To the Richest Go the Spoils? Immigration, Development, and the North-South Divide, 1970-2005," published in Sociology of Development, 2016.
Sanderson was presented the award in Toronto, Canada, at the XIX World Congress of Sociology, hosted every four years. The association was founded in 1949 under UNESCO and is the main global forum for sociologists. Its membership includes more than 5,000 members from 171 countries.
Sanderson's paper empirically assesses how immigration affects economic development in receiving countries. Despite much hyperbole about immigration in the public sphere, scholarly research on the long-term, aggregate effects of immigration on development is relatively scarce. Sanderson found that higher levels of cumulative immigration are associated over the long-term with higher average incomes in receiving countries in both the Global North and Global South. Immigration is beneficial for economic development regardless of position in the world economy. Northern, more developed countries, however, benefit disproportionately from immigration, reaping larger percentage gains in average incomes than countries in the Global South.
In making the award, the article review committee commended the article for its theoretical sophistication, methodological rigor and wide-ranging implications for migration policies around the world.
For more information on Sanderson, and the sociology, anthropology, and social work department, visit k-state.edu/sasw/faculty/sanderson.html.
K-State Student News
Business students provide inclusion consulting for a Fortune 500 company
This semester, Kansas State University students enrolled in Management of Diversity in the Workplace, MANGT 560, were tasked to provide consulting recommendations to Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 company.
The company sought recommendations to further improve their diversity and inclusion branding and recruiting strategies. Working in teams, students analyzed the challenge, developed recommendations, and proposed a realistic implementation plan.
"We have been fortunate to work with Hormel Foods since I began offering this course," said Olivia Law-DelRosso, instructor for the course. "The partnership is a win-win. Students gain real-world experience and a better understanding of the impact of inclusion in the workplace, and Hormel gains an outsider, millennial perspective on their strategies."
In the class, students spend the first half of the course understanding their own culture, challenging themselves through intentional engagement with cultures they are unfamiliar with, and improving their ability to communicate across differences. The second half of the course involves learning how to create sustainable inclusion strategies in an organization. Students then apply the strategies they learn through the consulting project.
Teams of student consultants provided recommendations to Hormel, presenting to company associates. The winning teams as assessed by the company received prizes. The winning teams included Chelsey Harber, senior in management; Carrie Mulder, senior in management; Corbin Sedlacek, senior in accounting and management; Ethan Bennett, junior in management; Nicholas Schoeck, senior in computer science; and Alexandra Thrailkill, junior in management.
"We were so impressed by the hard work and recommendations of the students," said Jennifer Dao, supervisor of recruitment at Hormel Foods. "Each team presented opportunities for Hormel Foods to implement and better showcase our diversity and inclusion initiatives. I want to thank K-State for once again giving us the opportunity to work with such bright and talented students."
K-State Theatre named 'Best Undergraduate Theatre Program' in Kansas for 2019
K-State has been recognized as the best collegiate theatre program in Kansas by OnStage Blog, one of the industry's leading informational blogs.
The criteria upon which schools are scored include cost/scholarship, selectivity, performance opportunities, faculty with terminal degrees/experience, facilities, post-grad career support and location resources. K-State Theatre classroom spaces and theatres were specifically cited in the article. K-State Theatre produces six main stage shows and at least four second stage shows each year, including a production by Ebony Theatre that promotes the work of black playwrights. It is the only theatre program in Kansas accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
OnStage Blog publishes the Top 25 theatre program rankings each year, and recognizes collegiate programs which do "exceptional work." Read the full article.
The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences.