11/20/19
K-State Current - November 20, 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
Two K-Staters named recipients of Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Presidential Awards
Two K-Staters have been named recipients of Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Presidential Awards for promoting diversity at Kansas State University.
Mariya Vaughan, the assistant director of K-State First, is the awardee for the Presidential Faculty/Staff Award for Distinguished Services to Historically Under-Represented Minority Students. The award was established in 1978 to recognize outstanding individual contributions to the development of quality education for students of color at Kansas State University.
During her career at the university, Vaughan has had a significant influence on K-State First students through intercultural learning and development. She not only integrates intercultural learning into her curriculum and course materials through K-State First and her CAT Community, but works on several campuswide diversity events such as the Wildcat Dialogues and KSUnite.
In 2018, Vaughan set out to provide a more intentional focus on intercultural development in the K-State First programs, starting with creating a diversity statement that closely aligns with the K-State 2025 goals and editing student learning outcomes in K-State First to have a more intercultural understanding. Vaughan has also been an integral member of the KSBN selection committee and Wildcat Warm-up. She serves on K-State's Trans* Task Force and the executive boards of the LGTBQ* Faculty and Staff Alliance and the Flint Hills Human Rights Project.
Vaughan has made outstanding strides in providing opportunities for intercultural learning for K-State students. According to her nomination letter, "Mariya's commitment to equity and inclusion is a part of who she is and is evident in her everyday work. Mariya embodies these ideals in her own classroom and challenges us as a program to more intentionally embed equity and inclusion to every aspect of what we do."
Del'Sha Roberts is the recipient of the Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Presidential Student Award for Distinguished Services in Enhancing Multiculturalism at Kansas State University. The award was established in spring 1997 to recognize outstanding individual contributions to diversity enhancement within the student sector.
Roberts is a senior from Kansas City majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-medicine. Roberts has served in many leadership roles at K-State, such as president of the Black Student Union in the 2018-2019 academic year, a member of the Multicultural Student Center Project Action Team, and a member of the Diversity Programming Committee for K-State's Student Governing Association. She also serves as head delegate for the Big XII Council on Black Student Government.
Some of Robert's contributions to K-State include serving as a panelist and facilitator for Wildcat Dialogues and as a speaker for K-State's inaugural KSUnite. While president of BSU, Roberts also revived BSU's "My Black is Beautiful" week to encourage black students to embrace and celebrate their heritage and encourage others to celebrate blackness as well. In addition, Roberts established the Black Student Union's Academic Initiative, Project EAT, Enhancing Academic Tenacity.
According to one of Robert's recommendation letters, "she has represented herself as a person that cares deeply about her community. She serves humbly and tirelessly on committees and in organizations that help advance diversity and inclusion at K-State and help underrepresented students."
Please join us in recognizing Vaughan and Roberts at a public reception from 3:30-5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at the K-State Alumni Center Banquet Room. This year's program will mark the 41st year of the awards.
K-State Faculty Highlights
Christine Wilson recognized as Professor of the Week
Christine Wilson, professor and director of undergraduate programs in the agricultural economics department, was recognized as Professor of the Week at the Nov. 13 men's home basketball game.
Wilson has earned a national reputation for her commitment to students and teaching. Wilson joined the faculty at K-State in 2008 after spending seven years as a faculty member at Purdue University. Wilson first served as the assistant dean of academic programs in the College of Agriculture until she moved to the agricultural economics department to serve as professor and director of undergraduate programs in 2015. Wilson teaches four undergraduate courses, including Agricultural Finance, Freshman Orientation, Decision Tools for Agricultural Economics, and Small Business Operations, and one graduate course in Risk Management. She serves as advisor to 30 undergraduate students. As the director of undergraduate programs, she has responsibility for undergraduate program curriculum, scholarships, recruitment, advising, new student enrollment and student awards.
Her research focuses on agribusiness and farm management issues, including finance, management, production, demand and agricultural food and business marketing issues. Her extension and outreach work includes courses, workshops, and trade press publications related to her research and teaching expertise in finance, marketing, and farm and business management.
Wilson has been recognized as an outstanding educator and leader with numerous honors and awards throughout her career, including the 2019 Kansas State University Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the 2019 College of Agriculture Alumni Board David Mugler Outstanding Teaching Award, and the 2019 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Distinguished Teaching Award — More than Ten Years' Experience.
The Professor of the Week recognition is coordinated by Faculty Senate, the president's office, K-State Athletics and the Division of Communications and Marketing. Recipients are faculty members selected by Faculty Senate caucuses. Those selected are provided tickets to a men's home basketball game of their choosing and are recognized during halftime. This is just a small token of appreciation for those who teach at K-State.
Education professor co-author of national report on challenges of rural schools
A report detailing a 50-state comparison of rural schools reveals that many rural students face numerous inequities, and Kansas, like many other states, has both areas to celebrate and preserve as well as serious issues to address.
"Why Rural Matters 2018-19: The Time is Now" was published by the Rural School Community Trust in Washington, D.C. Jerry Johnson, chair of the educational leadership department and Lydia E. Skeen endowed professor in education at the Kansas State University College of Education, is one of the report's authors. The full report can be viewed at http://www.ruraledu.org/.
Nearly one-quarter — 111,000 — of Kansas' half-million K-12 students are in rural schools, and 46 percent of the school districts in the state are deemed rural by the U.S. Census Bureau. Nearly two-thirds of these districts — 66% — are considered small rural districts with enrollments below the national median for rural school districts. Nationally, there are 50.8 million students in public schools and about 20 percent are in rural schools.
"It should not be necessary to state the importance of the schools serving 1 in 5 U.S. public school students and argue that these schools and their communities matter — but it is," Johnson said. "Meeting the needs of 9 million children is a challenge and a responsibility that deserves the attention of the nation, and this report points to key issues of policy and practice with the potential to make things better or make things worse."
Overall, Kansas ranked in the top third in the nation and was in the top five of the percent of rural students enrolled in dual credit courses. However, the report revealed several areas for policymakers and education leaders to address.
Kansas — even when adjusted for comparable local wages — ranked last in rural teacher salaries and had the 11th highest rate of rural students with individualized education programs. In other metrics, Kansas had the nation's fourth-lowest rate of rural students passing an AP exam, and slightly less than half of Kansas' high school juniors and seniors — 47.8 percent — took the ACT or SAT.
J. Spencer Clark, associate professor of curriculum and instruction and director of the Rural Education Center at Kansas State University, said the report provides clarity.
"The Rural Education Center is strategically positioned to address many of the needs outlined in this report with our rural partners," Clark said. "We're heartened by the fact that we're already focusing on college and career readiness for our rural Kansas students and are looking forward to meaningful discussions on ways to better prepare our students in light of the report."
Rural schools are so vital to the success of their communities, the College of Education hosted the inaugural Rural Summit in 2019. Response was so favorable, Clark said the summit will be expanded to a regional event in 2020. Details will be forthcoming.
K-State Student News
Aviation maintenance students earn awards in regional competition
Two Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus students received awards at the recent Aero Skills Tournament in Wichita at Exploration Place.
The tournament is a one-day regional competition for aircraft technicians and is sponsored by Aviation NETWorX. Schools and industry send their best aircraft structures candidates to compete. The competition required assembling and disassembling a sheet metal project. The students and teams were judged on the quality of their work based on Federal Aviation Administration-approved methods and guidelines.
The team of Rafael Ayala, Beloit, and Brett Steverson, Topeka, both juniors in aviation maintenance management, earned third place and a $700 award in the junior division, which is for students with one year or less working with sheet metal.
Steverson also competed individually and won the sheet metal fabrication competition, earning $1,000 and the right to compete at the national competition in Las Vegas in February 2020.
"I received second place last year and was motivated to go back this year," Steverson said. "Knowing what to expect, I was better able to prepare."
Kansas State Polytechnic aviation maintenance professors encouraged Ayala and Steverson to compete. Preparation included spending many hours in the maintenance lab fabricating a sheet metal project to showcase multiple techniques.
After earning his degree, Steverson wants to work at a maintenance repair and overhaul facility in the Pacific Northwest. Ayala plans to gain experience working in the aviation maintenance field. He also intends to earn his private pilot license and maintain his own aircraft.
Student from College of Veterinary Medicine receives prestigious equine scholarship
Five veterinary students across the country received a $5,000 scholarship from Merck Animal Health, administered by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, or AAEP, Foundation. Among the recipients is Haydan Vosburgh, a fourth-year student at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
"I am extremely grateful to have been awarded this scholarship from Merck Animal Health and the AAEP Foundation," Haydan said. "This award will help alleviate some of my financial burden from veterinary school and allow me to focus on pursuing my passion for equine medicine! I am excited to start the next chapter of my veterinary career and would like to thank Merck and the AAEP Foundation for providing this wonderful opportunity!"
The Merck Animal Health scholarship recognizes promising veterinary students committed to a career in equine medicine.
"We are incredibly proud to support these five future equine veterinary students through our ongoing partnership with the AAEP and the AAEP Foundation," said D. Craig Barnett, Merck Animal Health director of equine technical services. "These students are exceptional leaders and I'm confident they will help move our mission forward by advancing the science of healthier animals in the years to come."
The five recipients of the 2019 Merck Animal Health Scholarship will be presented with their awards on Dec. 9 at the AAEP's 65th Annual Convention in Denver, Colorado.