04/16/20
K-State Current - April 16, 2020
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
Visit K-State’s “We Are #KStateStrong” site to view brief videos designed to keep the K-State family engaged, connected and inspired during these challenging times.
College of Veterinary Medicine continues to offer essential services to Kansas and beyond
The Kansas State University Veterinary Health Center is staying open for emergency services and is making accommodations to maintain social distancing with clients.
The College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University has made accommodations to continue providing the best service possible in animal care and diagnostic services during this time of need.
The college's recent actions are in line with recommendations from the American Veterinary Medical Association, the World Organization for Animal Health and the World Veterinary Association, who have collectively identified veterinary services as essential. In Kansas, most private veterinary practices remain open with new precautionary protocols to protect clients and professional staff.
"Veterinarians serve the public in a variety of capacities beyond animal care, including disease prevention, public health, food inspection and food safety, research on infectious and zoonotic diseases, translational medicine and much more," said Bonnie Rush, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "Despite COVID-19, we continue to provide services that are deemed essential for our community and the state. We have worked through staffing and personal safety guidelines to protect workers and limit interruption of essential services."
The Veterinary Health Center remains open to provide care for urgent and emergency patients of all species. It has also taken measures to protect the safety of hospital staff and the community by making scheduling adjustments. These adjustments include a drop-off concierge protocol and a new discharge protocol, just to name a few. The full protocol is posted at vet.k-state.edu/vhc/covid-19.html.
"We are making every effort to maintain around-the-clock services for veterinary patients in need," said Elizabeth Davis, interim center director. "Concurrently, as essential members of our community, we are working to keep students, staff and faculty healthy and safe. The Veterinary Health Center is committed to provision of high-quality, specialized veterinary services and exceptional training for professional students and specialists in training."
Another College of Veterinary Medicine service, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, is providing an added sense of security during a time of uncertainty and unpredictability.
"The lab is maintaining regular operating hours, but with staggered shifts for staff," said Jamie Henningson, director of the laboratory. "Our services support essential industries and individuals, inside and outside of Kansas, who must continue to operate during this challenging time, which include, but are not limited to, veterinarians, livestock producers, pet owners, rabies testing and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network to detect foreign animal disease or to respond to an outbreak."
For more information and updates, visit the College of Veterinary Medicine website at vet.k-state.edu.
Kansas State University is expanding its resources to help people across the world transition to remote learning with a new free digital community for P-12 education.
The K-State College of Education's Remote Learning P-12 community is another cyber land-grant university initiative and a place where educators and parents can share innovative ideas and resources that support student success. The online forum is open to parents, teachers, principals, superintendents and school counselors in Kansas and around the nation and world and can be accessed through K-State Global Campus. The community can be found online at remote-learning-p-12.mn.co.
"Our K-State faculty and staff have been one of the silver linings of this pandemic," said Debbie Mercer, dean of the College of Education. "They are donating their time and expertise to help teachers, schools and parents continue on through this adversity."
Thomas Vontz, professor of curriculum and instruction and coordinator of the Remote Learning P-12 community, said the idea came to him after learning of a community built for higher education.
"College of Education faculty at K-State have been discussing a variety of ideas to address how schools, teachers, parents and students could keep teaching and learning in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis," Vontz said. "Our colleagues in Global Campus developed an online forum for higher education teaching that really took off. So, we borrowed a good idea from them and modified it."
Karen Pedersen, dean of K-State Global Campus, said she sees both a need and enthusiasm for educators pulling together to help one another.
"Establishing a Keep Teaching community for higher education professionals to crowdsource resources and provide support was our first step," Pedersen said. "With more than 1,550 individuals in that community, I'm very excited the College of Education is setting up the Remote Learning P-12 community."
Todd Goodson, professor and chair of the department of curriculum and instruction, believes this pandemic will touch and change many aspects of society.
"I suspect educators will learn some things from this crisis and take away a few innovations that will have lasting impact," Goodson said. "Moments like this are game-changers for almost every aspect of society, including education institutions."
J. Spencer Clark, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, agrees with Goodson and believes this is a time for growth and, in the end, teachers and students will benefit.
"For the long term, we hope teachers return to the classroom with more online resources and tools to enhance their face-to-face teaching and pedagogy," he said.
Read more about K-State's remote learning resources, k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/2020-03/university_demonstrates_cyber_land_grant_leadership.html. More information also is available at k-state.edu/keepteaching.
K-State Faculty Highlights
APDesign professor named winner of 2020 Gabriel Prize
A watercolor by Otto Chanyakorn, assistant professor of architecture at Kansas State University.
A Kansas State University architecture professor is the winner of the 2020 Gabriel Prize, a prestigious award presented by the Western European Architecture Foundation.
Otto Chanyakorn, assistant professor in the College of Architecture, Planning & Design — known as APDesign — is the recipient of the $20,000 grant for the study of classical architecture and landscape in France. As part of this award, Chanyakorn will travel to France and hone his skills in drawing and painting, as well as explore creative potentials in architecture. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chanyakorn's travel will take place in summer 2021.
"I'm humbled to be selected as the 2020 Gabriel Prize recipient by the Western European Architecture Foundation," Chanyakorn said. "This fellowship will provide me with three months in Paris to fully concentrate on my drawing and painting. Undoubtedly, this will be a life-changing experience for me. Most importantly, I am excited to share the knowledge and skills that I will gain with my students. I'm thankful for the generous support from the APDesign community, my colleagues and particularly Dean Tim de Noble and department head Matt Knox who offered insightful and constructive input."
As the winner, Chanyakorn will embark on a three-month itinerary of his own devising. While abroad, he will focus on some particular aspect of French architecture and will work closely with the Western European Architecture Foundation's European representative, a Parisian architect who is available for regular criticism and discussion. Chanyakorn also will spend much of his time sketching, measuring and, in the course of his time in France, produce three large renderings. Through this process, he will come to know some of the masterpieces of France.
"Otto brings the same passion and artistry to his teaching as he does to his creative work. He is an amazing artist and this prestigious award is well deserved," Knox said.
“Otto's talent, so evident on every page of his sketchbooks and leaves of his watercolor pads, is rooted in an obvious joy and passion for investigating the natural and designed world around him," said de Noble said. "It is infectious, a superb example for our students and fellow faculty. After viewing his work in anticipation of his interview, I ran back to my office and started sketching! I am not at all surprised that he won the prize, and suspect the jurors, like me, were motivated to hunker down and draw for the joy of it after seeing the depth of his drawn investigations."
The selection process included three phases: the submission of pertinent illustrations of personal work and an outline of the studies contemplated; selection of three finalists by a first jury; and meeting with a second jury, which then selects the winner.
Jurors are chosen for their experience as teachers and artists and for their knowledge of study abroad. Jurors have included architects, landscape architects, painters, professors and past Gabriel Prize laureates. The goal is to maintain a variety of viewpoints and experiences among the jurors.
Chanyakorn teaches design studio and digital courses. Before joining K-State in 2019, he taught a variety of courses at the School of Architecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for six years. Chanyakorn's current focus is on building a circularity between digital and analog methods in design thinking, visual communication and representation to enrich architectural design processes. He also maintains his meditative practice as part of his daily routine via painting and drawing.
Chanyakorn earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Khon Kean University in Thailand and a Master of Architecture from the School of Architecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
A work by Otto Chanyakorn, assistant professor of architecture at Kansas State University.
K-State Student News
Zechariah Rose, Jacob Worm elected new SGA president, vice president at K-State Polytechnic
After an online swearing in ceremony, the Student Governing Association on the Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus has a new pair of leaders to serve the student body for the 2020-2021 school year.
Zechariah Rose, junior in applied business and technology, Salina, and his running mate Jacob Worm, senior in mechanical engineering technology, Wichita, have been elected SGA president and vice president, and officially began their term March 27. Both students previously held senator positions within the organization last fall. Rose saw running for the primary position as a way to step up and support his fellow Wildcats while making the most of his college experience. Worm had ideas for change on campus and thought joining the top of the ticket was an opportunity to get off the sidelines and be a part of the solution.
"Transparency is one of the main initiatives Zechariah and I would like to focus on while in office," Worm said. "We want to make sure students always know what's going on in SGA — what decisions are being made and why. It's important to us that our peers trust their leaders."
Worm says keeping campus clubs and organizations active is another area of concentration.
"We want to help grow membership and cultivate leadership in clubs and organizations," Worm said. "Oftentimes, groups fall inactive because the leaders graduate and no one naturally steps into that role. We want to inform students about what clubs and organizations exist on campus and inspire their involvement."
In addition to serving as SGA vice president, Worm is a member of the Baja SAE team, was a peer mentor for incoming freshmen during fall orientation, and is a student lab technician at the Kansas State University Bulk Solids Innovation Center. He is a graduate of Maize High School and attended Cowley College for two years before becoming a Wildcat.
With the university's recent move to limited operations on all campuses and virtual learning for students because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rose understands he's representing the student body at K-State Polytechnic during a unique time. As SGA president, he wants the challenges of being separated to actually be something that brings the campus together.
"I know that many students are confused, scared and worried right now about how all of these changes will affect their college experience, their financial situation, or their access to meals. Just because we aren't physically together right now doesn't mean we aren't going to be there for you," Rose said. "We call ourselves the K-State family, and family sticks together. If you need something, don't hesitate to reach out. We'll always try to find a way."
Rose mentions that K-State Polytechnic's SGA has moved their meetings online to accommodate the new climate and every student is invited to join the conversation. The meetings are at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays via Zoom, and a link to the weekly event has been sent to their Canvas course.
This is Rose's first year at K-State Polytechnic. He is a graduate of Salina Area Technical College, earning an applied science associate degree and an auto collision repair certificate while in high school at Christian Rose Academy. He is a member of the K-State Gamers Board and enjoys helping his classmates with homework questions. Rose is fascinated by business and accounting and hopes to one day earn his CPA certification.
K-State Sales Team places third in the Challenger Sales Institute Regional Sales Competition
The Kansas State University Sales Team competed in the Challenger Sales Institute Regional Sales Competition on March 5-7 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Thirteen universities and 65 competitors participated in the event. The team placed third overall in the competition.
The K-State Sales Team sent five students to compete: Alex Wilcox, senior in operations and supply chain management, De Soto; Lucas Johnson, junior in professional strategic selling, and Kara Krannawitter, junior in professional strategic selling, both from Lawrence; Skylar Holsinger, senior in professional strategic selling, Overland Park; and Sarah Kerrigan, senior in professional strategic selling, Lincoln, Nebraska. Abbie O'Grady, senior in professional strategic selling and marketing, Overland Park, served as a peer coach and helped prepare the team for the competition.
The participants competed in three different events: speed selling, role-play scenario and case analysis. All competitors competed in the speed selling category. Johnson made it to the finals, placing in the top 12 out of 65 competitors. The case competition team consisted of Johnson and Wilcox. They advanced to finals and placed third out of 11 teams. Holsinger, Kerrigan, and Krannawitter competed in the individual role-play scenario. Krannawitter made it to the finals and placed third out of 36 competitors. Holsinger made it to the semi-finals, placing in the top 16.
"I'm extremely proud of the efforts put forth by all five individuals," said Kellie Jackson, managing director of the National Strategic Selling Institute. "To have representation in the finals in all three events was a great accomplishment. It is great to have peer coaches like Abbie O'Grady to help prepare the students for these events while helping develop their sales skills. We also appreciate all the sponsors and faculty for the time and effort they invest to put on these events to develop sales talent."
The K-State Sales Team is 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 eight straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. The team consists of students who are enrolled in the certificate or major in professional strategic selling. In fall 2018, Kansas State became just the 19th university in the U.S. to offer a major in professional strategic selling. Students can also earn a certificate in professional strategic selling, which is open to all majors at the university. The professional strategic selling 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.
For more information on the National Strategic Selling Institute or the K-State Sales Team, please contact kstatesalesprogram@k-state.edu.