K-State Current - September 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

K-State College of Agriculture Remains on U.S. Top 10 list A leading organization for ranking America’s best colleges and universities has named the Kansas State University College of Agriculture in the top 10 of the United States’ best 140 agricultural schools.

Niche.com released its rankings in late August, taking into account volumes of data provided through the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation and millions of reviews from college students and alumni across the nation.

“This is something we are very proud of, particularly because it represents the quality of education we provide to students as well as the quality of agricultural research being conducted at Kansas State University,” said Ernie Minton, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension.

The newest rankings are available online. To be included, a college must confer at least five bachelor’s degrees in agriculture or represent at least 20% of all bachelor’s degrees conferred by the university.

According to information from Niche.com, the ranking is based on rigorous analysis of academic, admissions, financial and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education, and research expenditures gathered by the National Science Foundation.

The organization also surveys current students and alumni to analyze their overall experience while attending classes in the university’s program. For this year’s ranking, 3,283 current or former K-State students replied to Niche.com’s request for feedback on their educational experience.

“Every university wants to think that they are providing a good experience for students,” Minton said. “When you consider the rigorous methodology that Niche.com uses to evaluate universities in the United States, it is clear that we are on the right track in the College of Agriculture and at K-State. The categories that pull us into the top 10 are student-focused, reflecting the commitment our faculty have to student success. That’s gratifying to me.”

According to Niche.com:

• 93% of students said K-State professors are passionate about the topics they teach.
• 90% of students said K-State professors are approachable and helpful.
• 89% of students said K-State professors care about student success.

One student interviewed for the ranking noted: “Kansas State University has a comforting, welcoming, high quality campus and environment. The people were so kind and helpful when needed.”

Niche.com assigned a grade of A to K-State’s College of Agriculture based on faculty accomplishments, salary, student reviews and similar factors. It was noted that

94% of K-State graduates are employed or furthering their education within two years of graduation.

“It’s important to note the contributions of our faculty and staff in the success we have experienced over time,” Minton said. “It’s evident to me that throughout the College, we have employees at every level who understand the importance of creating the best possible environment for learning. Being recognized for that is gratifying.”

Grant supports research to mitigate COVID-19 in meat and poultry processing facilities Kansas State University researchers involved in a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded project to protect meat plant workers and their surrounding communities from the spread of COVID-19. From left: Randy Phebus, Sally Davis, Valentina Trinetta, Sara Gragg and Daniel Vega. Not pictured are Jeanette Thurston, Erin Schirtzinger and Yunjeong Kim.

A team of Kansas State University researchers is using a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and an additional grant from the state of Kansas — to study how to effectively control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the nation's meat and poultry processing facilities.

The study "Translating SARS-CoV-2 Research Into Practical Solutions For The Meat And Poultry Processing Industry" seeks to protect meat plant workers and their surrounding communities from the spread of COVID-19. It involves researchers from K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agriculture.

As part of the study, $330,000 from the State of Kansas National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Transition Fund will be used for research in K-State's Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, at Pat Roberts Hall. The BRI is a high-containment research facility.

A key objective of the project will be verifying the effectiveness of many of the approved cleaners and sanitizers for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 during plant processing and sanitation operations.

"Nationally and internationally, many facilities that produce meat and poultry products have been temporarily closed because of COVID-19 outbreaks," said A. Sally Davis, an assistant professor of experimental pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and project director of the K-State grant. "This has put a major strain on food production, limiting the amount of meat and poultry on grocery store shelves and disrupting food and feed supply chains across the globe. Research is necessary to understand why SARS-CoV-2 is such a problem in meat and poultry processing environments and how we can mitigate the problem."

Davis said infections with SARS-CoV-2 are primarily thought to occur by exposure to infectious micro-droplets in the air and contaminated surfaces.

"We are investigating the conditions within meat and poultry processing environments, such as low temperatures, relative humidity, increased air movement and workers being in close proximity to one another, to help identify areas and surfaces that are at high risk for contamination and spread of infectious SARS-CoV-2," Davis said.

The team will evaluate potential sources of exposure and determine the amount and the longevity of infectious virus that is present during and after meat processing and packaging activities. The team seeks to identify, develop, validate and deliver practical cleaning and disinfection strategies, plus develop mathematical models to predict and reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in meat and poultry processing facilities.

Joining Davis on the research team are food safety faculty from K-State's Food Science Institute, including Randall Phebus, co-project director and professor of animal sciences and industry, and Jeanette Thurston, director of the Food Science Institute and co-investigator on the project. The project also will rely on input from an industry advisory board.

"Our advisory board will be regularly updated on research progress," Thurston said. "We will communicate with them in real time to make sure we are on the right track with our research and recommendations, and ensure that our findings are rapidly deployed across the processing sector."

The industry advisory board is composed of senior-level directors of food safety and plant operations at Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, National Beef Packing Company, Cargill Protein North America, JBS USA, Wayne Farms, Jennie-O Turkey Store, Tyson Fresh Meats and Costco Wholesale.

Bonnie Rush, dean of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, said K-State, known as the "Silicon Valley of biodefense," is the ideal place to conduct this vital research.

"This is an advantageous collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agriculture," Rush said. "It combines our expertise in the study of viruses, our high-containment research facility in the BRI and our national experts in food safety."

Ernie Minton, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension, said COVID-19 has hit the agricultural industry and its workers hard.

"We certainly felt the impact when COVID-19 hit our meat processing plants in Kansas and across the nation this spring," Minton said. "In April, nearly 5,000 workers in U.S. processing plants became infected, causing plant closures, a backlog of animals waiting to go to market, higher feed costs, lower market prices, and a scarcity of meat and poultry in some areas. It's a tremendous privilege to receive USDA support and work with a team of top academic and industry leaders to find solutions to help us avoid this type of problem in the future."

Collaborating with the K-State team are co-project directors from the University of Georgia poultry science department, Harsha Thippareddi and Manpreet Singh, who will provide extensive poultry experience and industry connections and lead the grant's industry outreach efforts. Valentina Trinetta and Sara Gragg, food safety faculty from the Food Science Institute, are co-project directors. Co-investigator Anke Richter, a public health-focused operation research specialist at the Naval Postgraduate School, will lead the risk assessment driven by mathematical modeling. Co-investigators Yunjeong Kim and Erin Schirtzinger in the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine and the Food Science Institute's Daniel Vega round out the project team.

K-State Faculty Highlights

Physics Professor Sayre Working on Two Newly Funded NSF Grants

Eleanor Sayre, professor of physics, will begin work soon on two newly funded NSF awards for collaborative projects. These grants are the latest in a series of projects which makes physics and STEM education more accessible to the US and international communities of education researchers.

A collaborative project with Rochester Institute of Technology has resulted in a 3-year, $1 million NSF Building Capacity in STEM Education Research grant entitled Institute in Research Methods for Professional Development for Emerging Education Researcher (PEER) Field Schools.

This award will help train a diverse group of more than 600 emerging education researchers, engaging them in high quality fundamental research, relevant theories and methodologies.

Sayre and her research group will at K-State will work DePaul University and RIT to aid in developing field schools around the country to train the next generation of discipline-based education researchers.

The PEER project has been successfully implemented in several locations worldwide to include Rochester, NY; Cologne, Germany; Kibungo, Rwanda; Monterrey, Mexico; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sayre will also be working on another project as a member of the organizing committee for an NSF grant of $50,000 that has been awarded. She will work with faculty at DePaul, University of Northern Colorado, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Laverne to organize an international conference for physics and mathematics education researchers planned for summer 2021. 30 participants in mathematics and physics education will form working groups to develop future research and grant proposals around building capacity for discipline-based education research in math and physics.

Sayre joined the physics department in 2011. She has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in discipline-based education research. She conducts research on how students develop professional identity in physics, linking the development of their technical knowledge with their perceptions of what it means to do physics.

K-State Polytechnic professor assisting with research project recently awarded $1.1 million from NSF

Siny Joseph, economics professor at K-State Polytechnic, is part of a research project that recently received a major boost from the National Science Foundation.

The project, aimed at improving location-based services for people with disabilities, was awarded a more than $1.1 million grant. Joseph is a co-principal investigator on the project and joins professors from Texas A&M University and Wichita State University, as well as researchers from the Envision Research Institute and the city of Wichita.

The grant, which was awarded for three years by the NSF's Smart and Connected Communities program, allows the team to design, develop, test and evaluate a system accessed through a smartphone app called CityGuide. The concept of CityGuide builds upon GPS services, providing important way-finding capabilities for people with disabilities that currently do not exist. The three main areas the team plans on exploring are emergency evacuation from indoor environments, remote assistance from a caregiver or family member, and navigation of transit systems.

"My background in engineering and economics has helped me appreciate the potential impact of assistive and accessible technologies on people with disabilities," Joseph said. "I am truly honored to be a part of a team that is addressing societal issues and has the potential to make a change for communities."

Joseph's role in the research project will be focused on conducting an economic analysis of the way-finding system with sustainability implications for communities as well as an assessment of the economic impacts of the system. She also will include a K-State Polytechnic undergraduate student on the project who will assist in collecting data for economic analysis.

Read more information about the award.

K-State Student Highlights

College of Business Administration launches Menard Family Scholars Program To help provide a premiere business leadership experience for high-achieving incoming freshmen, the Kansas State University College of Business Administration has launched the Menard Family Scholars Program.

Offered by the college's Center for Principled Business, the Menard Family Scholars Program engages freshmen business students in a yearlong cohort-based program designed to foster leadership development, ethical decision-making and innovative thinking, while gaining technical knowledge and skills through rigorous coursework. Through industry learning trips, alumni connections, one-on-one mentoring and other exclusive experiences, students will explore college leadership opportunities and career pathways in the business sector.

Students will also work with top faculty members as they transition to college life, and benefit from early access to the College of Business Career Development Program, specialized advising and career shadowing experiences. Students will gain personal, professional, and career skills, while building a peer and professional network with high-achieving individuals.

"We are so thankful for the Menard family's generous support of this program," said Kevin Gwinner, Edgerley family dean of the College of Business Administration. "That support will provide these students with an incredible opportunity to set a tone of success that will extend long past their time in college, and well into a successful career."

The college welcomed the inaugural cohort of 29 freshman business majors to campus this fall:

Sophie Osborn, Chanute; Adam Baruth, De Soto; Emily Howard, Eudora; Derrick Harrington, Goddard; Blake Sanderson, Goodland.

From Greater Kansas City: Sammy Kopecky and Maddie Rimmer, both from Leawood; Samantha Brethour, Lenexa; John Anliker, Carver Hartl and Tori Ward, all from Overland Park; Josh Glunt, Hugo Nascimento, Mason Parrish and Aidan Taylor, all from Shawnee.

Grace Brannon, Harper; Alexis Flores, Hutchinson; Josie Teagarden, La Cygne; Sarah Kimmi, Lancaster; Will Bannister and Hannah Higgins, both from Manhattan; Calvin McPherson, Perry; Ethan Brown, Salina; William Cupp, Scott City; Gabe Roberts, St. George; Tyler Burns, Topeka; and Janis Asaris and Emma Stegman, both from Wamego.

From out of state: Anna Ryan, Lee's Summit, Missouri.

For more information about the program, please visit the Center for Principled Business website or contact Marcia Hornung, hornung@k-state.edu.

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