12/02/20
K-State Current - December 2, 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 Records Highest Ever All-Sports GSR Rating
Seven Wildcat programs recorded Big 12-best Graduation Success Rate figures, and K-State’s all-sport graduation rate of 92 percent was the highest in department history, as the NCAA released its latest graduation rate data.
K-State’s men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s golf, tennis and volleyball programs led the Big 12 with perfect 100 percent marks, while the football team’s 91 percent rate was also tops in the league. As a department, K-State was second among current Big 12 membership with an overall average GSR of 92 percent. Only Baylor recorded higher all-sport marks.
Across the NCAA membership (Divisions I, II and III), the GSR has steadily climbed to its highest point at 90 percent in 2019 from 74 percent in 2002. The latest graduation rate data is for the 2013 cohort.
All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).
The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.
K-State ranks among the league’s best in terms of overall academic success as it continues to set a national standard for APR, as all programs are currently well above the required NCAA standard.
Kansas State University celebrates completion of Morris Family Multicultural Student Center
The Kansas State University Morris Family Multicultural Student Center is one of two free-standing multicultural centers in the Big 12. The center is for all students and is the hub for intercultural learning and cultural enrichment at K-State.
The simple act of cutting a ribbon brings long-standing dreams to fruition at Kansas State University.
"Today we celebrate another milestone at K-State with the completion of the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center," said Richard Myers, president of Kansas State University. "This new, modern facility symbolizes K-State's leading efforts to build unity and understanding of cultures across campus."
On Friday, Nov. 20, K-State hosted a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Morris Family Multicultural Student Center.
The center is for all students and is the hub for intercultural learning and cultural enrichment at K-State. It is one of two stand-alone multicultural student centers in the Big 12.
"This center is to be a bridge to bring people together and not to break them apart," said Jim Bob Morris, lead donor for the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center. "There are some major inequalities out there where people have to jump over major hurdles. We want to bring those hurdles down and help those people be successful by building a bridge between their hopes and desires and their reality, which they can then choose to cross over."
The nearly 13,000-square-foot, three-story, free-standing building is immediately east of the K-State Student Union with entrances off of Mid-Campus Drive and inside the Union. The $6.4 million multicultural student center was privately funded in partnership with the Kansas State University Foundation.
The center is the home to more than 40 multicultural student organizations and provides students and student organizations with collaboration spaces, meeting rooms, prayer and meditation spaces, and a practice performance room. A community kitchen is a signature feature, bringing diverse people together to celebrate their rich history, heritage and traditions around cooking and culture.
"The building itself is a symbol of belonging to the diverse community on campus," said Rachel "Annie" Cortes, senior in elementary education, Pittsburg, and president of the Asian American Student Union. "I cannot even begin to imagine its impact once we begin holding events, having meetings, sharing our cultures, and overall leaving our mark here at Kansas State University that will be visible for generations to come.
"I really appreciate the thought that was put into what would normally be overlooked, such as ensuring as much natural light as possible. One major feature that stood out to me was the efficient use of space with every area having its purpose. It is clear that the building was built with the students' wants and needs in mind."
In addition to the student-centric features and uses, multicultural student life and intercultural learning staff will have offices in the center.
"One of the primary goals of the multicultural center project action team was to maximize the footprint of the space and to center its function around student utilization," said Adrian Rodriguez, associate vice president for student life and project lead for the center. "Only a few offices were designed for diversity and multicultural student affairs team members who work directly with multicultural student groups and intercultural learning for our entire campus community."
"This facility has been a long-held aspiration for K-State," said Greg Willems, president and CEO of the KSU Foundation. "Its integration with the K-State Student Union will allow this special space to serve as an access point for all students to engage in important conversations about diversity and inclusion. We are especially proud to have achieved this 100% with philanthropy and are grateful for the K-State family's generosity toward this initiative."
The Morris Family Multicultural Student Center will be open to students at the beginning of the spring semester. Additional student dedications and events to celebrate the opening of the center are being planned for the spring semester.
The Kansas State University Morris Family Multicultural Student Center is one of two free-standing multicultural centers in the Big 12. The center is for all students and is the hub for intercultural learning and cultural enrichment at K-State.
Kansas State University celebrated the completion of the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center on Nov. 20. K-State President Richard Myers, center front, and lead donor Jim Bob Morris, center back, are joined by students during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Jim Bob Morris, lead donor for the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center, shares his passion for the center at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 20.
K-State Faculty Highlights
Spahr, Jani and Rojkovskaia recognized as Professor and Professional Staff of the Week honorees
From left Kendra Spahr, Vibhavari Jani and Natalia Rojkovskaia.
Kendra Spahr, academic services librarian; Vibhavari Jani, associate professor of interior architecture and industrial design; and Natalia Rojkovskaia, professor of mathematics, were to be recognized as Professor and Professional Staff of the Week at the Nov. 25, 27 and 30 men's home basketball games, respectively. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no fans were in attendance for those games. Yet, Faculty Senate, the Office of the President, K-State Athletics and the Division of Communications and Marketing still wish to recognize these individuals' contributions to K-State.
Spahr, who joined K-State in 2016, has become an indispensable resource to students and faculty in social sciences and the College of Business Administration. She has designed and delivered over 140 information literacy instruction sessions to more than 4,200 students. Spahr was the 2020 recipient of the Brice G. Hobrock Distinguished Faculty Award for K-State Libraries. She has been the co-leader of the Developing Scholars Research Seminar since fall 2017. She also has served on the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Advisory Council.
Jani has had a transformative effect on the evolution of the interior architecture program and the students she instructs. A longtime proponent of evidenced-based design, she shares her passion for research with every student in the interior architecture program. For a field that is historically not well-grounded in research, her contributions have been transformative. For the past 10 years, Jani has had the responsibility for the development and teaching of the Design Research course in the department. In her graduate-level capstone studio course, she has guided nearly 200 students in the execution of a variety of service-learning projects. Her students will apply what they have learned to countless future projects that will positively impact people's lives.
Rohskovskaia joined the mathematics department in 2008. In addition to her research work, she has distinguished herself for her work with budding mathematicians: she has directed the Math Circles for elementary school students in Manhattan from 2009-2019 as well as in Berkeley, California, and at Moscow School 125 during sabbaticals. Since 2016, she has organized the Kansas Kangaroo Math Competition, in connection with the Math Circles program. As the pandemic hit during summer 2020, Rohskvskaia worked with colleagues and in collaboration with UFM to organize the Summer Math Circles Seminar online workshops for students in second to eighth grades. Rohskovskaia consistently directs graduate and undergraduate students in research.
K-State Student News
K-State regains national championship in livestock judging
Members of K-State's 2020 national champion livestock judging team are (l to r) head coach Chris Mullinix, Madison Andrade, Chisum Grund, Daniel Dobbs, Austin Vieselmeyer, Lane Egger, Cagney Effling, Trace Mulligan, Justin Slabaugh, Sam Gleason, Skyler Scotten and assistant coach Payton Dahmer.
Kansas State University returned to the pinnacle of livestock judging in the United States when its team captured the North American International Livestock Exposition title on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The victory marks the 15th national championship for K-State’s livestock judging program, but the first since 1998 when the squad won its fifth in a row.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment and the culmination to a dominant year by a group of students that have represented Kansas State University in first-class fashion,” said head coach Chris Mullinix. “Some of the most accomplished evaluators and coaches in the history of the livestock industry fell short of their national championship goal, but this squad was determined from Day One.”
Tuesday’s win capped a strong season in which the team won its last five contests, including The American Royal in Kansas City. “Their consistency was amazing and a direct reflection of their work ethic, team depth and competitive spirit,” Mullinix said.
Livestock judging challenges students to test their knowledge of a group of animals by ‘placing’ them according to how they compare to each other, and to the ideal animal. They must then justify their placing orally to the judges.
K-State landed four individuals in the top eight overall en route to the team win. Skyler Scotten of Nevada, Missouri, and Daniel Dobbs of Carnesville, Georgia, placed second and third, respectively. Chisum Grund of Sharon Springs, Kansas, and Austin Vieselmeyer of Amherst, Colorado, were sixth and eighth.
Team members Cagney Effling, of Highmore, South Dakota, Justin Slabaugh, of Goshen, Indiana, and Vieselmeyer were named All Americans, and Mullinix was named the national Coach of the Year.
The win also broke a string of four consecutive runner-up finishes, or Reserve National Champions, by K-State.
In addition to being the overall national championship team, K-State won first place in the categories of reasons, beef, beef reasons and performance beef. The squad placed second in sheep and goats, and third in swine.
For Mullinix, the win was extra special. He was a member of K-State’s 1995 national championship squad and was named high individual that year.
He becomes just the third person ever to win a team national championship as a student, finish as high individual, and coach his alma mater to a national championship . The other two were his former coach, Scott Schaake; and Scott Greiner of Iowa State, who is currently the superintendent of the national contest.
“I can’t express the pride I had as a student being part of a national champion team, and now coaching a group of students to that same honor,” he said. “My coach, Dr. Scott Schaake, is one (who has achieved the same) and now I’m incredibly honored to join him.”
Other members of this year’s team include Madison Andrade of San Juan Bautista, California, Lane Egger of Columbus, Nebraska, Sam Gleason of Maple Hill, Kansas, and Trace Mulligan of Scott City, Kansas. Graduate student Payton Dahmer was an assistant coach.
“Like every other activity, we were forced to jump through a number of hoops to make the season happen,” Mullinix said. “First, we are so thankful for the development of protocol at the university level that gave us the opportunity to travel. At contests, our national events were aggressive in developing procedures to mitigate spread (of COVID-19).
“It was an interesting year, but these students have only one year of contest eligibility, so they were willing to do whatever was deemed necessary to make it happen.”
Mullinix sounded nostalgic in bringing the national championship back to Manhattan.
“K-State has fielded a competitive livestock judging team for well over 100 years, and our alumni include some of the greatest livestock minds in the history of animal agriculture,” he said. “Those former team members serve as our biggest supporters and open their ranches to our team every year to help us develop our students’ evaluation skills.”
An hour after the victory, Mullinix had received more than 200 text messages from alumni, breeders across Kansas, K-State colleagues and others.
“This is a huge team effort and I hope all of our stakeholders take pride in the bronze bull coming home to Manhattan,” he said. “It belongs to us all.”
Construction science student chapter honored with Chapter of Excellence Grant
The Mechanical Contractors Association of America student chapter at Kansas State University has been awarded a 2020 Chapter of Excellence Grant on behalf of the John R. Gentille Foundation and the association's career development committee.
The $7,500 grant, funded by the Mechanical Contracting Education and Research Foundation, is earned by schools who have shown excellence in student chapter activities including participation in the contractors association's national project competition. Of the total amount awarded, $2,500 is to be used for chapter operations, development and field trips; and the remaining $5,000 is to be awarded to worthy student members as scholarship funds at the discretion of chapter faculty advisers.
In preparation for the Mechanical Contractors Association of America's competition project, which involved a mock construction proposal for the Penn South Chiller Replacement Project in New York City, chapter members toured the chiller plant on the K-State campus, asking questions of the facility operation's staff and the project manager for the mechanical contractor who installed the equipment. Students learned to use FastPIPE estimating software as well as Microsoft Project to build a realistic construction schedule. Several industry partners, such as U.S. Engineering, helped the team by providing feedback on its competition proposal.
Paul Karr, assistant professor and D. Craig and Dalene D. Nelson — Carl and Mary Ice Cornerstone teaching scholar, and Jongchul Song, associate professor and D. Craig and Dalene D. Nelson Cornerstone teaching scholar, both in the GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science, are faculty advisers for the chapter.