June 8, 2015
President Schulz addresses weekend's legislative actions
The signing of the bill declaring all state employees "essential" is a welcome relief to the K-State family and our communities. We hope the Legislature will finish its work on the budget soon so we can move ahead with our work and focus on our students.
The past week was difficult and distracting, yet I am proud of the way our faculty and staff members got the job done. The amazing folks in the Division of Human Capital Services — led by Vice President Cheryl Johnson — spent the week on overdrive and deserve recognition for performing admirably under extreme duress. Please let them know how much we appreciate their service to us all.
I also want to give a shoutout to Jeff Morris and our staff in the Division of Communications and Marketing for managing universitywide communications; Sue Peterson in Government Relations for keeping us appraised of what was occurring with the Legislature; and all of our supervisors for making very difficult decisions on who was deemed "essential" for campus operations.
While we still have many unknowns, I encourage you to conduct business as normal. Once the budget issues get sorted out we can move ahead with our tuition proposals and will know where we stand.
Thank you for your continued patience and willingness to persevere. We will continue to keep you informed of the process and answer questions as we can. Updated information can be found at k-state.edu/furloughs or by calling 785-532-1565.
Kind regards,
Kirk