August 22, 2017
A letter from President Richard Myers
Submitted by President Richard Myers
Dear faculty and staff,
Welcome to another fall semester! New beginnings are always exciting, including if you are joining us at K-State for the first time, or if you've repeated this beginning many times. I feel fortunate to work with such dedicated and accomplished faculty and staff and deeply appreciate your many efforts that help our university excel. I am anticipating great things in the coming year.
The effects of our work have again been noticed. Just recently we were ranked in 15 different categories by the Princeton Review — nine of which were in the Top 10, including for happiest students and students love their colleges. These rankings are based on student input, and happy students who love their college is certainly noteworthy. Whether you advise, teach, mentor, serve, employ or simply extend a warm greeting, you play a vital role in making K-State the place students love.
Other good news we received this summer was Kansas State University being named an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. This is well-deserved recognition of your commitment to quality research that impacts our state and region. Special thanks to Vice President for Research Peter Dorhout for leading efforts to obtain this important designation.
If you are on the Manhattan campus, you surely have noticed roads have reopened and construction signs have come down. Campus looks great with all the new buildings and rejuvenated older ones! The changes we've seen the past few years have been incredible, and while we still have many goals to work toward, I'm proud of how much has been accomplished. Please watch for information about celebrations planned on Oct. 13 for the K-State Student Union and Seaton Hall/Regnier Hall renovations and expansions.
We have many issues we'll need to address in the coming year, but as I shared in a March letter, one very important task will be to update our K-State 2025 visionary plan. Our first steps were to collect, compile and share suggestions for changes to the plan from the university community. The next steps are to form a committee and draft a revised plan, allow time for feedback, and then target a rollout of the updated plan in December.
Whether it is renewing our goals, finding solutions to challenges, celebrating accomplishments or simply enjoying our beautiful surroundings, I am honored and humbled to be working with each and every one of you.
Thank you for all you do for Kansas State University, and have a great fall semester.
Richard B. Myers
President
Kansas State University