January 16, 2024
Welcome to the spring 2024 semester
Dear K-State Community,
Happy New Year — and welcome to the spring 2024 semester! I hope you each made the most of your winter break, whether you chose to rest and rejuvenate or travel and seek adventure. Maybe you found the ideal combination of the two. Whatever you did, I hope it has fueled your fire to make 2024 your best year yet.
At K-State, we ended 2023 with many new and exciting accomplishments under our belt. Most recently, we celebrated the win at the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Sally, Lily, Chris and I had a wonderful time helping paint Orlando purple, and we couldn't have been more proud of the team's accomplishments and how the K-State Family as a whole showed up in a big way. It was also especially nice to see K-State victorious against the NC State Wolfpack from my old stomping grounds.
Our university community has also shown up in a big way with its continued support of our strategic plan. Since launching last September, we have made incredible progress, and we're poised to do much more this year, stretching ourselves to realize our shared vision as a next-generation land-grant university.
This year, I want you to know that I am committing to even more frequent and transparent communication on our strategic planning progress, where I will be sharing key efforts and initiatives tied to our strategic imperatives and our opportunity agenda, including ongoing funding opportunities for K-State faculty and staff.
- I will be releasing a monthly update letter in K-State Today this semester, highlighting the specific priority areas of our plan and the work driving them forward. In February, I intend to do a bit of a deep dive into the efforts that are driving how we are delivering an unmatched and impactful student experience.
- Additionally, we will be launching a new video series next month to be shared on K-State's social media channels called Next-Gen 'Cats. Our hope is to not only showcase the incredible ways K-State faculty and staff are working toward our goals, but simply to lift up and celebrate our people, as you are the foundation of all that we are able to achieve.
- Finally, our very own K-State Alumni Association is launching its own communication platform today to keep our entire K-State Family informed. I encourage you to subscribe to this new podcast, The Scoop on K-State with Adam Walker, where the association's president and CEO will chat with university leaders about the plan and what's important to them. I had the opportunity to be Adam's first guest when we recorded last month, and it was a great opportunity to think ahead about where we're heading with our plan and how we're going to get there together as One K-State.
These efforts will of course join the ongoing implementation communications that are shared regularly from the university's leadership team and linked on the Next-Gen K-State website.
2024 is poised to be a remarkable year for this university, and that's because of each of you. Students — I wish you a fun and fulfilling spring semester, one that challenges you in new ways and allows you to celebrate new accomplishments. And to our faculty and staff — I thank you for all you do to continue to live our mission and drive our vision forward. May you be inspired to try new things and think in new and exciting ways.
Go 'Cats!
Richard Linton
President