June 5, 2024
From Provost Mendez: Joining the K-State family
Submitted by Jesse Perez Mendez
Hello, K-State Family!
For those of you who I haven't yet had the opportunity to meet, I'm Jesse Perez Mendez, the new provost and executive vice president at Kansas State University.
I am incredibly excited to be joining K-State at this exact moment in time when the K-State community is actively defining what it means to be a next-generation land-grant university. I am energized by the faculty, staff, students, university leaders, alumni and partners I have met over the past few months, and I am so glad to now officially be part of the K-State family.
My chief role as provost and executive vice president is to champion the academic operations within our institution, ensuring we have the right programs to serve our learners, including traditional credit-bearing programs as well as alternatives like microcredentials.
I also want to work to ensure we have the right classroom spaces to carry out our teaching and learning mission, the right laboratories and research spaces to advance impactful solutions, and an incredible lineup of faculty who drive our vision forward.
K-State has set into motion 10 strategic imperative goals as part of the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, and one of those goals is the charge to sustain a population of 30,000 learners by the year 2030.
This means we'll need laser-targeted recruitment and retention practices that think outside of the traditional box, providing learners with exactly the type of education, training and support they need to achieve whatever their goals may be.
It means we'll need industry-connected programs and offerings that speak to the greatest needs of today and the future.
And it means we'll need to recruit and retain the best and brightest faculty and staff who can carry out our teaching, research and service mission with the full support of the institution behind them.
I am excited to be a champion for the work we need to do together to bring the Next-Gen K-State vision to fruition and live out the values of a modern 21st century land-grant university.
Thank you for your passion and commitment to this university. Your support means the world to the future of K-State, and I cannot wait to work and partner with you on our next-gen journey.
Go 'Cats!
Jesse Perez Mendez
Provost and executive vice president