July 22, 2024
Elevating our engagement enterprise
Dear K-State Community,
As the next-generation land-grant university, fulfilling our mission means focusing on both our academic and engagement enterprises. What we discover, create, innovate and teach in our classrooms and labs extends beyond our campuses, profoundly impacting society. A robust engagement enterprise is instrumental in transferring discovery, developing technology, creating intellectual property and expanding knowledge through engaging with our partners and communities. This brings strong connections back to our university to create opportunities for our students and faculty, enriching and supporting the academic experience we offer.
The relationship between our academic and engagement enterprises, fostered by the active participation of the K-State community, is the foundation of our success as a land-grant university as we serve our state and society.
To ensure we are fulfilling our engagement promise and expanding it to new heights, I am elevating Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Marshall Stewart to executive vice president for external engagement. He will also continue to serve as chief of staff.
By doing so, this positions K-State's academic and engagement enterprises as top priorities championed by our most senior leaders.
Stewart and his team helped launch our Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, which guides the realization of our visionary model for modern land-grant universities. They have worked to enhance our government relations program, resulting in historic investments from state and federal agencies. Connections and outreach with K-State Research and Extension and K-State 105 are engaging communities and industries around the state to serve Kansans better. In addition, we're making progress in developing a corporate engagement strategy and team. These activities are simply the start of reimagining our engagement efforts with communities across Kansas.
Like our academic enterprise under the leadership of Provost and Executive Vice President Jesse Perez Mendez, our engagement enterprise is on a path to milestone achievements. Community support and interactions are crucial to strengthening relationships outside the university and essential to achieving our shared success. I am confident that, with the leadership of our executive vice presidents, we will achieve our vision to become the next-generation land-grant university. Our vision will set the standard for inspiring learning, creativity, discovery and engagement that will make a positive and meaningful difference in our society, transforming lives in Kansas and around the world.
Go 'Cats!
Richard Linton
President