March comes in, and goes out, like a Shocker!
January and February were a whirlwind. I have wrapped up touring our on-campus facilities and hosting town halls with all of our colleges. Senior leaders representing administration, faculty, staff and students participated in a retreat.
These opportunities were valuable for me to learn first-hand many of the incredible things our faculty, staff and students do on a regular basis.
I also was confronted with some of the realities we face, including facilities in need of repair / renovation, salary compression and inadequate program funding.
Based on all that I learned from the data provided me in the binders I requested at the beginning of the year, the listening sessions I've held and my own discovery process, I have refined
Five Institutional Priorities
that I recently presented to the Kansas Board of Regents.
Those priorities are:
1. Accessible and affordable education
2. Best student experience
3. Recruit and retain talent
4. Grow and diversify research for our economy
5. Embrace a mission of service
I will be on the road for a good portion of March as our advocate, traveling to Topeka and throughout the state meeting with legislators, as well as industry and community leaders.
I will tell them that Wichita State University is the catalyst for improving the economy of the state and that we will become even more impactful with the resources to diversify the research and scholarship on our campus.
I will also be in Washington, D.C., meeting with Congressional and federal agency leadership, carrying the same message and identifying funding opportunities for our students and faculty.
I will be spending time on Embassy Row in D.C., meeting with foreign representatives as we work to create multi-national partnerships in research, scholarship and cultural activities, as well as increasing global experiences for our students.
Speaking of students, the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area is calling. I will be on the road in Texas with Bobby Gandu, assistant vice president for Strategic Enrollment Management, to meet with school district officials, high school principals and counselors, community college leaders, alumni and major area employers.
We are going to be innovative in ways we recruit and retain talent from outside of Kansas. Dallas/Fort Worth, with the largest concentration of potential new students, is where I am going to initially focus my efforts.
When I return to campus, I will be engaging deans, chairs and students to help in this process as we move forward.
Improving our research and learning spaces
We have completed a space utilization survey of all WSU properties and are about to kick off an analysis of research space use.
The analysis will include research productivity in the space, identification of outdated or duplicate equipment, etc.
Once that study is completed, it is my intent to provide the results to deans to discuss with their department chairs.
I will be asking them to develop recommendations for those spaces not being well-utilized. The reality is that WSU and our sister Regents institutions will be developing plans for taking space offline that has reached the end of its useful life.
I am focused on raising funds to build a new generation of buildings to serve our campus. I make no promises other than I will work tirelessly and be as innovative in my approach. We will also do this in a transparent manner.
I met with our master planning architectural firm recently and anticipate launching a campus-wide master planning process in the near-term.
If there is one thing I would want to leave you with it is this … I believe with all my heart that this is a great time to be a Shocker and that our future is bright. I am so honored to be able to work with each of you.
Always remember we are here for our students and that without the dedication and innovation of our staff, none of this would be possible. And I'm always happy to hear from you,
president@wichita.edu.
Go Shocks!
