Kansas
State University achievements
2004
All-university
*
Three K-State students were selected as winners of up to $5,000
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships. The students were
among 159 winners selected from 859 applications, said James Hohenbary,
scholar adviser. Winners include Kelley Hughes, Hutchinson, junior
in industrial engineering, who will study in the Czech Republic,
and Aaron Franklin, Iola, senior in psychology, who will study
in Mexico. A third K-State winner requested no publicity. The
Gilman International Scholarship Program offers a competition
for awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established
by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000.
Sponsored
by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs, this congressionally funded program is administered by
the Institute of International Education through its Southern
Regional Center in Houston, Texas. December 2004Greenway's Almanac
of Architecture and Design: 2005/6th edition ranked four of K-State's
architectural programs in the top 10 for the United States of
America. The department of architecture was ranked as the sixth
best undergraduate program in the nation, ranked above all ofthe
other universities in the Big 12. The department of interior architecture
and product design is ranked No. 3 in the country and is ahead
of all other Big 12 universities. The department of landscape
architecture/regional and community planning has one of the three
best undergraduate programs and it one of the eight best graduate
programs in landscape architecture. November 2004
*
K-State competitive research funding surpassed the $100 million
mark in fiscal year 2004. The university's overall research funding
base, which includes federal and state appropriated funds as well
as gifts for research, scholarly and creative activities, exceeded
$186.2 million. More than 1,000 research proposals were funded
based on merit. The record high funding level includes 10 awards
that exceed $1 million each. Among those, two exceed $3 million;
four are in the $2 million to $3 million range; and four others
are in the $1-$1.5 million range. The U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense
and National Science Foundation were the university's leading
funding sources in FY04. November 2004
*
The Princeton Review's second annual "Top 25 Most Connected
Campuses" in the nation ranks Kansas State University No.
15. The University of Colorado, at No. 16, is the only other Big
12 school in the top 25. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was
ranked first. The Princeton Review's selections are posted on
the Web site, Forbes.com. October 2004
*
K-State's distance education programs are outstanding in the region.
K-State was recognized for excellence in both credit and non-credit
programs in distance education by the University Continuing Education
Association Great Plains Region. The region includes the middle
tier of states from North Dakota to Oklahoma, plus Colorado and
Wyoming. The industrial/organizational psychology master's degree
program received the credit award and the management, analysis
and strategic thinking -- MAST -- program received the non-credit
award. October 2004
*
K- State was named one of the top five best bargains among public
colleges in the Princeton Review's Best 357 Colleges Rankings.
K-State came in at No. 5 in the Best Bargains-Public category.
Last
spring K-State announced a new plan to stay affordable, with actions
including increasing need-based financial assistance, increasing
on-campus minimum wage, awarding more merit-based scholarships,
assigning each student a financial assistance adviser and granting
students who meet the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance
deadline a financial aid award package meeting 100 percent of
their federal financial need. In addition, the plan states K-State
will work hard to hold increases for tuition and fees to single
digits over the next four years.
The
Best 357 Colleges, the Princeton Review's annual college guide,
was based on a survey of more than 110,000 students at 357 top
colleges, according to the Review's Web site. The survey asks
students 70 questions about their school's academics, campus life
and student body, for example. The book has 64 lists -- rankings
for 60 of the lists are based solely on student answers while
four, including the best bargain category, factor in institutional
data.
The
357 schools included in the book were chosen based on the Princeton
Review's "high opinion of them" and feedback they get
from counselors, students, parents, educators and their staff,
their Web site states. August 2004
*
Consumers Digest ranked K-State No. 16 on its list of top 50 "Best
Values for Public Colleges and Universities." The article,
"Making College More Affordable," ran in the May/June
2004 issue. June 2004
*
Developing a creative way to engage students who can't make it
back to campus to take part in their commencement ceremony resulted
in national recognition for K-State and the Division of Continuing
Education and its "virtual commencement" for students
who are earning their degree through K-State distance education
programs. The University Continuing Education Association selected
K-State to receive a national award for innovative excellence
in providing student services to distance students. The Web site
hosting the virtual commencement ceremony is at http://www.dce.ksu.edu/commencement
April 2004
*
K-State is 47th on Intel's "Most Unwired College Campuses"
survey that ranks the top 100 U.S. schools for wireless computing
access. Wireless computing networks allow students to use notebook
PCs to access the Internet from residence halls, the student union,
the library, and outdoors, all without being tied to a wired-in-the-wall
connection.
Intel's
"Most Unwired College Campuses" survey ranks the top
100 schools for wireless computing access. The survey reveals
a growing number of schools across the country where students
have the freedom to wirelessly access the Internet on notebook
PCs - without a traditional wired connection - and stay connected
and informed whether they're in the dorm room, library or outdoors
at the campus quad.
Indiana
University at Bloomington, Purdue University, and the University
of Texas at Austin received first, second, and third places, respectively.
K-State was one of five Big 12 universities listed in the top
100. The others, besides Texas, are Baylor University (32) and
the University of Missouri, Columbia (50).
More
than half of K-State's current 172 wireless access points on the
Manhattan campus were installed in the past year. The university's
first wireless access points were installed in 1999. April 2004
*
The National Academies of Science appointed a K-State administrator
to a national-level advisory committee. Dr. David R. Franz, who
holds a D.V.M. from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in physiology
from Baylor College of Medicine, directs the National Agricultural
Biosecurity Center housed at K-State and is senior biological
scientist at Midwest Research Institute, one of the nation's leading
not-for-profit scientific research organizations. Franz will serve
a 15-month appointment to the National Needs for Research in Veterinary
Science committee. The committee is under the auspices of the
Board of Agriculture and Natural Resources, a program unit of
the National Research Council, a member of the Academies. The
committee members are academic and industry representatives who
will help identify the nation's needs for research in several
areas of veterinary sciences, including public health and food
safety, animal health and comparative medicine. April 2004
*
K-State is one of the nation's "best value" undergraduate
institutions, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based
education services company chose it as one of 77 schools it recommends
in its just-published book, America's Best Value Colleges. The
book is a guide to colleges with outstanding academics, low-to-moderate
tuition and fees, and generous financial aid packages. It includes
public and private colleges and universities in 35 states and
D.C. The Princeton Review selected the schools in it based on
its analysis of quantitative and qualitative data the company
obtained from administrators at over 500 colleges, and surveys
of students attending them. March 2004
*
K-State's new Parents and Family Association was created to give
families the opportunity to be more actively involved in their
student's K-State experience and help the university. Offered
through the KSU Foundation, membership to the association is free
to parents and family members of all K-State undergraduate students.
The association will be involved with student recruitment, parent
and family activities and raising funds for scholarships and on
student-life enhancement projects at K-State. March 2004
*
K-State received a five-squirrel rating -- the highest possible
-- from the Web site http://www.gottshall.com/squirrels/campsq/htm.
This site features "The Campus Squirrel Listings," which
says the quality of an institution of higher learning can often
be determined by the size, health and behavior of the squirrel
population on campus. The site documents the "critter quality"
at schools around the country. K-State's report says special notice
should be taken of the Collegian's tradition of creating a "special
squirrel issue" at the end of the semester, where campus
squirrels are pictured. The report also mentions the Quinlan Nature
Area, calling it "prime squirrel country." February
2004
2003
All-University
2002
All-University
Achievements
index
