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K-State Today

January 22, 2016

Entrepreneurship professor Saurav Pathak awarded Tilford Faculty Incentive Grant

Submitted by Brent Fritzemeier

Kansas State University assistant professor of entrepreneurship Saurav Pathak has been awarded a K-State Tilford Faculty Incentive Grant for his proposal to create a module that could become a standard of education and training on diversity throughout the campus.

Pathak plans to create a training module that introduces students, faculty and staff to the general differences in cultures across countries, as well as culturally endorsed leadership styles.

"As academicians we must ensure that we impart to our students lessons that make them sensitive, flexible, tolerant, respectful and welcoming of diversity — either in their classrooms, work groups or in organizations that they would eventually be working for," Pathak said. "This knowledge is essential for enhancing the performance of our students who would either go on to lead culturally diverse groups in organizations within the U.S. or overseas as they work for multi-national companies."

Pathak hopes that those who undergo the training will develop skills in cross-cultural communications, teamwork and leadership development. They will be able to recognize cultural differences and the difference in leadership styles across cultures — and how to adapt their own leadership style in order to fit the orientation of the culturally diverse groups they may be leading.

In keeping with the visionary plan for 2025, the Tilford Group initiatives provide an opportunity for faculty and staff to increase the multicultural competency of students at the university. The Office of the Provost, with financial support from all academic deans, funds Tilford Incentive Grants for tenured and tenure-track faculty and instructors.

The goal of this program is to encourage the infusion and assessment of the Tilford Multicultural Competencies within the educational experiences of our students. The Tilford Incentive Grants support multicultural competency development projects ranging from those in incubation stages to those with ideas, materials and analyses ready to be shared with the academic community.