K-State Current - November 2, 2016
K-State Current is a weekly news update for the Kansas Board of Regents in an effort to apprise the Regents on a few of the many successes and achievements made by K-State faculty, staff and students.
K-State News
On-campus living, campus safety earn Kansas State University national recognition
Kansas State University is a safe place to be and a great place to live, according
to two recent national rankings.
College Choice includes the university among its 50 safest large universities and colleges in America, while the Princeton Review ranks K-State in its top 20 for best college residence halls in the nation.
When it comes to campus safety, Kansas State University and Wichita State University
are the only schools in Kansas to make the College Choice list. K-State is the second-highest
rated school from the Big 12 Conference for safety on the list. Other conference schools
include Baylor, Texas Tech and Iowa State.
For its rankings, College Choice looked at reported crime activities from each school
for the past three years, including the number of documented hate crimes, violence
against women, arrests made, fire incidences and discipline enforced activities. Grades
were given for overall safety, anti-discrimination, women's safety, party scene and
fire safety. Data used for the report comes from the U.S. Department of Education,
the schools' websites, U.S. News & World Report, and the National Center for Education
Statistics.
"K-State prides itself on its family-like atmosphere, so that means campus safety
is always a priority," said Pat Bosco, vice president for student life and dean of
students. "Along with our excellent campus police department, we offer students, faculty
and staff services that show our commitment to their safety."
These services include blue emergency phone boxes located throughout campus that
offer a direct connection to the K-State Police Department; K-State Alerts, which
sends texts, emails and voice messages if there is an emergency on campus; the LiveSafe
app, which allows users to connect with campus safety resources, access safety maps
and emergency information, and use peer-to-peer location tracking with group chat
so friends can monitor and talk to each other as they travel the campus; SafeRide,
which provides a safe ride home for K-State students and guests who live within the
designated city limits of Manhattan; and much more. For a complete look at the university's
safety services, go to k-state.edu/studentlife/campussafety/.
When it comes to on-campus living, K-State is among only a handful of public universities
to make Princeton Review's list of best residence halls, which is dominated by such
private schools as Bennington, Bryn Mawr, Elon, Smith and others. K-State is the only
school from Kansas and the only Big 12 Conference school to be ranked.
"Campus living has never been better at K-State with so many new, safe and affordable
options," Bosco said. "This fall, we just opened our newest residence hall, Wefald
Hall, and the newly expanded and renovated Kramer Dining Center, which offer some
of the finest campus housing and dining experiences in the nation. Over the past few
years, the Jardine Apartment Complex has been transformed, offering students apartment
living on campus with all the amenities, including a restaurant and convenience store.
And we continually upgrade our other residence halls, Honors House and Smurthwaite
Leadership/Scholarship House so that our students always feel comfortable in their
homes away from home."
More information on the many housing options at K-State is available at housing.k-state.edu/living-options/.
Kansas State University program wins national economic development award
A Kansas State University program has been named winner of a national contest that
recognizes success in stimulating economic development in Kansas and the surrounding
region.
Members of the University Economic Development Association voted to select Knowledge
Based Economic Development, or KBED, as the winner of its Award of Excellence for
Innovation for an event series that brings Kansas State University faculty and staff
together for interdisciplinary collaboration and economic development.
KBED was established in 2008 to align the city of Manhattan's strategy for economic
development in a way that capitalizes on the university's research strengths and the
area's growth opportunities. It is a combined effort by the city, the Manhattan Area
Chamber of Commerce, Kansas State University, the Kansas State University Institute for Commercialization, the Kansas State University Research Foundation, the Kansas State University Foundation and the North Central Kansas Community Network. The award-winning event series was
created in 2010, and 24 meetings involving more than 900 faculty members have built
teams to pursue large research proposals and industry partnerships. Event topics ranged
from unmanned aerial systems to gerontology to pet food.
Kansas State University competed against similar programs from Ohio University and
the University of Wisconsin system for the national distinction. The stiffest competition
in the category, however, was from another Kansas State University program, Technology
Acceleration Partners, or TechAccel. The university co-founded the startup company
in 2014 to transfer university research in the animal health, agriculture and food
ingredient sectors into products that U.S. and international companies can take to
market. The university's Institute for Commercialization, known as KSU-IC, was instrumental
in facilitating both KBED and TechAccel.
"Having two programs as finalists in this category demonstrates the level of collaboration
at K-State to both reach our research goals and ensure that research success translates
to economic growth in our state," said Peter Dorhout, the university's vice president
for research.
"Our economic development efforts have become a model for others in the country,
and we look forward to future success from KBED and KSU-IC as we work to become a
Top 50 public research university," Dorhout said. "A recent Wall Street Journal article
noted how we can attract entrepreneurs by focusing on people, purpose and partnerships,
and this recognition confirms that."
The Manhattan-Kansas State University relationship has been recognized as one of
the top five "town and gown" relationships in the country by the Princeton Review.
KBED and KSU-IC have fostered that relationship through both the events series and
TechAccel.
Rebecca Robinson, director of economic development at KSU-IC, said the event series
helped establish numerous research teams that have led to 35 grant proposals submitted
or in development to date with a total potential monetary value of more than $36.3
million. Kansas State University has been awarded $2.1 million in research funding
awards from new interdisciplinary grant proposals, and five statewide, regional or
international conferences were established as a result of interactions from the event
series.
Robinson said the event series provides a unique venue for faculty interaction.
"Like all universities, we have clusters of research strengths, but like most universities,
they aren't always well organized or leveraged," Robinson said. "We knew that if we
could help bring together groups of faculty interested in similar topics, there were
tremendous opportunities to advance the university and economic development. After
a few events, we found that the conversations happening at those events weren't happening
anywhere else on campus."
According to Robinson, the university's contribution to the area's economic growth
includes providing access to research, students and training.
"We also focus on the university's commitment to identifying faculty and staff whose
expertise makes them good partners for prospective businesses," she said.
Robinson made a presentation at the University Economic Development Association's
annual meeting to state Kansas State University's case for the national honor. Robinson
was also appointed to the association's board of directors at the meeting.
For more information about KBED and Manhattan's economic development strategy, visit
pickmanhattan.com.
Faculty Highlights
Dorhout is 2017 president-elect of American Chemical Society
Peter Dorhout, vice president for research, has been elected the 2017 American Chemical Society president-elect by members of the American Chemical Society, or ACS. He will serve as president of the society in 2018.
The society, with nearly 157,000 members, is the world's largest scientific society whose mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The society's activities aim to advance science, advocate for chemistry, enable career development, educate the public, support future chemists and promote diversity.
Dorhout has been a member of the society since 1985. One of his primary areas of emphasis will be confronting unemployment issues among chemists by promoting industrial job growth and enhancing education.
"I'm humbled and grateful for the support of the membership," Dorhout said. He added that he enjoyed visiting with many members of the organization and that he looks forward to addressing their concerns.
Read a full press release about Dorhout's election.
History faculty member featured on NPR's 'Morning Edition'
Phil Tiemeyer, a first-semester faculty member in the history department, was featured in NPR's article "Researchers Clear 'Patient Zero' From AIDS Origin Story," and Oct. 27 episode of "Morning Edition."
Tiemeyer was interviewed about "Patient Zero," the Air Canada steward who was alleged to have brought AIDS to America, thereby beginning the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. NPR featured Tiemeyer for his work examining how gay male flight attendants in the U.S. combated sexism and homophobia.
Tiemeyer's scholarship focuses on how gender and sexuality has interacted with other social forces, such as the legal system, workplace management practices, the labor movement and technological innovation.
His first book, "Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants," won the 2015 John Boswell Prize for outstanding book in the field of LGBT history, awarded by the American Historical Association's Committee on LGBT History.
K-State Student News
Six students selected to promote undergraduate research at Kansas State University
The Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry at Kansas State University
has selected six undergraduate students to serve as the office's research ambassadors
for the 2016-2017 academic year.
The 2016-2017 ambassadors include two new members and four returning members:
Navante Peacock, senior in psychology and anthropology, Haysville, returning ambassador; Luke Kicklighter, senior in microbiology and pre-medicine,
Hutchinson, returning ambassador; Kristen McGatlin, junior in psychology, Linn, new ambassador; Chloe Creager, junior in animal sciences and industry, Olpe, new ambassador; Sydney Edmisten, senior in psychology and pre-medicine, Prairie Village, returning ambassador; and Ben Archibeque, junior in physics and psychology, Wichita, returning ambassador.
The Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry ambassadors — an experienced
group of undergraduate students who represent various colleges and diverse research
interests — present to classes, student groups and other organizations. Throughout
their presentations, ambassadors explain the benefits of undergraduate research and
creative inquiry, discuss their personal experiences and outline the steps to get
involved at Kansas State University.
To request an ambassador presentation, submit a request form to the Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry. The request should include
the class title or group name with a time and date for the presentation.
For more information regarding student ambassadors or the Office of Undergraduate
Research & Creative Inquiry, including steps to get involved with undergraduate research
at K-State, visit k-state.edu/undergradresearch/ or contact a representative at ourci@k-state.edu.
