News and Updates

Office of General Counsel Unveils Enhanced Service Model to Better Support Campus Community

August 2026

The Office of General Counsel, or OGC, announces the implementation of a new attorney-liaison service model, along with additional service and personnel updates in preparation for the Fall 2026 semester.

Attorney-liaison service model

In alignment with the Office of General Counsel’s strategic plan, each college and major unit is now paired with an OGC attorney-liaison who serves as their primary point of contact on legal matters. Under this new service model:

Attorney-liaisons will dedicate time to understanding the mission, strategic priorities, context and leadership of their assigned colleges and units to enhance the quality of OGC’s legal services.
Colleges and units will have a clearly identified OGC attorney-liaison as their initial point of contact for new legal inquiries.
OGC attorneys will continue to maintain practice areas aligned with their subject matter expertise. Following intake by the attorney-liaison, coordination with an OGC subject matter expert may occur to ensure that each matter is managed by the appropriate attorneys.
Colleges and major units benefit from this collaborative model by having dedicated points of contact who understand their unique goals and priorities. Additionally, all colleges and major units retain access to subject-matter experts, ensuring efficient, high-quality legal service.

OGC Attorney-Liaisons and subject matter practice areas include:

Attorney	Liason to:	Subject matter practice:
Charles Jake Vice President and General Counsel	Office of the President President's Cabinet Academic Leadership Council Office of Research	Executive leadership OGC leadership Research
Blake Billings Deputy General Counsel	Office of the Provost Academic Affairs Enrollment Management Office of External Engagement Communications and Marketing Engagement and Extension Government Relations Academic Support and Student Affairs Community Building Student Support and Accountability College of Agriculture College of Veterinary Medicine Graduate School	OGC operations Academic and student affairs External engagement Corporate and governance
Erin Sommer Good Senior Associate General Counsel	Office of the Provost Faculty Affairs International Programs Division of Human Resources Civil Rights and Title IX Office College of Arts and Sciences College of Architecture, Planning & Design	Employment and labor Civil rights Immigration and international
Aaron Good Senior Associate General Counsel	K-State Athletics Division of Risk and Safety Division of Facilities College of Engineering K-State Salina Bilbrey Family Event Center	Intercollegiate athletics Risk and safety Real estate
Shelby Grau Associate General Counsel	Division of Financial Services Division of Information Technology College of Health and Human Sciences K-State Olathe K-State Libraries McCain Auditorium, Beach Museum and K-State Gardens	Contracting and transactions Data, IT and privacy
Wayne Jones Senior Assistant General Counsel	DASSA Academic and Career Engagement Student Belonging Student Well-Being College of Business College of Education Staley School of Leadership Studies	Student affairs Civil rights Contracting and transactions

Liaisons will contact their respective college and major unit heads in the coming weeks to schedule recurring touch-base opportunities and OGC’s Fall 2026 legal update presentation for leadership teams.

For questions, contact the assigned Attorney-Liaison or email attys@k-state.edu.

Open Records Act Compliance

OGC now receives, manages, and responds to all Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) requests on behalf of the university and its controlled affiliates. The university’s open records policy, PPM 3060, has been updated accordingly. A new request management platform is available at https://k-state.nextrequest.com/.

Updated KORA training sessions are available upon request. For questions or to schedule a training, contact the university’s open records custodian, Leah Sauceda-Jeppe, at openrecords@k-state.edu.

Welcome New Team Members

The Office of General Counsel welcomes three new team members:

Shelby Grau, associate general counsel
Wayne Jones, senior assistant general counsel
Leah Sauceda-Jeppe, open records custodian and paralegal

Additional information regarding the new team members’ roles and prior experience is available on the OGC website.

We Moved!

The OGC team has relocated to its permanent office in Anderson Hall 214. The team welcomes visitors to the new, centrally located space.

The Office of General Counsel values its clients and university partners. For more information about the office or available services, contact the assigned attorney-liaison, visit the OGC website, email attys@k-state.edu or call 785-532-5730.