Our Critical Enablers: Pursue Operational Excellence as One K-State

K-State inspires affinity, passion and support among so many who come into contact with our institution. That connection is even stronger for those closest to K-State — our faculty, staff and students who comprise our internal community. We must empower this community to do their work as efficiently and effectively as possible while enhancing our faculty and staff’s ability to continue adding value to the university and those we serve. This involves taking a close and continuous look at our foundational infrastructure, structures and business processes to identify opportunities for streamlining, modernizing and integrating how we do our work in a way that better positions us to fulfill our mission. It also involves assessing and investing in our facilities across the university, providing the best possible facilities that allow our K-State community to excel in their work and positioning our physical infrastructure as an asset for recruiting and retaining faculty, staff and students. We will elevate this focus in the same context as our other strategic plan themes and priorities, recognizing the crucial role operational excellence will play in supporting and powering many of our other aspirations.

We must continually recognize we are all part of one university, adopting a culture of One K-State across our institution. One K-State is not a slogan or advertising campaign. It is a mindset and cultural imperative all people and parts of our institution must adopt if we are to become a leading next-generation land-grant university — recognizing we are better together than operating singularly or apart, despite our decentralized environment. This also means holding one another accountable for excellence, quality and performance across all we do. We strive for nothing less. In some cases, it may lead to uncomfortable or difficult conversations or establishing rewards and recognition structures that acknowledge excellence among our K-State community. In others, it may mean changing the way we do business to better serve our students, workforce and surrounding communities. In all instances, we will communicate and engage our K-State community with openness and transparency as we navigate change together.

We must also aggressively and consistently tell our K-State story externally in a way that underpins our growth and elevates our successes — asking ourselves at all times, in a way that guides all decisions, "what is best for K-State?" This means clearly defining our K-State brand and establishing a cohesive foundation that clearly articulates the promise behind this brand — both what we expect of ourselves and what our audiences can expect from us. It must also include our colleges, units and entire K-State community uniting around this shared brand platform through which our communications, marketing and outreach activities reinforce one another at every opportunity.

As we move forward in implementing this strategic plan, additional planning and new investments must occur given the role critical enablers like facilities, technology, systems, processes, policies and communications will serve in catalyzing our future vision. This work will both yield specific strategies and constantly evolve in the future, demanding that our focus in operational excellence and continuous improvement is similarly flexible and adaptive to future change.