Theme 3: Deliver an Unmatched and Impactful Student Experience
We must take an already strong student experience and make it even stronger — empowering students with support and experiences that position them for immediate and lifelong success.
A highly tailored and exceptional student experience is a hallmark of K-State, particularly for our undergraduate students. Home to an increasingly diverse student population, with faculty and staff who are committed to student success, K-State can further differentiate itself from other institutions and build upon an area of notable strength — leveraging and pooling our resources to reimagine what it means to prepare students not just for success, but for their roles as future leaders and change agents. This means leaning into how we serve a much broader and more expansive learning population that includes urban and rural, Pell-eligible, high-achieving, first-generation, international and domestic, military and adult learners.
One of the most impactful ways we will build upon our student experience is by preparing them for what comes next in life after graduation. As part of this commitment, we will both provide opportunities and then mandate every degree-seeking student participates in at least one high-impact, applied learning experience prior to their graduation. These opportunities can and will be broad in nature so that we can fulfill that commitment to everyone, recognizing that different types of experiences will resonate with different types of learners and disciplines. We will ultimately work to identify how best to integrate applied learning into all programs, beyond just those involving degree-seeking students.
We are also focused on the holistic learner experience, recognizing that different types of learners need different support services to effectively navigate their time at K-State. In some instances, this means focusing on enhancing both the affordability of a learner’s time with K-State and the value they receive for their investment. In others, it involves establishing a more comprehensive, integrated student advising model that seamlessly integrates and aligns academic and non-academic support.
At the cornerstone of all this, we will ensure employees and students alike have knowledge of available services and how to access programs and resources before they even step foot on campus, providing early and sustained access to resources that help ensure their success.
- Reimagine holistic student support for all learners to include academic, co-curricular and wellness resources
- Expand access to applied learning experiences for all learners, including opportunities such as internships, undergraduate research, judging and design teams, on-campus employment, education abroad and student organizations
Create a supportive culture of holistic support for the whole student
- Aggressively expand the one-stop-shop concept to streamline student resources and referrals to student services
- Develop integrated student support teams of faculty, academic and financial aid advisors, well-being coaches, alumni mentors, industry experts, tutors and additional support resources
- Increase student undergraduate retention and graduation rates across all student populations, including historically underrepresented, international, Pell-eligible and first-generation students
- Establish pathways and related support that meet the needs of specific student populations
- Develop standard orientation resources for all first semester students (undergraduate, transfer and graduate)
- Standardize advising protocols and technology to deliver proactive, consistent and data-informed advising across the university
- Align the university advising model with the NACADA pillars of academic advising and the National Institute for Student Success K-State Playbook
- Prioritize and direct information and communications to students in a timely, proactive, personalized manner
- Leverage artificial intelligence to supplement existing advising structures in helping guide students with basic advising processes with a focus on maximizing relationship-based interactions
Integrate applied learning experience for all degree-seeking students
- Host immersive, discipline-focused, on-campus experiences for high school juniors and seniors
- Partner with industries and communities to expand paid internship opportunities for students
- Develop experiential transcripts to complement academic transcripts that showcase student competencies and skills
Enhance affordability and value for all learners
- Accelerate work to align college and institutional financial aid activities and provide coordinated, proactive outreach to students
- Create opportunities for industry partners to sponsor applied learning for students
- Revise academic calendar to provide graduate assistants with funding from 9 to 12 months
- Establish endowed doctoral student funding lines
- Imperative 1 Grow enrollment to 30,000 total learners
- Imperative 2 Improve retention and graduation rates for all student populations
- Imperative 3 Provide every degree-seeking student with applied learning experiences
- Imperative 5 Nimbly and proactively meet the needs of learners, employers and society
- Imperative 7 Be a positive force for the Kansas economy
- Imperative 8 Focus on operational excellence and being One K-State in all we do
- Imperative 10 Grow total, combined fundraising to $2 billion by 2030
Next-Gen 'Cats