Theme 1: Accelerate Academic Innovation to Meet the Needs of Students and Lifelong Learners
We must reimagine everything about how we educate and prepare learners — broadly challenging ourselves to move nimbly beyond our traditional approaches and lean into a culture of disruption, agility and change.
Like many higher education institutions, K-State is often challenged in how quickly it can adapt to meet the demands of the world around it, particularly when it comes to aligning educational programs with what employers and communities are expressing in real time as key areas of need and ensuring graduates are uniquely positioned for immediate success. We now have an opportunity to think differently from other universities in how we more rapidly meet these needs, building an internal culture of innovation and leaning into our status as a land-grant institution that prioritizes external engagement at all levels. To do so, we will reimagine our structures, systems, processes, facilities, campuses, and even credentials and degrees with an underlying focus on championing academic innovation and ensuring students remain at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines.
In the short term, this means building upon our exemplary student experience to offer applied learning opportunities for all of our learners, starting with integrating these experiences into the curricula for all degree-seeking students. It also means implementing strategies that help achieve greater balance among our graduate student population by accelerating the growth of our master's programs and maintaining the strength of our doctoral-seeking student population, particularly as we work to achieve our bold research imperatives for 2030.
In the long term, this means considering how best to use our footprint to innovatively serve learners based on when, where and how they want to learn, such as redefining the traditional higher education business model focused on the student credit hour. We recognize there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to meeting students' needs. In doing so, we will approach this idea with flexibility, knowing that what works in some disciplines and for some individuals may not work best for others.
Meaningful progress is already underway on all of these fronts. Enrollment Management and the colleges have expanded access for future Wildcats through Direct Admission for first-time freshmen, Transfer Navigator programs that build community college pathways, evening and Saturday campus visit options, and the Come Back Cats initiative targeting re-engagement of more than 19,000 stopouts — students who have acquired credit hours, but not completed their degree and are not currently enrolled. KSU Foundation scholarship utilization has been increased to improve yield among admitted students, and proactive outreach through EdSights has been scaled to support persistence and retention.
Academic Innovation has accelerated online and hybrid program development — including new professional master’s degrees, certificates and microcredentials — and implemented market-responsive processes for program design to assess demand, streamline approvals, and bring new offerings to market more quickly. Our advising infrastructure has also been significantly strengthened. All academic colleges are transitioning to a professional advising model, the Pre-Professional and Exploratory Advising Center has been established to serve undecided, in-transition, and pre-professional students, and sample four-year degree plans are now required for all majors — a proven best practice for reducing time to degree and improving completion rates. MAPS and KOMPASS summer bridge programs have been expanded from three colleges to all academic colleges, extending intensive transition support to first-generation and low-income students across the institution. These coordinated efforts are making K-State more accessible, more responsive, and more aligned with what learners and employers need.
Develop programs, courses and curricula linked to the K-State Opportunity Agenda
Embed applied learning experiences into degree and credential plans for all learners through credit-based internships, service-learning, practicums, education abroad and other strategies
Rebalance our graduate school population by steadily growing our doctoral student levels and rapidly accelerating the growth of our master's degree-seeking students
Establish AI literacy as a core competency for every K-State learner, equipping students to use and critically evaluate AI tools responsibly across their disciplines and future workplaces
Build and promote a culture of academic innovation throughout the institution
Establish a central university hub to support innovation in teaching
Develop self-directed undergraduate and graduate programs that facilitate interdisciplinary curricula
Design experiential learning hubs of students and community members embedded in communities throughout the state, nation and world
Expand degree completion pathways that incorporate prior learning credit and stackable credential systems
Implement market-responsive program design processes to continuously assess workforce demand, streamline curricular approval, and bring new credentials, certificates and degrees to market rapidly in alignment with employer and learner needs
Enhance digital learning infrastructure — including faculty development, instructional design capacity and technology-enabled course quality — to support the growth and rigor of online and hybrid learning at scale
Sustain and grow the Pre-Professional and Exploratory Advising Center as the university’s central hub for undecided, in-transition, and pre-professional students, providing structured, coordinated support that connects students to the right academic path earlier and reduces time to degree
Complete the transition of all academic colleges to a professional advising model, supported by consistent onboarding, ongoing professional development and coordinated central infrastructure that ensures every student has access to high-quality, informed advising regardless of college or program
Leverage institutional differentiators to drive academic innovation across all facets of K-State
Establish greater presence in communities where learners engage in need-based projects and curricular and co-curricular activities
Build the infrastructure and enhance coordination to expand cross-campus enrollment opportunities
Design opportunities for undergraduate and graduate research within communities
Develop work-based learning programs that allow employees to complete degrees while fully employed
Scale Transfer Navigator programs and pre-college partnerships to build early, structured pathways into K-State for community college and high school learners
Expand re-engagement initiatives to reconnect stopout learners with pathways to degree completion, tapping the substantial population of former K-State students who left before earning their credentials
Expand MAPS and KOMPASS summer bridge programs to all academic colleges, ensuring that first-generation and low-income students across every discipline have access to intensive transition support, academic preparation and community-building before their first semester
Position K-State as the first-choice education and business partner in Kansas
Establish partnerships with community colleges to strengthen pathways to K-State and curricular connections
Build partnerships with companies to provide targeted continuing education opportunities in coordination with all K-State campuses
Leverage existing partnerships and build new relationships to expand credential and degree offerings through platforms or consortia
Prepare the next generation of innovators, doers and lifelong learners
Develop resources and rewards for faculty to innovate and adapt their coursework to include applied learning experiences
Integrate community-building programs into first-year student experiences built around K-State research priorities or grand challenges
Accelerate the development of post-baccalaureate microcredentials that offer continuous learning opportunities for alumni and others
Enhance student-facing academic planning tools — including degree audit, advising platforms, and onboarding resources — to improve recruitment conversion, early engagement and on-time degree completion for all learner types
Require and maintain sample four-year degree plans for all majors, giving prospective and current students a clear roadmap to graduation, helping to reduce time to degree, improve completion rates, and help students and advisors identify obstacles early
Leverage the more than $35 million raised philanthropically for Applied Learning experiences — including study abroad, internships, undergraduate research, leadership and community-engaged learning — to expand access and ensure that every K-State student can complete a meaningful applied learning experience regardless of financial constraints
Build a university AI literacy framework and a tiered training and microcredential ecosystem that gives students, faculty and staff a shared foundation for safe, effective and discipline-relevant AI use
Imperative 1 Grow enrollment to 36,200 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 6 Build partnerships at all levels of K-State
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
Meeting Financial Needs
Powercat Financial's Education Across Campus program is ensuring every student is financially literate.