We must maximize the impact of our engagement, outreach and Extension services — fully leveraging and elevating engagement as the third co-equal pillar of our land-grant mission.
K-State's mission-driven imperative for service and engagement distinguishes us from other higher education institutions. This differentiator has helped catalyze the growth and impact of engagement initiatives taking place at all levels of our university. There are significant opportunities to amplify, elevate and communicate our impact through service and engagement in a more integrated and aligned way across the institution, the 105 counties and tribal areas we support and the nation and world we positively impact. We will use our many achievements in engagement as not only examples, but expectations K-State has for all faculty, staff and students in how they engage with one another and the world around us.
We will also lean into our core strengths and distinctions as a land-grant university. K-State is the only university with a presence in all 105 Kansas counties, with K-State Extension serving as the hub and infrastructure for this statewide network. Historically, Extension has focused on extending knowledge from the university to communities. Today, and in the future, Extension is about partnerships. We must push ourselves to reimagine how university resources and tremendous assets like Extension align with rapidly evolving community needs, with a focus on being relevant in the future based on these needs, while more deeply integrating engagement-focused elements like Extension across the fabric of the institution.
Engagement and Extension have already become a measurable force for K-State’s land-grant mission. Extension was elevated to central administration to function as a true partnership engine, bringing in new health and community initiatives and integrating the university’s cultural assets – the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, McCain Auditorium, and K-State Gardens – and military affairs more fully into statewide engagement work. The All Things Kansas platform now offers more than 30,000 data layers and 120-plus integrated data sources to support community planning and workforce decisions across the state. Presidential Engagement Fellows have been deployed to strengthen regional relationships and institutional visibility. The Scholarly Engagement Guide has been launched to help faculty document and advance engaged scholarship. K-State co-hosts the Governor’s Water Conference, which draws 500 or more participants annually.
Finally, the Rural Health Transformation initiative has helped secure $221.9 million in federal support for rural care innovation across Kansas. Taken together, these efforts demonstrate that engagement at K-State is no longer a peripheral activity — it is a core institutional function measured by real outcomes.
Elevateour relationship in all 105 counties as the university’s primary connector to drive business development, partnerships and job creation in the state
Maximize the impact of engagement as a university-wide function to transform how K-State connects with communities and external stakeholders
Establish clear and consistent university position on engagement
Develop a shared definition for the spectrum of engagement activities across the university's land-grant mission
Recognize and reward engaged research, teaching and service in all faculty and staff evaluations
Create interdisciplinary innovation funding pool with matching funds for engagement grants
Establish central, physical spaces and purpose-driven facilities for interacting with the community, engaging in applied work and embracing interdisciplinary engagement activities
Develop an engagement fellows model inclusive of faculty, staff and Extension specialists and agents
Support major cross-college, transdisciplinary collaborations founded on the integration of service, education, research and economic development
Sustain and expand the Presidential Engagement Fellows program to strengthen K-State’s regional relationships, elevate institutional visibility across Kansas, and build the trust-based partnerships that drive community collaboration and investment
Integrate PEARS engagement data with unit and college institutional data to create a shared, consistent system for tracking, communicating and building accountability around engagement outcomes.
Fully integrate engagement across all facets of the university
Establish the Office of Engagement as the university's central unit for coordinating engagement activities
Develop engagement ambassador model to coordinate engagement activities across colleges
Design a university engagement training academy for faculty, staff and community partners
Establish engagement parks and experiment stations for connecting faculty and staff with the surrounding community
Establish off-campus engagement satellite locations to meet and engage community partners
Leverage K-State’s cultural assets as active engagement platforms, with McCain’s artist residencies, school programming, community workshops, and Manhattan Symphony Orchestra partnerships, and the Beach Museum’s BeachLAB initiative using art as a catalyst for interdisciplinary dialogue and discovery across campus
Support K-State Libraries as a statewide engagement asset, opening the university's data, scholarship, and collections to communities in all 105 counties through interlibrary loan and open-access stewardship
Deepen the partnership with the Kansas Health Foundation and aligned organizations to support Rural Health Transformation, addressing community needs and integrating health-focused engagement priorities across community-based programming
Strengthen K-State’s Military and Veterans Affairs engagement footprint and grow academic, clinical, and workforce partnerships with installations such as Fort Riley
Elevate K-State's community, economic and tribal connections and impact across all 105 counties
Re-envision and integrate K-State Extension as a university-level priority
Leverage K-State Extension to spur statewide, community-level broadband adoption, end-user accessibility and workforce development
Establish model for linking or reconnecting K-State students with their communities through K-State Extension.
Leverage K-State Extension to connect communities with expertise and programming at other Kansas Board of Regents institutions
Expand and enhance the All Things Kansas platform — currently offering 30,000-plus data layers and more than 120 integrated sources — as the university’s primary tool for empowering community leaders, local governments, and workforce planners across all 105 counties with actionable, data-driven insights
Scale the Rural Health Transformation initiative by expanding the deployment of community health workers, agricultural health specialists, and “Food is Medicine” clinical integration to improve health outcomes and access across rural Kansas
Sustain and grow high-profile statewide convenings — including the Governor’s Water Conference, which draws more than 500 participants annually — as platforms that position K-State as the convener of critical conversations on Kansas’ most pressing challenges and opportunities
Imperative 3 Provide every degree-seeking student with applied learning experiences
Imperative 4 Grow research expenditures to $350 million annually and sponsored programs and awards to $300 million annually
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
Engaging Through Students
The Kansas City Design Center is teaching students to engage with urban communities, and expanding across the state.
Engaging with local communities
K-State Research and Extension is helping Kansas farmers manage their water usage.
Engaging on a national level
K-State's partnership with the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is saving them millions of dollars.