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K-State Alumni Association's board of directors summer 2013 newsletter
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Greetings! Last December I wrote what an exciting year 2013 would be! In a year where we celebrate the first 150 years of our university, we also can reflect on the incredible support and enthusiasm our Wildcat family has for the future of K-State. In academics, enrollment, athletics, philanthropy…word is out that your alma mater is experiencing tremendous success through the visionary leadership of our administration, the devotion of our faculty and staff and the ongoing support of alumni and friends. Alumni Association staff is proud to contribute to this success through programs that helped engage more than 110,000 alumni and
A newsletter for current and past members of the K-State Alumni Association Board of Directors“Enhancing our Kansas State University family through lifelong involvement”
B o a r d M at t e r s
SUMMER 2013
friends in activities this fiscal year, an increase of 13 percent over last year. Our success would not be possible without the collaborative efforts and wonderful university partnerships we share campus-wide.
We also are blessed with incredible volunteer leaders who share a passion for K-State that drives our success! On behalf of the staff, I want to thank you for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you at a future event and hope you will not hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything we can do for you.
Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86President and CEO
K-State continueS to Strive for top 50 ranKing
More than four years into his tenure as president of Kansas State University, Kirk Schulz continues to provide
the leadership ensuring a collaborative effort that will lead K-State to Top 50 recognition among the nation’s public research universities. Exceptional progress has been made, and efforts university-wide have equated to historic success. Highlights are many, but we have shared a few recent successes below:
• K-State is the only public university with three national caSe/carnegie professors of the Year. This award is for excellence in undergraduate teaching.
• The U.S. National Research Council has ranked K-State’s Department of plant pathology as the No. 1 plant pathology department in the nation.
• K-State was selected as one of the next program sites for first Scholars, a national program aimed at increasing graduation rates among first-generation students. The Suder Foundation awarded the university $850,000 in funding to cover student scholarships and start-up costs to launch First Scholars on campus.
• The K-State architectural engineering institute competition team won a national championship in the electrical category of the fourth annual Charles Pankow Foundation Student Design Competition. The five categories teams compete in are building systems integration, structural, mechanical, electrical and construction management.
• The college of engineering and the college of education were included in U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 Best Graduate School ranking, making them among the best in the nation. The College of Engineering was the only engineering graduate program in Kansas to be ranked.
• For the sixth time in the past eight years, K-State’s Black Student union has been awarded the Clarence Wine Award for Outstanding Big 12 Council of the Year. The award
recognizes an organization that has demonstrated a serious commitment to unity, academic achievement, scholarship, campus programming and community service.
• The KSu foundation set a new record for philanthropic gifts, pledges and future commitments in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Of the $152 million total, $86 million was received in outright gifts, $33 million pledged and $33 million was committed through deferred gifts.
In May, Schulz presented his goals for the next academic year to the Kansas Board of Regents. Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86 met with the president this spring to determine how best the Alumni Association could assist the needs of the university, and together they established goals for the Alumni Association, which include:
• Develop a program to reach out to international students before graduation to enhance the association’s program with international alumni.
• Invite the two Distinguished Young alumni recipients to speak at the inaugural university convocation for freshmen to kick off the Wildcat Week of Welcome. nick piper ’08, founder and CEO of Phoria Energy Solutions, and Justine Sterling ’07, director of alumni relations for the George W. Bush Presidential Center, were recognized as the inaugural recipients of this award in February.
• Add five out-of-state alumni club dinners at spirit club locations.
• Initiate planning for an additional out-of-state Wabash cannonBall to take place in 2015.
• Continue to reach at least 100,000 alumni, students and friends at Association-sponsored events.
Nick Piper ’08
Justine Sterling ’07
SUMMER 2013[2]
WelcomesJada allerheiligen Hill ’88
Cincinnati, [email protected]
Steve Johnson ’75Lawrence, Kan.
Mel Kopf ’61Topeka, Kan.
Michelle Swim Mcguire ’93Bentonville, Ark.
Sylvia White robinson ’71Kansas City, Kan.
Sam Kellerman2013-14 SAB President
Leawood, [email protected]
eli Schooley2013-14 Student Body President
Clay Center, [email protected]
Year of the Wildcat, 3MAW, Cat-Trick … call it what you will, but
the 2012-13 athletic season most certainly defines Manhattan, Kan., as Titletown! With Big 12 Champi-onships earned in football, men’s basketball and baseball, K-State became one of only four schools in the BCS era to achieve this level of success, joining Stanford, Texas and Louisville with this distinction. We also are proud to be the first school in Big 12 history to have the Big 12 Coach of the Year in football, men’s basketball and baseball in the same season.
The successful 2012-13 season also carried over to the classroom as 236 K-State student-athletes were named to the spring 2013 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. K-State has placed at least 200 student-athletes on the honor roll for 11 straight semesters and has
been ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 in graduation rate for all student-athletes four of the past six years.
Athletic Director John Currie and his staff are committed to providing a model intercollegiate athletics program, and the effects of their dynamic efforts have been felt throughout the Wildcat nation. K-State Athletics has achieved record support that has resulted in more than $125 million in new and improved facility projects underway and/or completed in the past four years. The new West Stadium Center project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium is on schedule to open in August and will feature amenities for all fans, including new concessions, restrooms and ticket offices, which will replace the current west-side facilities, built in 1968. Additionally, a new Fan Store and Hall of Honor will be included on the main Concourse Level.
K-State StuDent-atHleteS SucceeD on anD off fielD
An artist’s rendering shows the new West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-St
ate
Athl
etic
sK-
Stat
e At
hlet
ics
&Jane Brunt ’77, ’80
Baltimore, Md.
Bernard franklin ’76, ’96Kansas City, Kan.
lynn gillam ’80Salina, Kan.
Jason Heinrich ’00Chicago, Ill.
todd Johnson ’94Highlands Ranch, Colo.
rachel King ’132012-13 SAB President
Wichita, Kan.
nate Spriggs2012-13 Student Body President
Riverton, Kan.
Goodbyes
Chair’s Corner
aaron otto ’98
SUMMER 2013
traditions founders
[3]
K-State Day at the Kansas State Fair
Sept. 8, 2013
Wildcat March AuctionSept. 13, 2013
K-State Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet
Oct. 11, 2013
Annual Alumni Board Pregame @ Cat Town
Oct. 12, 2013
Black Alumni/Greek Reunion Weekend
Oct. 18-20, 2013
Homecoming WeekA Tale of Tradition
Oct. 20-26, 2013
Dear fellow Wildcats, It is a humbling
honor for me to serve with an outstanding Alumni Association Board of Directors and staff who are totally committed to serving our alumni family around the
world. From my early days working with the Association as President of the Capital Area Alumni Club to my recent service on the Board, I continue to be amazed at all of the different programming and outreach efforts that are deployed in fulfilling the Association’s mission to be your life-long link to the land of limestone buildings and purple everywhere.
capping the 150th celebration What an exciting time to be a Wildcat, with a record three Big 12 championships in 2012-13. Now comes the tall order of defending our home turf, court and field this year. Based on the sellout of season football tickets, the Purple Nation is answering the call to make these winning ways a tradition of excellence. Additionally, this fall’s Homecoming week will be the capstone to a truly remarkable 150th anniversary of the University. There are still a number of events you can participate in this fall to help celebrate this milestone anniversary, and details about future events can be found at www.ksu.edu/150.
focus areas of the upcoming yearThis year’s Board will focus its efforts in a number of strategic areas. We will start by reviewing what I call the “back-to-the-basics agenda” in the fall with a review and discussion of Association programming, investments with the foundation, a financial audit and deferred maintenance challenges on campus. Throughout the course of the year, the Board and staff will work together to review and update the personnel handbook and start a conversation on the staffing structure. Additionally, the Board will review the benchmarks that are reported at every
staff meeting on the strategic planning scorecard and make appropriate updates and revisions. We will work with the staff to conduct a five-year financial forecast of income for the Association to assist with the strategic plan and future staffing discussions. We will make a trip to the Salina campus, in coordination with our 2014 winter meeting, to learn more about this growing sister campus.
new tradition Please help me to start a new tradition. In addition to being a proud K-Stater, I am also an alumnus of another organization that when the new class is announced, all of the program’s alumni receive the new members’ contact information. Many of the alumni then send notes to the new members. I would appreciate your help welcoming our five new Board members by sending them a short welcome note of congratulations, and I hope you will include any suggestions you might have for them on how to make the most of their time on the Board. When a new Board member receives more than 50 welcome messages from those who have come before, this further demonstrates the purple power of the K-State Family. You can find their email address under the Welcomes & Goodbyes section of this newsletter (page 2).
We continue to be grateful for the very experienced and dedicated staff who not only make our Alumni Association the best in the Big 12, but also one of the industry trend leaders nationwide. Last, but certainly not least, I am grateful to each of you — as our past Board members — for your service to Kansas State. I have never met a past Board member who did not thoroughly enjoy their time on the Board. Even after your time on the Board, you serve as my role models on how to stay involved in such a variety of levels as you continue to ask, “How can I help?” If you have any ideas or questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 913-390-3219 Yours in the Purple Pride,
— Aaron Otto ’98Go State!
dates noteto
The Alumni Association’s annual fund, Tradition Founders, had
another record-breaking year and closed out our 2012-13 campaign with a total of $484,519 in contributions received! A new record number of donors participated, including 108 leadership gifts of $1,000 and more that qualified for Founders Circle recognition. Association staff extends heartfelt thanks for your ongoing support, which allowed expanded programming that reached more than 100,000 alumni and friends around the nation and the world! Please contact Terin Walters ’05, [email protected] for additional information.
[4]
Milt ahlerich ’68 is founder and president of Ahlerich Con-sulting Group, following his retirement as vice president of security for the National Football League.
tandy trost rundus ’93, ’02 is now director of school nutri-tion for Concordia Kansas Public Schools.
David Brown ’77, a current member of the Alumni Associa-tion Board of Directors, recently retired from the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he served as assistant director of construction administration for the Office of Facilities Planning for more than 22 years.
travis lenkner ’01 now serves as chief underwriting officer for Gerchen Keller Capital in Chicago, Ill. A current member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, Travis also married Erin Delaney, assistant professor of law at North-western University, last November.
Shelly Dicken prichard ’86 is president and CEO of the Wichita Community Foundation. Shelly served as board chair from 2003 to 2004.
president Kirk Schulz, who has served on the NCAA Board of Directors since July 2012, was unanimously appointed to the NCAA Executive Committee in January. The board of directors is charged with responsibilities such as electing institutions to Division I membership, overseeing the Aca-demic Progress Rate and Academic Performance Census, and assuring gender and ethnic diversity in the leadership structure.
lee Borck ’70 and Jackie Hartman ’80, ’83 recently were married in Manhattan, Kan. Both Lee and Jackie are former chairs of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Jackie serves as chief of staff and director of community relations for Kansas State University, and Lee is chairman of Innovative Livestock Services Inc. They live in Manhattan.
andrew Zender ’05 and Kelly Witcher Zender ’06 wel-comed their first child, Evelyn Elizabeth, on Dec. 28, 2012. Andrew is a member of the Alumni Association staff, serv-ing as editor of the K-Stater magazine.
In MemoriamIt is with deep sadness that we share the news of the recent passing of a former member of the board:
glenn H. Beck ’38, ’81 died Oct. 30, 2012, in Leawood, Kan. He served as a member of the board from 1984 to 1987, and in 1981 was recognized by the university with an honorary doctorate. Glenn was former director of the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station and dean of the College of Agriculture at K-State. He also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Rocke-feller Foundation, and served as provost for agriculture and veterinary medicine at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Ni-geria. Survivors include two daughters and a stepdaughter.
Kudos & Congrats
Please email items you would like to share in Board Matters to Lynn Beier at [email protected].
Wen
dy C
antw
ell
K-Staters and friends gathered March 1 at the Overland Park Sheraton Hotel for the Wabash CannonBall.
The Kansas City Wabash CannonBall scholarship
gala has raised more than $1.6 million since its inception in 2007. The inaugural Wabash CannonBall Colorado, benefiting Colorado students attending K-State, is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2014, in Denver. For more details, visit www.k-state.com/wabashcannonballcolorado.
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