The Kansas Board of Regents met on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, and there was some anticipation that the board would announce a new interim president for Emporia State that day. The rumor mill had been running strongly the previous weeks, so anticipation was high. The meeting began with the board in executive session, a good sign, and then the announcement of an amended agenda to name the new interim president of Emporia State, who turned out to be ESU athletic hall of fame member and former chairman of the ESU Board of Trustees, Ken Hush. Welcome Ken! And many thanks to Acting President George Arasimowicz who stepped down from his duties to return to his role as provost.

Much has been written about Ken’s background and I include links to those sources here:

Hush takes team approach at Emporia State | Gaz | emporiagazette.com

https://www.kansasregents.org/about/news-releases/2021-news-releases/818-board-of-regents-names-ken-hush-as-esu-interim-president

I was fortunate to spend most of the day with Ken and the regents on Thursday, during their campus visit to ESU. (More on that below). The regents also announced a closed search for president to begin in January 2022 with the naming of a chair and committee for the search for the 18th president of Emporia State.

The board meeting had several things of consequence for the system, but not specifically impacting ESU. One was the final actions on redefinition of the baccalaureate degree to allow for the transfer of 60 (in some cases, up to 75) hours from community colleges. This has been under board discussion for some time and was the result of a pilot program between the University of Kansas-Edwards campus and Johnson County Community College. It has been discussed and debated since that pilot program began in 2019 and the board took action to make it applicable to all the regents’ universities. It does allow programs who have specific degree requirements flexibility in allowing the transfer of courses to the four-year universities.

The other major item of interest was the creation of a task force to investigate student health fees and health delivery on regents’ campuses with the intention of seeing how much the system was costing and if there were efficiencies which could be developed. The task force was proposed by Regent Mark Hutton in September and was established and named at this meeting with three representatives from regents’ schools. It will begin its work immediately.

For other issues related to the board, follow this link to the agenda and to the board meeting livestream:

Microsoft Word - Agenda Nov 17, 2021.docx (kansasregents.org)

Board Meeting Live Stream (kansasregents.org)

MY DAY WITH THE REGENTS

Emporia State University hosted the Board of Regents for dinner in the Skyline Room on Wednesday evening, November 17th. This was followed on Thursday by a busy itinerary designed to show off all the good things which ESU has going on

It was my pleasure to host the regents all day and to guide them through the day.

We started at the Sauder alumni center for a breakfast discussion between the regents and shared governance leaders, including faculty senate, USS, Classified Commission and ASG. From what I was told, the discussions were very productive and both sides left impressed with the level of engagement and concern with the issues raised, which included recent cuts to positions, salary, and morale.

The regents next met with Foundation president Shane Shively and his team for a briefing on foundation finances, fundraising activities, and the difficulties of doing so in a climate where there are so many different choices for giving. President Hush joined us for this meeting.

We boarded the ESU bus, the subject of a few picture that day with Corky splashed on its side, to go to the Prophet Aquatic Research Center. Dean Brent Thomas and Biology chair Tim Burnett, plus faculty and students. The regents engaged in a fun hands-on experience using bluegills and minnows to dip in paint and draw on ESU tee-shirts. Luckily for all, the fish were not alive! In my estimation, Regent Kiblinger won the best artist category for her shirt, while Regent Jon Rolph a Baylor alum (we heard), won in the best humor category for his shirt showing the score of a recent Baylor football victory over Kansas State. The regents then saw a variety of experiments and talked to students about their work. Prophet is a lovely location and there was a lot of excitement and comments about the work being done there.

Next was the business school Dean Ed Bashaw hosting us at Cremer Hall (we heard Dean Bashaw went to Baylor as well). Dean Bashaw described the recent renovations in Cremer before hosting a lunch in the Kanas Business Hall of Fame, attended by faculty and students who had the chance to interact with the regents. Again, nothing but good reports about the interaction with the students.

Next was a quick stop to see the renovations at Morse Hall. The regents were impressed with how nice the residence hall looked and how it incorporated so much of the old woodwork in the renovations, The regents had a very good discussion with four student resident assistants who shared their love for ESU and their support of living and learning on campus.

After a short bus ride to Visser Hall, Dean Joan Brewer and Associate Dean Zeni Colorado Resa, gave a well-organized tour of the infamous rat lab where students demonstrated how well the rats could do their work. I loved it! Lab rats are certainly different than the ones I saw in downtown Chicago train stations as a kid! Next, we visited the library in Visser, met with art therapy professors and saw the technology of 3-D printing in action.

Our final stop of the day was the Kossover Tennis center where President Hush (who refused to play on his named court) discussed the funding and development of this great facility for ESU tennis. The regents posed for a group photo and then met with President Hush and Provost Arasimowicz for their debriefing. They were sure to collect their fish-painted tee-shirts before departing.

The day was a good one for ESU. I want to thank all the people who made such a great visit possible, especially the students. The regents were certainly impressed with the good work being done on campus.

Greg Schneider

Government Relations Officer