- An open forum regarding Emporia State University’s tuition and fees proposal to the Kansas Board of Regents was held on Wednesday, May 13. A handout was distributed with the highlights of the Tuition and Fees Advisory Committee’s proposed recommendations. It was noted the current recommendations may not be the final proposal to KBOR as we await possible legislative directives. The committee members — Werner Golling, David Cordle, Kathy Ermler, Matt Haefele, Victoria Harmon, Andrew Houchins, Tyler Huddleston, Darcy Johnson, Cynthia Kane, Diana Kuhlmann, Jackie Lutz, Jeff Miller, Mary Mingenback, Betty Norton, Manjula Shinge, Michael Shonrock, Brent Thomas and Jim Williams — were thanked for their work and flexibility in preparing multiple scenarios and for providing recommendations earlier than in previous years.
- With a 4-2 loss to Henderson State, the Hornet baseball team ended its 2015 season in the second round of the NCAA Central Regional tournament in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It was the 10th trip to the NCAA Division II Baseball tournament in 12 years for the team. The Hornets ended with a 39-16 season record. For more: http://bit.ly/1ET3SDU
- The annual economic development meeting recently brought together the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, Emporia Enterprises, Emporia City Commission and Lyon County Commission to heard about goals, metrics, return on investment and direct target lead generation activities. During the past 10 years, the ROI in the City of Emporia was over $908.79 million in capital investment in buildings and equipment, the addition of 2.2 million square feet of new buildings and over 1,899 new full-time jobs. Emporia State’s president is an ex-officio member of the RDA.
- During our recent commencement, our Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professors played key roles in unveiling a new alma mater. English Professor Mel Storm wrote the words paired with the musical arrangement from Music Professor Gary Ziek. Also new during commencement were I’m A Hornet commemorative coins given to all veterans who graduated in recognition of their military service.
- The Alumni Association’s Kansas City Chapter hosted the Midwest Lifetime Roofing Systems Emporia State Scholarship Golf Tournament on May 8 at Dub’s Dredd Golf Club in Kansas City, Kansas. The event raises funds for the Kanas City Chapter Scholarship and benefits students attending Emporia State University from the KC-metro area.
- Since January, 140 newborns at Newman Regional Health have received Corky’s Crew onesies in partnership with the university and Alumni Association. That’s an average of 35 new Hornets each month!
- Senior nursing students were honored Friday, May 15, during the annual recognition ceremony.
- On Tuesday, we responded to the draft report from the Higher Learning Commission site team. We will await the final report later in the summer.
- As the spring semester came to a close, we celebrated with faculty and staff who are retiring. A total of 28 faculty and staff representing 584 years of service were invited to the reception on May 13.
- The search for the 17th president of Emporia State is moving along. Earlier this week, James H. McCormick and Janice S. Fitzgerals of AGB Search were on campus with the search committee, chaired by alum Andy Tylicki, to meet with legialators, the president’s cabinet, University Support Staff and Unclassified commissions, faculty, students, foundation and alumni board members, the community and legislators. ESU’s Marketing and Media Relations now is working on the profile for the search, which the Regents have requested for their June meeting.
- Plans are moving forward to create a tutoring center in the north side of the second floor of White Library. This center, tentatively set to open Fall 2015, is the first phase of a Student Success Center.
- Three Outstanding Recent Graduates will be honored during Homecoming activities in the Fall. They are Cory F. Falldine (Business), Tiffany Jervis (Teachers College) and Yunqu (Chloe) Zhao (Liberal Arts and Sciences). For more: http://bit.ly/1PRHNeY
- Career Services is now publishing a newsletter that highlights hot opportunities for students, a student success spotlight and career advice on various topics. The first two issues are online at http://www.emporia.edu/careerservices/newsletters/.
- The Bonner & Bonner Diversity Lecture Series has moved to the Honors College, which is working on plans to expand its scope and possibly move it to the spring semester.
- Emporia State alum Lea Anderson just completed her first year of teaching at the elementary school connected with BINUS University in Jakarta, Indonesia. Gonzalo Bruce, dean of international students, was key in establishing the experience for teacher education majors. Work is under way to seek partnerships with similar opportunities in European countries.
- A new carillon system will ensure that Silent Joe rings for more than celebrations of campus successes. The new Schulmerich Carillon System will be augmented with Campus Alert technology.
- Emporia State will send eight student-athletes to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Allendale, Michigan, tomorrow. Grand Valley State and the West Michigan Sports Commission are the hosts of the meet that is scheduled to run May 21-23. The ESU athletes are Kyle Pfizenmaier in javelin, Samuel Saidi in high jump, Andrew Etheridge in 110m hurdles, Payson Maydew in decathlon and Donald Wilcox in long jump. On the women’s side, Sara Dunkin Beam and Elizabeth Costello will compete in javelin and Maggie Wilson in pole vault. For more: http://bit.ly/1EXYnom
- Congratulations to Ben Kerbs (ESU Biology major)! The Botanical Society of America recently announced that Ben has received a BSA Young Botanist Award. Of special note, Ben is the first recipient in the history of the award who is not a graduating senior. In addition, he is only the second ESU student to receive the award. Anthony Westby was the first ESU recipient of this award in 2008.
- Casey Cagle, the winner of the 2015 Emporia Entrepreneur Challenge, travelled to Manhattan, Kansas, on May 4 to compete in the Kansas Entrepreneur Challenge. Cagle took home $1,000 and third place for his concept “Prairie Earth Tours.”
- Student-athlete honors
- A total of nine Emporia State tennis student-athletes were honored for their work in the classroom. For the Hornet men Collin Connor, Farhan Sadique, Andrew Davids, Peyton Hays, and Keenan Smith were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll while Tawni Griffey, Taylor Smith, Amy Fugit, and Tiffany Khounsombath were named to the Honor Roll for the women. Student-athletes had to maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA and have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms, to make the Honor Roll. For more: http://bit.ly/1ETeeDP
- Emporia State third baseman Dean Long was named the ABCA/Rawlings Central Region Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association this year. Center fielder Justin Harris was also named to the first-team. Long and Harris were named earlier to both the Daktronics/D2SIDA and the NCBWA All-Central Region first-team. For more: http://bit.ly/1Jtlgp5
- Emporia State softball centerfielder Stephanie Goodwin was named to the first-team and Taylor Zordel was on the second-team NFCA All-Central Region Team. It matched the Daktronics/D2SIDA All-Region honors the pair earned earlier. For more: http://bit.ly/1B8hDy4
- Nine Emporia State track and field athletes have earned All-Region honors from the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) after finishing the regular season ranked in the top five of the Central Region. Six men — Kyle Pfizenmaier, Samuel Saiki, Andrew Etheridge, Donald Wilcox, Payson Maydew and Duke Tibbs — and three women — Peyton Weiss, Sara Dunkin Beam and Eliabeth Costello — earned the distinction for the Hornets. For more: http://bit.ly/1c17koW
- Emporia State’s male and female Student-Athletes of the Year can add another honor to their resumes. Justin Harris and Taylor Zordel were named Capital One Academic All-District by CoSIDA.
- A total of nine Emporia State tennis student-athletes were honored for their work in the classroom. For the Hornet men Collin Connor, Farhan Sadique, Andrew Davids, Peyton Hays, and Keenan Smith were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll while Tawni Griffey, Taylor Smith, Amy Fugit, and Tiffany Khounsombath were named to the Honor Roll for the women. Student-athletes had to maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA and have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms, to make the Honor Roll. For more: http://bit.ly/1ETeeDP
- Our housing is filling up! We can house 970 total students on campus. In Fall 2014, we opened with 933 students. As of May 8, 531 freshmen have completed the Freshman Village application for Fall 2015, which leaves 191 beds remaining. In the Morse Complex, 192 upperclassmen have completed application with another 45 beds being held for international students required to live on campus. This leaves 11 beds remaining in Morse.
- Congratulations to Anastasia Motiti (flute), recipient of the second-year $1,000 Emporia Symphony Orchestra "Prelude" Scholarship. With so much fine playing, the selection process was a hard one and highly competitive.
- Kudos to Brian Osbourn of Information Technology and his staff for renegotiating our Microsoft, Adobe and other software contracts to find a way to offer Adobe Creative Cloud suite software free to all employees on their university-owned devices with the university still coming out fiscally ahead. The software also will be installed on lab and classroom computers during the summer with plans to make it available to students through Skylab in the fall.
- This edition of I’m A Hornet is the final one for President Michael Shonrock. Our next issue June 3 will come from Dr. Jacqueline Vietti, interim president.
STINGERS UP!