October 10, 2023
Game On: - Building the Engaged Land Grant of the Future
Last Friday, Marshall Stewart, the university's vice president for executive affairs, and Dean Ernie Minton had some exciting news for K-State Research and Extension at our Extension Update.
In our Next Generation strategic planning effort to make Kansas State University the engaged land grant of the future, Cooperative Extension is now co-located in the College of Agriculture under Dean Minton and at the university level under Stewart. The position I hold, director for extension, was elevated to the rank of assistant vice president.
Why? A hallmark of the Next Generation strategic plan is engagement. It makes sense that K-State’s most recognizable engagement arm, Cooperative Extension and its 105 county offices across the state, is elevated to the university level.
We will not be alone in the university’s quest to be the best engaged land grant of the future. Tim Steffensmeier, assistant vice president for engagement, and the Office of Engagement will be leading university efforts to encourage and equip our K-State colleagues outside of Cooperative Extension to partner and collaborate with us as we engage the people and communities of Kansas.
Better engagement will lead to better resourcing, but every major effort needs a catalyst to help spur the effort forward.
Our catalyst to become a better engaged university is our K-State 105 presidential initiative. At the Friday Update, Jessica Gnad, Director for K-State 105, communicated how K-State 105 can provide resources to help fund non-Cooperative Extension sources of expertise – whether they be K-State, other universities, community colleges, technical colleges, or other entities – needed for our engaged work throughout the state.
If you were not able to join us live for our Extension Update last Friday, I highly encourage you to view its recording prior to our annual conference, now just a mere two weeks away. With its theme, “Game on - Building the Engaged Land grant of the Future,” you can bet that we will be discussing this exciting strategic effort further.