FHSU ROAR Magazine | Spring/Summer 2019

ROAR

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2019

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From the President Campus News Alumni News Athletics News Feature Stories Tiger Notes

COVER

KAMS students passage cancer cells under the hood in Dr. James Bathazor’s chemistry lab.

Photo by Kelsey Stremel

30 President Dr. Tisa Mason Editor in Chief Scott Cason Creative Director/Designer Meghan Oliver Editor/Feature Writer Diane Gasper-O’Brien

32 CONNECT

Photographers Kelsey Stremel Mitch Weber

Fort Hays State University

Contributing Writers Kurt Beyers Randy Gonzales Kelsey Stremel Trent Rose

@FortHaysState @FortHaysState FortHaysState

Advertising Mary Ridgway

ROAR Magazine is published twice a year (fall and spring)

by Fort Hays State University’s Office of University Relations and Marketing. Subscriptions are by paid membership in the Alumni Association.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the FHSU Alumni Association, One Tiger Place, Hays, KS 67601-3767

Publication Title: ROAR Magazine Issue Date: June 2019 Statement of Frequency: Published Biannually Authorized Organization’s Name and Address: Fort Hays State University 600 Park Street Hays, KS 67601-4099

FROM THE PRESIDENT

This issue of ROAR celebrates ripples, the kind made by visionary and caring people as they go about living lives of meaning and purpose. It is a blessing that our work in public higher education draws passionate and dedicated people willing to give selflessly to the good works of our university. As an example, I offer the legacy and unmatched philanthropy of Earl and Nonie Fields.

Their gift of nearly $20 million – the largest in our institution’s history – established a significant source of scholarship funding that will make the dream of a college education more affordable for our students for generations to come.

Another example of the ripple effect is evident in the 25-year relationship between the university’s graphic design program and the advertising agency Leo Burnett Worldwide. It all started in 1994 when a persistent young graphic design student by the name of Micah Walker secured a portfolio review in the company’s Chicago office. They were so impressed with his work, they sent a representative to Hays to see if there were more budding designers like Micah on our campus. Since then, designers from Leo Burnett Worldwide have come to campus every spring to recruit students for internships and award scholarships. And throughout the history of this partnership, Leo Burnett has worked closely with our graphic design faculty to find innovative ways to support diversity and create professional opportunities for our students. The total amount of scholarship dollars awarded over the quarter-

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century of the partnership has hit the $250,000 mark, including a $10,000 scholarship awarded this spring to former Tiger football player, junior Rayvon Lewis.

This issue of ROAR includes a profile of our own Dr. James Balthazor. Once an aspiring physician, Dr. B, as he is known to his students, discovered his love of research when he worked as a research assistant in a chemistry lab. Teaching and research have become his life’s work – his way of “paying it forward” every day. Outside of James Balthazor’s office in Tomanek Hall you will find this passage: “Do good. Make a difference. Change the world.”

This is the personal motto of Peter Werth, a 1959 alumnus, valued donor and namesake of the Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics.

Much like the example set by Peter Werth and James Balthazor, our community of passionate and dedicated faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends create immense ripple effects that constantly fuel opportunity and improve the quality of life of the people we all serve.

This idea of “ripple effects” is the theme of this issue of ROAR. If you think about it, the beginning of a ripple effect is often created by the compassionate and noble work of just one person.

This is what I love about our work in higher education. Each of us creates ripples when we work with and on behalf of the students of Fort Hays State University. Thank you for the ripples you and your fellow champions of our university create every day.

Sincerely,

DR. TISA MASON

President, Fort Hays State University

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CAMPUS NEWS University celebrates Fields and their gift to students

Fort Hays State University announces new provost Fort Hays State University announced in May the selection of Dr. Jill Arensdorf, chair of the university’s Department of Leadership Studies, as its next provost and vice president of academic affairs.

“I am excited for Dr. Arensdorf to take on the challenge of leading our academic enterprise during this pivotal time in our university’s history,” President Tisa Mason said. “Her roots are in western Kansas – Hill City – so she has a firm grasp on the value of this institution to the people we serve in Kansas and across the globe. Jill is a rising executive in higher education and has earned respect on our campus for her thoughtful, detail-oriented and innovative leadership.”

“Fort Hays State University is a phenomenal university that has given me and so many others opportunities to learn and grow,” Arensdorf said.

“When I took an instructor position 17 years ago, I had no idea how much the university and community would impact me in such a positive way. I am so grateful and excited to serve as FHSU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs and look forward to working collaboratively with others

to diligently and faithfully carry forward the mission of Fort Hays State University across the world.”

Arensdorf holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in agricultural education and leadership from Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State.

Arensdorf ’s research interests include youth leadership development, service-learning, civic engagement, program assessment and leadership behaviors. She has published numerous articles on the effects of servicelearning on the development of youth leadership skills and the transfer of skills to the workplace. She has been active in civic engagement efforts at FHSU as well as co-coordinating L3: Live. Learn. Lead., a learning community. She recently served as president of the Association of Leadership Educators.

In the spring of 2012, she received the Pilot Award as the year’s outstanding faculty member. In the spring of 2005, she received the Navigator Award as the outstanding student advisor.

Arensdorf replaces Dr. Jeff Briggs, who served as interim provost since 2017.

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

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FHSU.EDU/news

Memories of the late Earl and Nonie Field and their $20 million gift to Fort Hays State University were celebrated this spring. Their estate’s gift is the largest in university history.

Almost 200 people attended a news conference honoring the Fields, who were childhood sweethearts, citizens of Hays and devoted alumni and supporters of Fort Hays State.

Jason Williby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation, said the Fields Estate gift will go entirely to scholarships for students in three areas: art, athletics and music. The gift will be counted toward FHSU’s Journey campaign.

It will support students in those areas “in perpetuity,” he said.

“Their gift is unequivocally lifechanging for our students, but it is also the largest single gift ever made to FHSU,” Williby said.

FHSU President Emeritus Edward H. Hammond knew the Fields for 26 years.

“Higher education was always a very high priority for the Fields,” Hammond said.

Earl graduated in 1937 with degrees in economics and business. He began his career as a teller with the First National Bank of Hays. Nonie served as a teacher. Earl and Nonie built the Field Abstract and Title Co., Hays, and operated it from 1946 until he retired in 1979. He also served as chair of the board for Heritage Savings Association and Heritage Financial Corp., and was president and chairman of the board for Farmers State Bank.

The Fields received FHSU’s Distinguished Service Award and were inducted into the Tiger Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

CAMPUS NEWS Hammond named an emeritus

Junior Rayvon Lewis, a graphic design major from Blue Springs, Mo., was the winner of this year’s $10,000 Pencil Project Award from Leo Burnett Worldwide.

FHSU, Leo Burnett design for success Fort Hays State recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its relationship with Leo Burnett Worldwide. Leo Burnett is an advertising company with headquarters in Chicago and offices around the globe that has supported FHSU graphic design students since the mid-1990s.

The celebration involved rewarding $25,000 of company money in the form of 14 individual scholarships and $10,000 to support the graphic arts program. The top prize of the evening was the $10,000 Pencil Project Award scholarship presented to Rayvon Lewis, a junior from Blue Springs, Mo. Other scholarships ranged from $250 to $1,000. FHSU alumni and Leo Burnett executives Kerri Soukup and Tuan Huynh came to Hays to judge this year’s competition and award the scholarships.

With this year’s scholarships and grants, the amount of scholarship dollars awarded to FHSU students and the program over the quarter-century of the partnership now totals $250,000.

The collaboration between the university and Leo Burnett began

in 1994 when FHSU graphic design student Micah Walker presented his portfolio at the company’s office in Chicago. He impressed the executives with his talent and spurred interest in FHSU’s graphic design program.

Leo Burnett has provided scholarships and internships to graphic design students and supported the program ever since. The vetting of prospective interns begins with the review of student work in the scholarship competition and continues into the celebration that follows the award presentations, when Leo Burnett representatives visit with the students.

Funds for the graphic design program will be put to good use, said Karrie Simpson Voth, chair of the Department of Art and Design. She said the money will help recruiting efforts in diversity, not just ethnic and socio-economic, but in thinking and creativity as well.

“We now have $10,000 to do the design camp we have been planning,” she said. “In the fall, the department wants to bring in high school sophomores and juniors to show them what it takes to be a professional designer.”

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Dr. Edward H. Hammond, president of Fort Hays State University for 27 years, was named President Emeritus this spring by the Kansas Board of Regents. Current President Tisa Mason nominated Hammond.

Hammond said his newest title is personally the most meaningful for him. “It confirmed for me that the board believed that I left this place better than when I came,” he said. “It’s the historical perspective to it. That’s why this one is so special.”

After leading the institution for nearly three decades, Hammond retired in June of 2014 at the age of 70.

Following his retirement, Hammond began teaching classes in the Department of Advanced Education Programs and is the program director for the higher education student affairs curriculum.

Undefeated shotgun team wins 2 more national titles The Fort Hays State shotgun team has enjoyed a lot of success on the national stage in its 14-year history, and 2018-19 will be a year to remember.

After winning all six meets in the fall, the squad strung together four more team titles this spring. The 10-0 mark was highlighted by national championships each semester.

This spring’s national title was the fifth for FHSU since 2011.

Fort Hays State will lose several seniors off this year’s team. But Coach Duane Shepherd said that returnees “are ready to step up and start writing their chapter in this book.”

FHSU’s Olliff named Counselor of the Year Dr. Kenton Olliff, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, was named Counselor of the Year by the Kansas Counseling Association at its spring conference in Lawrence.

“I was humbled to just be nominated, let alone receive the award,” Olliff said.

Included in his responsibilities is oversight of the university’s Kelly Center, which provides personal, confidential mental health and counseling services for students, faculty and staff at the university. Olliff is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, a Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor and a National Certified Counselor.

Olliff and his family provide funds for the Olliff Family Educational Symposium, an annual event hosted by the College of Education.

The symposium explores mental health issues among students from kindergarten through college.

Inc. and Colby Community College’s outreach center, the program will also be available in Norton.

This provides an option for western Kansans to earn a social work degree in their local community. The bachelor’s degree is fully accredited by the Council of Social Work Education.

Classes, in the evening at the community college and online, are completed over a three-year period.

Students take courses led by FHSU faculty members and local professional social workers.

Students in a cohort start and go through the three-year cycle together.

The grant will help fund three years of operations at Colby, beginning in the fall 2019 semester. The department currently has cohorts at community colleges in Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal.

There are added expenses associated with providing a program in a location distant from the university. The delivery of programs in southwest Kansas were made possible in part by a fund created by the Kansas Legislature called AccessUs. The Hansen Foundation grant will be used in a manner similar to the AccessUS funds. Students will receive scholarships of $100 per credit hour for the 60 hours of upper division courses taken from FHSU.

Hansen grant helps expand social work outreach Thanks to a $95,000 grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Fort Hays State University’s social work cohort program is expanding into northwest Kansas.

The cohort program provides an opportunity for individuals in northwest Kansas to complete a Bachelor of Social Work degree after earning an associate’s degree through Colby Community College.

With support from Valley Hope FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

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FHSU.EDU/news

Another record-breaking spring enrollment

Record enrollments at Fort Hays State University continued for an 18th consecutive spring with a 20thday enrollment of 13,291, which is 164 students higher than last spring’s 13,127. Students this spring are taking a total of 126,947 credit hours, a fulltime equivalent count of 9,153.

The overall headcount boost (1.2 percent) was paced by increases in the FHSU Virtual College and on the campuses of our international partners. Online enrollment increased by 86 to 6,830, and enrollment at the university’s international partner universities increased by 204 to 2,307.

On-campus enrollment decreased by 126 to 4,154.

The number of Kansas students enrolled also increased, to 7,500 this spring from 7,334 in spring 2018.

“Saying ‘18 consecutive years’ makes it sound easy,” said Dr. Dennis King, assistant vice president for enrollment management and retention. “However, this is the result of a great foundation and continued hard work by everyone.”

The spring numbers were 10,626 undergraduate and 2,665 graduate students. The total includes 51 students in the university’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, the university’s first doctoral degree.

ALUMNI NEWS

FHSU ready to “Unleash” Homecoming 2019 Your university and the FHSU Alumni Association are hard at work planning one of the greatest traditions at Fort Hays State – Homecoming!

This year’s theme, “Unleash the Tigers,” is sure to delight Tigers of all ages who prowl across campus in celebration of our common bond.

Student and community events are scheduled throughout the week.

Alumni-sponsored activities begin Thursday, October 10, and continue through Saturday, October 12. It’s certainly going to be a wild time with lots of fun and plenty of Tiger spirit to go around!

Golf lovers won’t want to miss the ever-popular Tiger Alumni and Friends

Golf Tournament Thursday, October 10, at the Smoky Hill Country Club.

That evening, we’ll really get things going when we light up the Tiger Bonfire and celebrate all alumni award recipients, Homecoming royalty and student athletes during the Pep Rally.

The 50- and 60-year classes of 1969 and 1959, respectively, will be honored at the annual Half Century Club Luncheon and Induction ceremony that morning, followed by the 2019 Alumni Association awardees, who will be recognized for their personal and professional achievements that evening in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

There’s no rest for the weary on

Saturday when our early-morning risers participate in the Tiger 5K Fun Run/Walk. The annual Homecoming Parade down Main Street is set for 11 a.m. Then a Tiger Alumni and Friends Tailgate Party is scheduled for that afternoon followed by the football game between FHSU and the Emporia State Hornets.

Full details will be available online at www.fhsu.edu/homecoming later this summer. Click the “For Alumni” tab to access the online registration form, which will go live in August.

Questions, contact the FHSU Alumni Association at 888-351-3591 or by email to alumni@fhsu.edu.

Tiger golf tournaments coming up this year Interested in golfing with fellow Tigers, sharing stories from days gone by and, in general, having a good ole time? Then dust off your clubs and enter a tournament near you to compete in a four-person scramble format with a shotgun start: July 26

Aug. 3

Oct. 10

Western Kansas Golf Tournament, Hoxie Harris Golf Tournament, Liberal Hays (Homecoming) ROAR

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SPRING 2019

All tournaments are dedicated to raising scholarship funds for FHSU students. Not a golfer but interested in making a difference in an FHSU’s student’s life? Donations are welcomed in varying amounts and are taxdeductible.

Learn more and register online at www.goforthaysstate.com/events or call the FHSU Alumni Association Office at 888-351-3591 or email alumni@fhsu.edu.

Alumni, College of Education faculty, Foundation take part in Houston event The Alumni Association held an event Feb. 6, 2019, at The Steamboat House in Houston, Texas. A wonderful opportunity presented itself when FHSU College of Education faculty, who were presenting at a conference in Houston, were able to spend an evening with area alumni and friends.

Mary Hammond of the FHSU Foundation traveled to Houston and hosted the event with Houston residents Otto ’74 and Jackie Windholz. The participants spent an evening hearing first-hand campus updates, meeting fellow alumni in the area, and celebrating all things Black and Gold!

Trent Rose joins staff of FHSU Alumni Association Trent Rose, Hays, recently joined the Alumni Association as the communications coordinator. Rose will be responsible for maintaining the alumni Web presence, social media, news releases, TigerTalk and the Association’s pages in the university magazine, ROAR. Rose previously worked as an administrative specialist for the FHSU provost. From 2005-2011, he was an instructor and sports information director for Colby Community College.

“I am delighted to welcome Trent aboard,” said DeBra Prideaux, FHSU executive alumni and governmental relations director. He will be a tremendous asset to our team.”

Rose is a two-time graduate of FHSU, earning a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2002 and a master’s degree in communication studies in 2016. Rose lives in Hays and has three children, Hannah, Andrew and Carter.

“I’m excited to be part of the FHSU Alumni Association,” Rose said.

“I look forward to continuing to serve the university and the many alumni and friends of FHSU.”

Tiger Alumni along for the ride with NCAA Women’s Basketball The FHSU Alumni Association and alumni and friends were along for the ride as the Tiger women’s basketball team competed in the postseason.

The Alumni Association held pregame and postgame parties from March 7 to March 10 at Johnny’s Tavern in Kansas City, Mo., while the Tigers competed in the MIAA conference tournament. After the women’s team qualified as the top seed and hosted the Central Region, the Alumni Association once again held Tiger Spirit pregame parties in Hays for each game in which the women competed. In total, more than 700 alumni and friends attended.

Each event featured the Tiger Pep Band, Tiger Debs and Tiger Cheerleaders as well as various food offerings.

the

FHSU Alumni & Friends app

ACCESS YOUR ALUMNI MEMBERSHIP CARD, TIGER SAVINGS AND MORE! Download at www.goforthaysstate.com/app or search “FHSU Alumni & Friends” in the online stores to the right.

www.GOFORTHAYSSTATE.com 888.351.3591 | alumni@fhsu.edu

TIGER ATHLETICS Student-athletes excel in and out of classroom It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about the success of Fort Hays State University athletic teams the past few months. Here are a few examples: The women’s basketball team reaching the NCAA Division II Central Region championship game and finished the season 32-2. Junior wrestler Brandon Ball entered the NCAA D-II national meet with a perfect 24-0 record. Two seniors started the 2019 track and field season with All-America performances at the NCAA D-II National Indoor Meet.

All those are significant accomplishments, FHSU Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke said. But he points to another number that makes him especially proud of Tiger studentathletes.

More than 70 percent of approximately 450 FHSU athletes were recognized at halftime of the men’s basketball game on Feb. 16 for maintaining a 3.0 GPA. When the MIAA academic honor roll was released earlier this spring, 65 athletes represented FHSU in the five winter sports programs.

“Dixie Balman does a great job of keeping people on task,” Hammeke said. Balman is the FHSU assistant athletic director in charge of academic affairs for Tiger athletes.

Out of the classroom, Tiger teams represented the Black and Gold with pride – the men’s and women’s basketball teams combined for a conference-leading 32-2 cumulative regular-season home record at GMC. That pride is shared by their fans as well.

FHSU has ranked second in the nation in attendance for Tiger women’s basketball for four straight years.

Nearly 5,000 fans showed up to cheer on Fort Hays State in the D-II Central Region title game on March 18.

“The community support here is what sets us apart from some of the other institutions,” Hammeke said.

“The support in attendance across the board is second to none.”

Scholar athletes

Leading the way among FHSU scholar student-athletes from winter season programs were three who had perfect 4.0 GPAs and eight with GPAs of 3.5 and above.

Academic Excellence (4.0 GPA) Whitney Randall, Alva, Okla., sophmore, women’s basketball Mark Faber, Colby sophmore, men’s track and field Conrad Vajnar, Hays redshirt freshman, wrestling Scholar athletes (3.5 GPA and above) Women’s basketball Belle Barber, Abilene junior, 3.94 Carly Heim, Hoxie senior, 3.75 Kacey Kennett, Olathe junior, 3.69 Men’s basketball Jared Vitztum, Hays sophmore, 3.92 Kyler Kinnamon, McPherson senior, 3.566 Men’s track and field Seppe van ’t Westende, Rotterdam, Netherlands, junior, 3.72 Wrestling Brandon Ball, Great Bend junior, 3.77 Micquelle Robinson, Wichita senior, 3.76 Vajnar, Ball and Robinson were also named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s all-academic team.

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Women’s basketball celebrates record-setting season

The Tigers showed fans early on that they could expect big things this season. In pre-season exhibition road games with Division I squads, FHSU took the University of Kansas to overtime before losing 90-83, then lost by two, 48-46, two days later to Kansas State.

The squad followed that up by winning its first 15 games of the season before suffering a three-point setback on the road at Emporia State in mid-January.

From there, the Tigers won 15 more games en route to claiming the MIAA regular-season title and the conference tournament crown, earning the No. 1 seed for the Central Region Championships.

FHSU won its first two games in the regional tourney before falling by an 88-77 score to Southwest Oklahoma State.

The Tigers’ 32-2 record is the best in team’s NCAA era and second in program history.

Tony Hobson became the winningest women’s coach at FHSU (237-94 overall). He was named Coach of the Year in the MIAA,

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN

Track and field

the Central Region and the KWCA (for four-year colleges). He also was a finalist for National Coach of the Year.

Senior Tatyana Legette earned All-America honors by two different organizations, named the MIAA’s player of the year, voted MVP of the MIAA tourney and was a first-team pick in the Central Region. She led the team in points, rebounds and assists and finished her career with 1,256 points.

Seniors Brett Meyer from Scott City and Kolt Newell, Damar, kicked off their senior seasons in style by earning All-America honors at the NCAA D-II national indoor meet at Pittsburg.

Meyer was fourth in the mile run (4:12.31) for the fifth career AllAmerica recognition of his collegiate career.

Newell was eighth in the high jump (6-8.25).

Other qualifiers for indoor nationals: Atwood junior Rohey Singhateh, women’s triple jump, and Wichita freshman Phillip Landrum, men’s 60-meter dash.

Other highlights

Senior Hannah Perkins (Wichita), women’s golf, All-MIAA first team and Central Regional qualifier for third year.

Junior Lauren Lindell (Parker, Colo.), women’s tennis, MIAA sportsmanship award.

Sophomore Sara Breckbill (Parker, Colo.), softball, MIAA second team.

The 2019 Tiger football team will begin defense of its MIAA crown on the road. Winners of back-to-back MIAA titles in 2017 and 2018, the Tigers will take on Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo., Thursday, Sept. 5.

The first home game will be the following week versus Missouri Western, also on a Thursday, at 7 p.m. at Lewis Field Stadium.

Homecoming 2019 is set for 7 p.m.

Oct. 12 versus Emporia State.

Season tickets will go on sale later this summer. For more information, call the Athletic Office at (785) 6284050.

Chris Brown, entering his ninth year at FHSU, became the winningest coach in FHSU football history last year (now 58-34 overall).

Men’s basketball

2019 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE SEPT. at Central Missouri 5 Warrensburg, Mo. SEPT. vs. MISSOURI WESTERN 12 at 7:00 PM

The Tiger men, led by Hays senior Brady Werth, recorded their fourth straight 18-win season.

FHSU got off to a 6-1 start in the MIAA and ended up finishing fourth in the regular-season standings. The Tigers finished 18-11 overall, including a 14-2 mark at home.

Werth finished his career with 1,019 points and 455 rebounds and made the All-MIAA first team and All-MIAA academic team.

SEPT. at Washburn Univ.

21 Topeka, Ks. SEPT. vs. MISSOURI SOUTHERN 28 at 7:00 PM

Wrestling

Great Bend junior Brandon Ball (24-0 regular season) qualified for his third straight NCAA D-II national tournament. He finished fourth at 141 pounds to earn All-America honors for the second time in his career.

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

Tiger football gears up for three-peat

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OCT. 5

at Central Oklahoma Edmond, Okla.

OCT. 12

vs. EMPORIA STATE at 7:00 PM

OCT. 19

at Pittsburg State TBD

OCT. 26

vs. NEBRASKA-KEARNEY at 2:00 PM

NOV. 2

at Lincoln Jefferson, Mo.

NOV. 9

vs. NW MISSOURI STATE at 2:00 PM

NOV. 23

at Northeastern State Tahlequah, Okla.

FEATURE STORIES

FHSU art students make a difference in the community with a collaborative arts project

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN photography by KELSEY STREMEL

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P

eople sometimes pause when trying to pronounce Amy Schmierbach’s last name.

No matter. To her students, she is affectionately known as Amy. Schmierbach – which, for the record, is pronounced “sh-meer-bock” – is in her 19th year of teaching art at Fort Hays State University.

Students in her classes, particularly those enrolled in Social Practices in Art, will tell you they learn so much more than art. There is no hesitation when describing the life lessons they take with them when leaving Schmierbach’s classes.

Two years ago, Schmierbach successfully applied for the Arts Integration Program-Innovative Partnership Grant from the Kansas Creative Industries Commission.

That grant was matched by Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas (DSNWK), with whom Schmierbach formed a partnership.

DSNWK serves community members with a variety of special needs, including autism, Down syndrome and other cognitive disabilities.

She was able to purchase a floor

loom, three table looms and art supplies. Those funds also allowed for 500 hours of FHSU student assistance.

Another floor loom was donated by Dr. Katrina Hess, and $1,000 worth of yarn was donated by The Shepherd’s Mill in Phillipsburg.

As part of her Social Practices in Art class, Schmierbach and her students meet with DSNWK clients twice a week at Employment Connections in Hays to collaborate on expressing themselves through color, texture and design.

“One of our duties as artists is to teach other people about art,” Schmierbach said. “I feel that my job is to bring this to the community, not to just be in my studio and doing art.”

Schmierbach and her students are doing just that in a big way.

The FHSU students and DSNWK clients weave colored yarn into art pieces. They also form collages from paintings, drawings and photography contributed by both the students and clients.

The collaboration has positively touched the lives of all involved.

“The individuals we serve love

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being able to interact with the FHSU students most of all,” said LaVonne Giess, Employment Services Manager at DSNWK. “The students ask them about their lives and what things they enjoy. You can tell that the students care about (the clients) and enjoy working with them.”

Megan Pfannenstiel, a Hays senior majoring in art history, was busy cutting yarn one day during the spring semester while helping a client.

David Werth meticulously pulled back the shuttle on a table loom and smiled. While working at another table nearby, Tyler Jones threaded the large wooden needle across strands of yarn on his loom and pulled the shuttle tight. Satisfied with his progress, Tyler repeated the process over and over.

“I think it helps me relax,” said Tyler, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 5 years old. “The students always tell me that I have good ideas, which makes me think of more new ideas. I love it.”

This was creating, communicating and making a difference – at its best.

“This is more than weaving,” Pfannenstiel said. “Sitting here with

David, we learn so much about each other.”

That concept of learning can sometimes come without uttering a single word, Schmierbach said.

In fact, working with an Alzheimer’s patient at a local nursing facility years ago is what triggered the thought of connecting her students with DSNWK clients.

“The woman didn’t have words, but we could pass the shuttle back and forth, and it was almost like having a conversation with her,” Schmierbach said. “It really sparked an interest, and it kind of grew from there.”

Schmierbach already had personal experience with this type of artwork while working with her 12-year-old autistic son, Austin.

“A lot of people can be artists. It depends on how you define that and how you define making artwork,” Schmierbach said. “Here, every person can bring in their own style.”

“You can tell that everyone takes great pride in what they are creating,” Giesse said. “They work together, sharing ideas to come up with a beautiful finished product.”

Completed art projects were framed and went on display for sale at the Hays Public Library this past spring.

Schmierbach’s goal is to generate

enough funding through the art sale and private donations to enhance the project even more. She would like to bring in visiting artists and conduct workshops. Donations and sales of the artwork also could be used for framing and art supplies as well as shipping exhibitions of artwork.

Schmierbach hopes to hire two or three students to work with the clients several times a week and all year long.

Laura Krug, a junior graphic design major from Hays, would like to be one of those students.

“I love that we are involving a community of people who don’t traditionally make art,” Krug said.

“Besides helping them, we are building friendships and learning from them.

We want to let them know that what they have to say is important. They understand it’s important to have a voice, and creativity is their voice.”

Tyler’s foster mom, Tammy Dreiling, sometimes accompanies him to Employment Connections on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, “just to see how they are progressing.”

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L AURA KRUG FHSU student

Dreiling said that Schmierbach has definitely been a positive influence in Tyler’s life.

“She really connects well with anyone,” Dreiling said. “She’s determined to make the world a better place – for everyone.”

Dreiling was not surprised when Schmierbach was honored with the Master Educator Award at the Foundations in Art Theory and Education Conference in Columbus, Ohio, this spring.

“I want to dedicate this award for each of my students over the past 20 years who were excited to try a new project,” Schmierbach said.

Weaving was new to Pfannenstiel, the art history major who said it’s “so

relaxing, almost mesmerizing.” So, too, was interacting with the clients.

“I didn’t know that much about DSNWK before,” Pfannenstiel said, “but I have learned that when you connect with the client, it’s a feeling like no other. It’s neat to see other students when they first come in they kind of hold back. But now, they are all smiling and participating with everyone.”

Marisa Kistler, a junior from Spearville, admitted she was nervous when she first began working with the clients.

“I had never had that experience with disabled people before,” she said. “But this has been absolutely awesome.”

Kistler, an art education major, said this experience “has really confirmed that I want to teach art.”

“This has helped me see there is more than just traditional art,” Kistler said. “I think it will help me encourage my students to try different things.”

Krug already had an idea of the patience needed to work with people with disabilities. Krug, who transferred to FHSU from Benedictine College in Atchison in 2018, worked last summer as a teaching assistant for the Kansas State School for the Blind in Kansas City, Kan. This particular art class has impacted her like no other.

“I thought this class would be more

about performance art projects,” she said.

“I now have learned that social practice art is more of a strategy of organizing community change by using art.”

This semester, Krug bought some clothing from the local Goodwill store and tore it into rags for a tapestry piece that she worked on together with Karen Thorns, who cannot speak.

“Through the weaving, we can still communicate,” Krug said. a Krug and Karen took turns weaving the pieces of clothing on the tapestry loom. “You just kind of stop using words and start making things.

We are learning a lot – about patience, about knowing how to communicate effectively with someone who might have difficulty communicating.”

Donations to support the Collaborative Arts Project can be made by contacting the FHSU Foundation at (785) 628-5620 or email foundation@fhsu.edu. For more information about the project or the sale of the artwork, contact Amy Schmierbach at ajschmierbach@fhsu.edu.

MEET KOLLETTE KEETEN

Student Designer at University Relations and Marketing Kollette, a 22-year old senior from Phillipsburg, has spent her college career studying graphic design at FHSU. Kollette graduated in May of 2019 and began the summer working as a graphic design intern for the Mitchell County Community Development.

She has been the treasurer for the FHSU chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts for two years, a member of the Fort Hays State Honor Society for four years, part of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.

Kollette’s interest and expertise in graphic design landed her a job at the URM office, where she was able to connect with many different professionals. Her success as a designer has led her to many different opportunities, including the chance to help design ROAR Magazine.

A

CAMPAIGN

FOR

FHSU

Fort Hays State University is in the midst of the largest, most ambitious, fundraising campaign in school history – the Journey campaign. Each and every gift increases our capacity to grow and thrive. With that said, we are grateful and humbled to have already raised more than $68.7 million as of December 31, 2018, toward this effort.

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Number of lives changed through FHSU’s Journey campaign: The possibilities are endless

CAMPAIGN GOAL To

raise

$100

million

by

Homecoming

in

support

of FHSU

2021

Academic Colleges

1. Scholarships: $45,000,000

Sternberg Museum Alumni Association

2. Academics: $39,000,000

Forsyth Library

3. Athletics: $8,000,000 4. Student Life: $8,000,000

Study Abroad Student Organizations Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success

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785.628.5620

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https://foundation.fhsu.edu

foundation@fhsu.edu

A CAMPAIGN FOR FHSU

Just as others helped make your journey possible at Fort Hays State, now is your chance to pay it forward for a new generation of Tigers.

At Fort Hays State, we are on a journey to help students’ dreams come true. Through private gifts, our university and our hardworking students can prosper. Your support of the Journey campaign means an education, a strong university, a bright future, lives changed and dreams made true for students at Fort Hays State.

To those who have contributed to the campaign, please know that your generosity is making a significant impact. The loyalty and dedication of you, our alumni and friends, does not go unnoticed. On behalf of Fort Hays State University and your FHSU Foundation, thank you!

If you have not yet made a gift in support of Fort Hays State University’s Journey campaign, we invite you to do so by visiting:

https://foundation.fhsu.edu/donate_roar Sincerely,

Jason J. Williby President/CEO FHSU Foundation

E V E R Y G I F T M AT T E R S ROAR

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THE JOURNEY OF A

THOUSAND MILES

BEGINS WITH

ONE STEP — LAO TZU

785.628.5620

https://foundation.fhsu.edu

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FHSU takes science education on the road

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN and KELSEY STREMEL photography by KELSEY STREMEL

A

s a child did you wonder how things work? Did you take them apart just to see what made them tick?

The Fort Hays State University Maker Van is a traveling discovery laboratory that gives curious children, and those who are still curious children at heart, the opportunity to engage in hands-on experiential learning.

“The Maker Van’s purpose is to meet people where they are in rural communities and ignite passions for science and mathematics in learners,” said Dr. Paul Adams, Dean of the College of Education and professor of physics.

Science and math education fuels learners’ enthusiasm for investigation, experimentation and love of learning.

There is a need nationwide for youth to have access to quality STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning programs and to encourage students to pursue careers

in STEM. These are interdisciplinary skills, the kind of skills that will be essential in helping future generations solve the most pressing challenges in Kansas, our nation and our world.

The Maker Van, a mobile extension of the FHSU MakerSpace, is just one way Fort Hays State is innovating to meet the need for qualified STEM educators in Kansas and leading the statewide effort to motivate students’ interest in future careers in the STEM field.

A sense of urgency about the state of American leadership in STEM spread across the nation about a decade ago when we began losing ground to other countries in the areas of student testing and performance. This keen focus on STEM continued to build into a nationwide initiative that now transcends political lines.

In 2010, President Barack Obama made STEM education and the need for qualified teachers a priority in his Educate to Innovate campaign.

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This laid the groundwork for the establishment of a 10-year goal designed to move the U.S. back to the forefront in STEM. In January 2019, President Donald Trump took action to provide greater nationwide access to STEM resources by encouraging broadband deployment in previously undeserved rural communities.

Both of these initiatives focused on addressing the gap in STEM education opportunities, accessibility and U.S. workforce needs.

It is predicted that employers will be unable to fill 2.5 million STEMrelated positions this year, including 2,500 computing jobs in Kansas alone.

The Bureau of Labor Statistic reports that the divide between our skilled labor pool and the nationwide need for career-ready professionals with technology skills is growing every day.

This significant gap is evident in Kansas and throughout the U.S. Of the six million jobs open across the nation, approximately 500,000

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require some experience with computer systems. Less than half of elementary and high schools are able to provide courses in computer science.

STEM jobs are good jobs with a higher than average salary in the U.S. jobs market. Careers in STEM are jobs that typically weather economic downturns better than those in any other career sector. This provides the stability necessary to raise a family and improve the quality of life opportunities in local communities.

This nationwide push for quality STEM education helped to fuel Fort Hays State’s initiatives in science and math education and the ultimate creation of the Maker Van. Adams said the idea of the Maker Van goes back to the 1980s.

“Maurice Witten (FHSU physics professor emeritus) and I talked about how nice it would be to get a van to use for science outreach, and we

worked on writing grants to fund the project,” Adams said.

Enter the Maker Van “That was a dream of ours,” Adams said. “Eventually, we were able to fulfill that vision.”

The dream of the Maker Van came became a reality through the generosity of alumnus, Mary Schweitzer. Mary received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from FHSU in 1965 and 1968. She is a longtime contributor to many initiatives at FHSU that encourage youth, especially young women, to enter science and math fields.

“When you see students manipulate something or figure out a math problem, their eyes light up,” Schweitzer said. “Seeing that satisfaction is just one of the reasons why I’m such a big supporter of all ROAR

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FHSU is doing to enhance student science- and math-related careers.”

“Mary’s contributions to science initiatives play a major role in what we are able to accomplish through the Science and Mathematics Education Institute and Maker Van,” Adams said.

“Her generosity is invaluable in helping us expose pre-college-aged students to opportunities that exist in science- and math-related careers.”

G.G. Launchbaugh, Science Outreach Coordinator for the MakerSpace and Maker Van, and a team of FHSU students with a passion for science and math education, lead the educational events and activities.

You can spot them traveling across the state in the Maker Van – a white Ford transit van with brilliant graphics and embedded photos that offer a preview of a vehicle payload that can include things like 3D printers, computers, tools and equipment for

photo courtesy of the Maker Space team

robotics and a variety of items for scientific experiments.

“I load it up with different things, depending on what I’m going to do that day,” said Launchbaugh, who averages two outings a week.

When the Maker Van arrives, learners may have the opportunity to launch homemade bottle rockets in an activity that brings fun to the study of Newton’s laws of motion.

Another day, learners might roll up their sleeves and investigate conduction while mixing up and forming saltdough electric circuits that illuminate a small LED bulb, thus turning on the light to the science of electricity.

“I would have loved something like this when I was young,” said MacKenzie Foster, an FHSU senior majoring in mathematics from Topeka who helps with the Maker Van. “I like that we’re making science and technology accessible to a lot of these schools that don’t have this opportunity. To see the kids get excited about science is thrilling to me.”

With increasing pressure on school districts to meet testing requirements and budget limitations, field trips are often limited. The Maker Van team provides an accessible, exciting and affordable way to deliver experiential

learning to classrooms across the state.

This learning opportunity isn’t limited to just the Maker Van team’s visit. That part is only the beginning of a learning experience that can continue long after the vehicle departs. These activities have a lasting effect that teachers can revisit in future lesson plans every day and across disciplines.

The van also serves as the portable high-altitude launch platform for Fort Hays State’s Science and Math Education Institute (SMEI) which is the umbrella for many STEM focused initiatives at FHSU including the MakerSpace, Maker Van, Noyce scholarships, Lego Robotics, Digital Planetarium, summer camps and many continuing education workshops. A payload with various research materials and often a camera is attached to air balloons and carried aloft. The Maker Van serves as a mobile home base while Launchbaugh and the students track the balloons using a radio transmitter and GPS. The van can also hold helium tanks and serve as a portable laboratory for analyzing changes in altitude, temperature and air currents that move a balloon through the atmosphere.

STEM activities like ballooning are interdisciplinary endeavors that encourage learning and critical thinking in more than just math and geography. This investigation also includes communication, problemsolving, and physics.

Foster, who has been with the Maker Van from the start said, “My

favorite thing is ballooning. With the ballooning project, you can learn as much as you want. One kid can be doing coding, another can be learning about solar panels, and yet another can be using it to research biology.”

She also discussed the valuable lessons she has learned in the field with the Maker Van. She believes these are lessons that she would never have learned in a classroom since this approach requires nimbleness when adjusting to unpredictable challenges like our volatile Kansas weather.

Foster witnessed a balloon launch on her campus visit as a high school student. It was this experience that sparked her interest in attending Fort Hays State. She went on to attend the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science – the state’s premier early college program for high school juniors and seniors on the FHSU campus – for two years. She then decided to complete her bachelor’s degree at Fort Hays State. While still undecided about what she will do next, one thing is for sure, she will continue to inspire the next generation of STEM learners.

“It’s easy to see STEM as just a buzzword or trend, but it is so much more. STEM learning is vital to everyday life. When I was a child, I didn’t have anyone outside of my family to encourage my love for science and math. I see now that it is easy to do. Anyone can encourage a child to find a love for science and math. I will always remember what an impact that first balloon launch made on me, and I will always look for ways to give back and encourage others to share a love for science and math.”

The Maker Van, as well as the MakerSpace in Forsyth Library, are funded solely from grant money and private donations. To support these programs that support science and math education for students and communities visit foundation.fhsu.edu/donate to make a donation.

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A LEGACY OF

LEADERSHIP Husband-wife duo cements spot in FHSU history and sails off into retirement

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN

D

r. Curt Brungardt was the picture of relaxation one cold, snowy day in March.

Dressed in casual clothes and wearing a baseball cap, he sat at his office desk in Custer Hall and smiled often while reminiscing about his career at Fort Hays State University.

Custer 207 had taken on a different look the previous weeks as Brungardt cleaned out his office, counting the days toward his retirement.

By the looks of the empty shelves, a visitor unfamiliar with Brungardt’s history wouldn’t be able to tell that he had spent nearly 30 years at Fort Hays State.

One item in particular was still hanging on the otherwise bare walls.

A large word, RISK, covered a third of a framed poster, which read “A ship in the harbor is safe … but that’s not what ships were made for.”

Taking risks and sailing are both passions of Brungardt. But he had no idea how the word “risk” would become part of his professional life for nearly three decades after Dr. Edward H. Hammond, then president at FHSU,

photography by MITCH WEBER

and Dr. James Dawson, then vice president for student affairs, charged a young and aspiring professor with starting a leadership program at FHSU. Led by Brungardt and his wife, Dr. Christie Brungardt, Fort Hays State has built a superb leadership department.

It has grown from one faculty member and about 10 students to 18 faculty members and 1,600 students. Half of these faculty and 1,200 of the students are at Zhengzhou Sias University in Xinzheng, Henan Province, China, working toward the only undergraduate program of this type in the Republic of China.

“It’s extremely unique,” said Dr. Brett Whitaker, assistant professor of Leadership Studies. “We wouldn’t be offering that kind of degree program if it weren’t for Curt and Christie.”

A key to the Brungardts’ appeal, say faculty and students alike, is their authenticity.

“Curt and Christie are people who are very passionate and very focused,” said Daron Jamison, a 2003 graduate in organizational leadership. “Part of the success they have had with

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the department is they weren’t just teaching leadership. They were living it, and that’s pretty powerful.”

From that original charge given to Curt Brungardt 27 years ago has grown several related leadership organizations. A Center for Civic Leadership was established, and from that evolved the American Democracy Project, Tigers in Service, the Women’s Leadership Project and the Global Leadership Project.

Omer G. Voss, a 1937 FHSU graduate, donated substantial resources to the Department of Leadership Studies in 2003, establishing the Omer G. Voss Endowed Professorship in Leadership. Two years later, Curt was appointed to the Voss professorship and given the title of director of the Center for Civic Leadership.

After their 25-year-old daughter, Jana Mackey, died in an act of domestic violence in 2008, the Brungardts found a new cause to help make a difference.

In honor of Jana – a devoted advocate for women’s rights – the Brungardts co-founded Jana’s

Campaign Inc., a national education and violence prevention organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence.

It all began with a simple challenge and high expectations so many years before.

“We thought leadership was important from an academic point of view,” said Dr. Larry Gould, provost at the time. “Leaders make the difference in many cases. It’s important to carry that to our students.”

A risk taker by nature, Curt was intrigued by the idea of starting a leadership program.

Still, he was a little skeptical how it would be perceived by the rest of the campus.

“I was puzzled by the whole thing,” he said. “I had a background in political science. How was I going to develop leadership classes?”

One trip to a leadership conference gave him the impetus he needed.

“I came back all fired up,” Curt said. “There were only a handful of schools with leadership majors at that time. We started mailing each other notes – photocopied, handwritten notes. That was back before the Internet. It just grew from there.”

FHSU began offering its first

leadership course, Introduction to Leadership Concepts, in 1993.

“There were two people in the department,” Curt said. “I was the director, and I had a student secretary.”

“When you’re a pioneer, there’s no road to follow,” he added. “You work through the jungle yourself. It made me tough. I was stubborn anyway, and the more I was criticized, the more I was determined to be successful.”

Gould knew that the uniqueness and interdisciplinary nature would overlap with other established disciplines.

“There was a perception of ‘What are you going to do with a leadership degree?’ ” Gould said. “I came from the point of civic engagement, and President Hammond’s perception was that there are things you can teach which can imply that leaders can be taught.”

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thing is that we started getting large enrollments.”

After earning her Master of Liberal Studies with an emphasis in organizational leadership in 2001, Christie joined the leadership faculty later that year, and the program continued to flourish.

“Christie became an intervening variable,” Gould said. “She had been in business and had a different perspective. Curt has a lot of energy, and Christie channels it in good ways.”

Curt had already been involved in community work during his career at FHSU, and with Christie by his side, the leadership programs flourished even more.

“I have been involved in community for the vast majority of my life,” Christie said. “My mother was a believer in giving back to the community. She got me involved in my home community, and then when I moved to Hays, it just seemed like the thing to do.”

“(The Brungardts) weren’t just teaching leadership.

They were living it, and that’s pretty powerful.”

DARON JAMISON FHSU Graduate

Over the years, more programs were added in the department, and more and more students expressed interest in learning about organizational leadership.

“Because we were such a young discipline, we were constantly tweaking it,” Curt said. “It was selflearn and self-reflect. That culture still exists in the Leadership Department today.”

Maybe no one can speak to that better than Dr. Brett Whitaker, who came to Fort Hays State as a geoscience major in 2003 and changed to leadership studies by the second semester of his sophomore year.

Whitaker is an advisor in the Global Leadership Project and coordinator of the international

program for the Department of Leadership Studies.

“I wanted a career field that was going to give me the opportunity for creating positive change in the world,” he said. “The best way to do that was to major and study in a field to be effective working with people and organizations.”

He found that in the Department of Leadership Studies.

So, too, did Dr. Jill Arensdorf, who was hired by the Brungardts as an instructor in 2002 and was named chair of the department in 2010. This spring, Arensdorf was selected as FHSU’s provost.

“I appreciate them taking a chance on me,” Arensdorf said, “and they have continued to mentor and be very supportive of me. At the time, I had no idea what this would turn into. This is a spectacular place to work.”

The Brungardts say they will never forget their time at Fort Hays State.

“Having the opportunity to teach at FHSU has been one of the greatest gifts of my life,” Christie said. “Being given the ability to build relationships with hundreds of amazing young people has definitely blessed my life in multiple ways.”

“The greatest joy I have received in

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my career has been the eagerness of students in my classrooms willing to let me challenge their belief systems,” Curt said. “They were willing to view the world through multiple lenses and were open to different ways of thinking. That’s been the coolest thing about all of it.”

While Curt and Christie will be missed at Fort Hays State, they have left a clear path for those following in their footsteps. And they will continue to help students in perpetuity.

Friends, family and colleagues established an endowed fund through the FHSU Foundation to be used for scholarships and necessities for the leadership programs. Voss will match donations for that fund up to $10,000.

The leadership programs the Brungardts’ built are as strong as ever, and a new team is looking forward to carrying on the Brungardts’ legacy.

“They poured their hearts and souls into this program in building it from the ground up,” Arensdorf said. “It has a massively strong foundation that we can enjoy for many, many years.”

The Brungardts bought a house at Council Grove City Lake in eastern Kansas about 16 years ago and have been renovating it to their liking ever since – waiting for this time to come.

“It’s like the phrase, ‘If you love something, let it go,’ ” Whitaker said.

“Curt and Christie invested so much into this program and other related programs that they aren’t going to go away when the Brungardts leave. They have set the foundation for long-term success. That’s a tremendous legacy.”

Inspired by her instructors, FHSU grad now helping others as a social worker

by RANDY GONZALES photography by KELSEY STREMEL

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I

t was not anything special that Michelle Daniel did for Devani Prieto at Riley Elementary School in Great Bend. It was the little things. Prieto, who did not know a word of English when she started kindergarten, was just comforted by Daniel’s presence.

“She was always involved,” Prieto said. “You could meet with her in the classroom. It was nice. I could have one-on-one time with her during lunch.”

That social worker at her school inspired Prieto. Now, the studentturned-social worker provides the inspiration.

“The first reason I wanted to go into social work was my elementary school social worker,” Prieto said. “She was kind of an inspiration. I want to do what she does one day. Really, trying to make a difference in people’s lives, whether it be just one person’s impact.”

Prieto, a 2018 Bachelor of Social Work graduate from Fort Hays State University, works as a social work specialist in the crisis stabilization unit at Larned State Hospital. The Great Bend resident commutes to work, much like she did in earning her degree at FHSU. As a student, Prieto worked fulltime at a Great Bend bank and commuted to Hays for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She graduated summa cum laude last spring with a 4.0 grade-point average. Prieto was awarded the 2018 Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award in the Department of Social Work.

Not only did Prieto go the extra mile to earn her degree, she also worried in the back of her mind about finding a job and keeping one. As an undocumented immigrant who came into the United States as a child, Prieto is part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (DACA).

Prieto’s family came to the United

States from Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, when she was three years old. Program participants must renew their status every two years. However, Prieto, 22, still fears for her future if immigration policy changes to negatively impact her.

“I was a DACA student. That in itself was kind of stressful,” Prieto said.

“That added stressors, trying to figure out if I would even graduate and find a job. Thankfully, I was able to stay on DACA and complete school. If (DACA) were to be rescinded now, I would basically lose my job.”

Prieto and other graduates like her from the social work program provide assistance to a part of FHSU’s service area that is in dire need of it.

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City. Students can stay in those cities and earn an associate’s degree, then obtain a four-year degree from FHSU without studying at the Hays campus.

Dr. Tim Davis, chair of the Department of Social Work, said graduates can then stay in their communities, where they are needed.

“It’s great for these communities in filling needs for social workers,” Davis said. “We have a lot of people who couldn’t come to Hays because they have families. We’ve been working on reaching out to those communities. I think that’s one of the areas Fort Hays State excels in. We’re the only fouryear university in western Kansas. We know the area; we know what the need is.”

FHSU is expanding the cohort program to Colby and Norton in fall 2019. The expansion was made possible

by a $95,000 grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. Classes will be held at Colby Community College and Valley Hope in Norton.

“If there wasn’t a need, we wouldn’t have developed cohorts,” said Dr. Patricia Levy, professor in the Department of Social Work. “There are some counties where there are no – or only one – social worker.”

The Department of Social Work also is taking the necessary steps to add a master’s degree program that will focus on clinical work.

Levy, who has been teaching in the university’s social work program for 18 years, got to know Prieto inside and outside of class. Prieto, a 2014 graduate of Great Bend High School, talked to Levy about diversity issues in Great Bend. “Devani was aware of some of the problems Hispanic students have in the high school,” Levy said. “She made us aware of them.”

Prieto, who did her practicum at Larned State Hospital, was hired last July after graduation. She works with patients, families, and community providers to develop and implement appropriate discharge plans. She works with a treatment team to assist patients in reaching their treatment goals.

“We make sure they have the support when they go back out,” Prieto said.

Davis said Prieto has what it takes to make a difference.

“One of the things that is going to make her a great social worker is her determination,” Davis said.

“One of the things that is going to make her a great social worker is her determination.”

DR. TIM DAVIS

Chair of the Department of Social Work

“She was one of the best students in her group,” Levy said. “She was highly motivated and very committed.”

Davis said there is a misperception about what a social worker does, with people thinking it only concerns child welfare.

“You find social workers in all kinds of settings, essentially any place you find people helping other people in a psychosocial capacity,” Davis said.

“Hospitals look at social workers to reduce admission rates, to curb the use of emergency rooms. Schools use social workers as an outreach to the families and communities.”

Davis said some social workers come from disadvantaged situations growing up.

“Our majors often experience adversity in their lives. They want to help other people who struggle, too,” Davis said.

“That’s one of the things that makes Devani’s character important,” he added. “She has those skills, she’s overcome adversity, and now she’s turning that around. She is an inspiration.”

Prieto handled the stress from working a full-time job and getting home in the early evening the two days a week she had classes in Hays. It was homework time – all the time. There was little time to have fun.

“It was very stressful,” Prieto said.

“I never thought I was going to quit. I knew it was something I needed to do.

I wanted to do it. I just kept pushing through.”

Prieto said she has more free time these days. But that might all change if the Department of Social Work does add a master’s program.

Prieto said she would get her master’s at Fort Hays State.

That would mean more miles on the highway from Great Bend to Hays, a road Prieto knows all too well.

“They’re not done with me yet,” she said.

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MEET RANDY GONZALES Student Writer at University Relations and Marketing

After 30-plus years working in journalism, Randy decided to return to college as a nontraditional student and finished his Master of Arts degree in history last month with a perfect 4.0 GPA. His thesis, “The Kennedy Effect: John F. Kennedy’s 1959 Trip to Kansas and its Relationship to his National Campaign,” focused on Kennedy’s trip to five Kansas cities in 1959.

This past semester, Randy won the Kansas Association of Historians Graduate Student Award for best paper and presented it at two conferences.

Randy, a lifelong avid sports fan, worked for more than 25 years in the sports department of The Hays Daily News. He is the social media coordinator and content provider for the Hays Larks, the local summer collegiate baseball program.

He volunteers for – and is a board member of – the Ellis County Historical Society.

He serves as chairman of the fundraising and marketing committee. He also is a member of a local western history organization, The Westerners.

Randy has written a variety of stories for the URM staff over the years, including pieces for several issues of ROAR Magazine.

PUTTING STUDENTS FIRST FHSU takes pride in ensuring our students have the resources to reach success “In both the accounting department and the criminal justice department (which was my first major) I was immediately, and continue to be, awe-struck by the genuineness of the faculty and staff.

They have a clear interest in helping their students succeed. Very quickly, my professors became advisors, friends and even confidants in matters far beyond classroom topics. Looking back on the person I was as a freshman and the person I am now, I do not doubt that it was the faculty and staff who helped me achieve my goals and grow as a person.”

BARON GREEN Finance Oberlin

“My student job in digital marketing at FHSU has put me a step ahead of my peers because I get to practice real-world storytelling, public relations and marketing outside of class. I feel like I am more prepared for my summer internship at the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce because of my student employment opportunity. I’m excited to work closely with Hays businesses, make connections and continue to grow as a future professional. I enjoy putting study into action and testing my skills in a meaningful internship while I’m building my network and preparing for my future career.”

McKENZIE CUNNINGHAM Communication Studies, Public Relations and Advertising Park Hills, MO

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by McKENZIE CUNNINGHAM

photography by KELSEY STREMEL

“At FHSU, I have met some really great people who are a part of my life and have helped me through being a music major. I don’t think I would be where I am today without all of the available resources on campus, not only academically but health and mental wellbeing also — resources like the Kelly Center, student health and the library. In my major, faculty inspired and encouraged me to buy my first instrument ever. It is great to have people who share a common interest in making good music and to have all those resources available right here in Hays.”

HECTOR HERNANDEZ Music Education Fort Riley

“Being a member of the Honors College has provided the financial resources for my internship in Topeka with the state legislature. I have so much love for Kansas politics, and I want to have a big impact. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the scholarship that covered both my tuition and housing.”

K AY TEE WISLEY

Political Science Truman Scholarship Finalist Wichita

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“Dr. William Weber has been my advisor since I came to FHSU. I can always ask him any questions I have with school or as a future teacher. I got to a point one semester where I wanted to drop out, but I had a class with Dr. Weber, and he told me not to give up or get discouraged. He knew that I could get through it. He didn’t let me give up. He helped me look for different options, and he told me to stay strong.”

PERL A CAMACHO Mathematics Liberal

Pushing the limits of research and determination story and photography by KELSEY STREMEL

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SPRING 2019

“Do good. Make a difference.

Change the world.”

These words are a personal motto of Peter Werth, namesake of the Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, and they hang outside the office door of Dr. James Balthazor on the third floor of Tomanek Hall.

It is a daily reminder that sums up Balthazor’s approach to teaching, service and research. You can see these words in action every day in his lab at Fort Hays State University.

Balthazor, affectionately known as Dr. B by many of his students, leads research to take on arguably some of the most significant challenges facing the world today. His lab is one of three in the world that study the structural properties of the human protein Armet, and his lab is at the forefront of research that utilizes ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference techniques in the unfolded protein response of various species.

Complicated, yes, but at a high level the research identifies the building blocks for future GMO crops, cytotoxicity testing of products on insects and cancer cells, and pinpoints possible solutions for targeting crop pests from feral hogs to insects.

Balthazor’s innovative research has the potential for billion-dollar impacts on production agriculture and the shaping of cancer research in pursuit of a cure.

It is also transforming students’ lives by inspiring a love of science and inquiry.

An FHSU alumnus (class of 2011), Balthazor credits his research experience as a college student for transforming his own life.

“While I was a student at FHSU,” Balthazor reminisced, “I intended to pursue a medical degree. Trying to bolster my medical school application, I worked as a research assistant in the chemistry department, and it changed the direction and tone of my life. I fell FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

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in love with research.”

That is the reason he’s teaching and relentlessly seeking to pay it forward today. Balthazor strives to ignite and nurture a love of science and research, transforming lives the same way that his was changed.

On any given day in a semester, the chatter of Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science students

reverberates down the hall from the doorway of Balthazor’s lab, mixing with the hum of freezers, incubators, fans and other electronics.

This spring semester, you might have heard a peal of laughter as KAMS student Shelby Oshel, Wichita, erupted with glee and a happy dance before posing for a selfie with her culture of the HeLa cells she found still alive in April. (HeLa cells are essential in all modern-day cancer research. You can read more about them in “What are HeLa Cells below.)

“I never imagined growing up that I would get to work with and passage cancer cells. This opportunity has affected us personally as well. My mom was diagnosed in December, and Michelle Storey’s (her classmate) dad was diagnosed this year. Knowing that I might be doing something that could contribute to finding a cure is exciting.

We wouldn’t have this opportunity anywhere else,” Shelby said.

Oshel and her classmates are

What are HeLa Cells?

HeLa is the oldest and most commonly used immortal cell line in scientific research. They are the first line of cells found to grow in vitro or in a test tube successfully. The cells are derived from cervical cancer cells taken from Henrietta Lacks, a patient who died of cancer on October 4, 1951.

HeLa cells are considered one of the most important scientific discoveries of the last century and are remarkably durable and prolific. The HeLa cell line has contributed to many medical breakthroughs over the past decades.

Enabling a variety of studies ranging from the effects of zero gravity in outer space to the development of the polio vaccine to the study of leukemia, the AIDS virus, and cancer worldwide.

(Image by National Institutes of Health (NIH)) ROAR

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SPRING 2019

students in Chem 830, a class Balthazor created to provide KAMS students with the unique opportunity of learning the foundations of cancer cell research.

Students in this research course culture and passage HeLa cells. This means they learned how to keep the HeLa cell cultures alive and healthy.

The ultimate goal of the research is to test various RNA gene silencing products. The gene silencing products could potentially kill the cells, thus identifying possible treatments for cancer. The research findings of Shelby and her classmates will be published and provide information that will be a component in a future patent application.

The excitement of Shelby and her classmates was obvious as they viewed HeLa cell cultures through the microscope and peppered Dr. B with questions. The KAMS students – only 16 years old – each took turns under the hooded lab station, learning the foundational skills necessary to engage in research that most students won’t experience until graduate school.

Balthazor looked on proudly as the KAMS students worked through the protocol steps.

“KAMS students are engaged and passionate to learn,” he said. “They have the tenacity to do more and to work harder. These students hunger for it.”

At the other end of the lab quietly working was Jacob Lutgen, a senior from Basehor. A KAMS alum, Jacob will graduate in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. He then plans to attend medical school. Lutgen is working to find a way to kill the agricultural pest, the pea aphid, without using insecticides by targeting a specific protein in the aphid. His research is titled, “RNA Interference of X-Box Binding Protein in

4 Questions with Dr. B Why did you choose FHSU? “It’s a legacy in my family, and I wanted to be a part of that. I came to Fort Hays State out of high school, not prepared for college.

I realized it, and I left. But FHSU welcomed me back. I was fortunate enough, and had the determination, to complete both degrees in four years. I discovered a passion for research here, and it changed the course of my life.”

Why are you proud to be an FHSU Tiger?

“Because most people don’t think you can achieve groundbreaking research in western Kansas. We’re blue-collar champions of the academic world. You won’t find a better experience anywhere.”

Acyrthosiphon pisum (pea aphid).” If successful, those using his research will have a building block to a new GMO crop that can be raised and harvested without the use of pesticides.

With a big smile, Lutgen described his experience learning from, and working alongside, Balthazor.

“Dr. B is great at presenting information. It can be really complicated, and he steps back and brings it down to where we can understand and grasp it.”

Lutgen has seen his share of success and achievement as a KAMS student and an undergraduate researcher.

This year, he earned honorable mention at the Kansas Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence symposium, and was selected as the 2019 Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in the Werth College.

One of his greatest feelings of accomplishment has come through the perseverance he has learned in the lab.

“Failure is the biggest challenge.

It gets frustrating after you do the same thing over and over again, but he (Balthazor) doesn’t let you quit, and he doesn’t give you the answer. He pushes us in the right direction and then lets us use our resources to work through the solution.”

This ability to think creatively and persist against the odds will serve Lutgen well, no matter what area of medical practice he decides to pursue.

Balthazor, with a knowing look, confirmed that the push he delivers to students is intentional, strategic and essential in helping students succeed in the lab and in life. His approach builds persistence.

“They are going to learn that failure

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What advice would you give a student?

“Work ethic is important – you get out what you put in. Don’t be afraid to have a five-year undergraduate degree or to hit the reset button and take the time to focus on what you are passionate about. Sometimes it’s better to perform well over a more extended period of time than pushing to get it done. I would also encourage students to get to know your professors. Talk to them. Some of them are alums and understand what you are going through, and they want to help you.”

What inspires you?

“Seeing my students excel – in class and life. As biochemists, we are working to improve life.

We are looking for ways to make more food for people, get rid of nuisances, and saving some insects from the threat of reasonable human practices. I like to know I’m doing a good job and making a difference.”

is always an option, but 95 percent of research results in failure. Learning from failure is going to make them stronger and more resilient,” Balthazor said.

Jared Ridder, a graduate student in Balthazor’s lab, attested to the tenacity learned from research and how this lesson has shaped his own compassionate teaching ability. Ridder could be found most days this spring term pouring over years of research in Balthazor’s office as he prepared his graduate thesis alongside his mentor.

The two worked close enough to share notes, collaboratively edit, and when needed, Bathazor could deliver an occasional nudge, “Jared, you’ve got this, just keep writing!”

“He cares tremendously, and that’s why he lets us struggle. He wants us to learn how to succeed on our own. It’s the best thing he could do for me; to let me work it out and then to be there when I absolutely need it,” Ridder said.

Ridder graduated this spring with a master’s in biology and will move on to Kansas State University to pursue a doctorate in biochemistry. When asked about the most memorable aspects of his experience at FHSU, he pointed to working (sometimes all night) in the lab and the independence and opportunity he enjoyed to focus on

his passion, meaningful research and pushing the limits of what is currently known about the RNA folding process that he works on.

One other opportunity Ridder described, and one that has shaped his perspective on life, is the experience of being a teaching assistant and mentoring other students at FHSU like Lutgen.

“The most rewarding thing is seeing that ‘ah-ha’ moment in the students I work with,” Ridder said. “I ask questions and let them think for a minute. I want to get them thinking differently, and then their eyes light up, and that’s pretty cool. I know that feeling, and it’s great.”

“Do good. Make a difference.

Change the world.” It is easy to see how Dr. B is living this motto every day. Opening doors to scientific exploration and helping students learn life skills like grit and determination that are vital in the classroom and in life.

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The Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science

The Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science is the state’s premier early college program for high school juniors and seniors.

The Academy was established by legislative action in 2006

by SB139 and is designed to promote STEM education.

KAMS is a unique residential learning experience that provides exceptional high school students the opportunity to complete their high school diploma while achieving 60 hours of college credit, engaging in civic opportunities and leadership development and becoming part of an distinguished family of like-minded exceptional students.

For more information, please visit fhsu.edu/KAMS.

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TIGER NOTES SHARE YOUR NEWS

We want to hear from you, whether it’s new employment, honors, appointments or births. Visit goforthaysstate.com/alumupdate; send your news to FHSU Alumni Association, One Tiger Place, Hays, KS 67601; or email alumni@fhsu edu.

CLASS NOTES 1950s

Tad Felts ’55, Phillipsburg, was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

1960s

Pamala (Thurman) Larsen ’69, Loveland, Colo., was appointed editor-inchief of the journal Rehabilitation Nursing.

Virginia Lorbeer ’63, Aurora, Colo., was inducted into the Colorado High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a cheerleading coach. During her career, she coached at two Denver high schools, Manual and Montbello.

Donald “Don” Richardson ’67, ’67, ’71, Phoenix, Ariz., instructor of English at Phoenix College, wrote and released the novel Unto the High Places.

Janice (Parish) Scanlon ’62, Sarasota, Fla., received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who.

1970s

Raymond “Ray” Bachman ’79, ’80, Wichita, retired as international sales manager of Boeing Defense, Space, & Security.

Thomas “Tom” Spicer ’72, ’77, Loveland, Colo., retired as the associate director of advancement at Regis University and received the RMAC Meritorious Service Award.

Kathleen “Kathie” (Miley) Taylor ’72, ’78, Hays, received the Honor of Epsilon Pi with Diamonds and Pearls at the 50th Alpha Gamma Delta International Convention. She was honored for her faithful and outstanding service to the

Alpha Gamma Delta Fraternity while serving as the chapter advisor of the Epsilon Mu Chapter.

Robert “Bob” ’72 and Susan ’74 (Bauer) Wolf, Hays, received the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the Thomas More Prep-Marian High School Alumni Association.

Errol Wuertz ’77, ’98, Hays, associate broker at Landmark Realty LLC, was selected to be a member of the First Care Clinic Board of Directors.

1980s

Brian DeWitt ’89, Hays, was elected to membership in the Grow Hays Board of Directors.

Kendall Krug ’83, Hays, spoke at the Envision University Low Vision December Grand Rounds.

Joseph “Joey” Linn ’87, ’91, Hays, was presented the University Partner of the Year Award at the Carlson Leadership Academy.

He was honored for his efforts in the Kansas Zeta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Bonnie (Neuburger) Lowe ’83, Lawrence, was promoted to president and CEO of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

Craig Stephenson ’84, ’87, Ponca City, Okla., was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Class of 2018.

1990s

Jennifer “Jen” (Ratzlaff) Brantley ’93, Halstead, spoke at the Envision University Low Vision December Grand Rounds and was hired as the director of the Sedgwick County Research and Extension Center.

Monte Broeckelman ’92, Harlan, Iowa, became the owner and president of Broeckelman & Associates, P.C. Kari (Austin) Bruffett ’91, Lawrence, was named vice president for policy by the Kansas Health Institute.

Troy Fredde ’98, Kansas City, Mo., earned his National Board Teaching Certification in the area of Literacy: Reading-Language Arts – Early and Middle Childhood.

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SPRING 2019

Kenton Olliff ’97, ’00, Hays, assistant vice president of student affairs at FHSU, was named Counselor of the Year by the Kansas Counseling Association.

Jennifer (Graff) Rack ’95, ’95, Hays, and her husband, Marvin, were named recipients of the Thomas More PrepMarian High School Point of Light Award.

Gina (Littrell) Riedel ’92, Gorham, was elected to membership in the Grow Hays Board of Directors.

Donald “Don” Scheibler ’96, Hays, chief of the Hays Police Department, was recognized by the City of Hays for 25 years of service.

Edgene “Alan” Wamser ’95, Hays, IT manager at HaysMed, received the HaysMed quarterly Associate Spirit Award for going above and beyond his daily duties.

2000s

Ashley Adorante ’01, Overland Park, outreach coordinator for the Midwest Cancer Alliance at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, was named chair of the Kansas City Kansas Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Club.

Christie (Patterson) Brungardt ’01, Hays, assistant professor of leadership studies at FHSU, received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.

Meagan (Schmidtberger) Wellbrock ’07, Victoria, was promoted to partner at Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball, Chartered.

2010s

State Rep. Tory Arnberger ’16, Great Bend, was selected to serve as vice chair of the General Government Budget Committee in the Kansas House of Representatives. She is also a member of the Federal and State Affairs Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee.

State Sen. Richard “Rick” Billinger ’13, Goodland, was one of the 48 state leaders selected to participate in The Council of State Governments’ 2018 Henry Toll Fellowship.

Deidre (Riley) Bradley ’16, San Antonio, Texas, was promoted to chief human resource officer at Tenet Health and Baptist Medical Center.

Karl Pratt ’14, Hoxie, performed as the tenor in the “Max Haverfield and Friends Christmas Concert Series.”

Friends of FHSU

Eugene “Gene” Fleharty, retired FHSU biology professor, was selected as a member of the First Care Clinic Board of Directors.

Edward H. “Ed” Hammond, Hays, was awarded the title of president emeritus by the Kansas Board of Regents following his 27 years as president of FHSU.

BIRTHS 2000s

Jason ’05, ’14 and Tracy ’05, ’09 (Roe) Archer, Hays, a girl, Stella Jo, May 18, 2018.

2010s

Ross and Lacey ’10, ’13 (Goebel) Kee, Hays, a boy, William Allen, May 11, 2018.

MARRIAGES

Irene R. (Holtzinger) Waters ’44, Nacogdoches, Texas, March 2, 2019.

Jack L. Lindeman ’68, Windsor, Colo., May 18, 2018.

1950s

Gary J. McFarland ’67, Troy, Ill., Feb. 26, 2019.

Robert D. Cain ’58, Westminster, Colo., May 26, 2013.

Lloyd D. Ford ’58, ’58, Sierra Vista, Ariz., Sept. 28, 2018.

Larry D. Heitschmidt ’57, Onamia, Minn., Nov. 11, 2018.

Floyd W. Hessler ’59, Titusville, Fla., May 25, 2018.

Viola E. Kaempfe ’59, Hays, Dec. 12, 2018.

Joan E. (Sears) McConnell ’51, Salina, Jan. 22, 2019.

David E. Parsley ’59, Johnson City, Tenn., Sept. 10, 2018.

William E. “Bill” Roth ’56, Salina, Nov. 8, 2018.

1990s

Ross J. Summers ’54, Fort Washington, Md., Nov. 26, 2018.

2010s

1960s

Bradley “Brad” Haynes ’93, ’97 and Trisha Sauer ’99, Aug. 18, 2018.

Felix Albl ’16, ’18 and Lauren Solzman ’17, ’18, Oct. 12, 2018.

Taylor Hess and Jessica “Jessie” Havice ’14, ’16, Dec. 29, 2018.

IN MEMORY

Gary E. Anschutz ’69, ’95, Galatia, Sept. 5, 2018.

Sally S. (Meadows) Bayer ’63, ’64, Ellinwood, Dec. 3, 2018.

Elton E. Beougher ’61, ’64, Hays, Feb. 20, 2019.

1940s

Louise A. (Chappell) Bever ’45, Santee, Calif., July 10, 2018.

Marie F. (Bartholomew) Grover ’42, Dodge City, Oct. 1, 2018.

Elizabeth E. “Betty” (Landrum) Haxton ’45, Lee’s Summit, Mo., Oct. 17, 2018.

Eleanor A. (Riegel) Hunsley ’49, ’56, Davenport, Iowa, Nov. 14, 2018.

Effie F. “Fern” (Breeden) McWilliams ’49, Albany, Ore., Dec. 27, 2018.

Helen (McKinney) Shell ’48, Bartlesville, Okla., Feb. 14, 2019.

Thomas M. “Tom” Small ’41, Wichita, Nov. 10, 2018.

Jetta F. (Tompkins) Wellman ’50, Wichita, Nov. 19, 2018.

James H. Drees ’67, Hays, Dec. 3, 2018.

Lanny E. Ellis ’62, ’69, Littleton, Colo., July 4, 2018.

Lester P. Fry ’61, Wilmore, Jan. 31, 2018.

Errol R. Glaze ’68, ’71, Larned, Jan. 20, 2018.

Ronald A. Halling ’61, Bucklin, Sept. 19, 2018.

Robert F. “Bob” Holeman ’61, ’65, Abilene, Sept. 27, 2018.

Tonia J. Hunter ’67, Burlingame, Nov. 29, 2018.

Doyle J. Jamison ’60, Wilmington, N.C., Aug. 1, 2018.

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Danis G. McWhirter ’67, Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 8, 2015.

Dallas J. Moeller ’62, Santa Monica, Calif., Oct. 26, 2018.

James F. “Jim” Nieman ’62, Garden City, Sept. 25, 2018.

Jimmy M. “Jim” Plummer ’69, Hutchinson, Sept. 14, 2017.

Richard L. “Rich” Poage ’61, Augusta, Nov. 8, 2018.

Zella M. (McKinley) Roeder ’64, ’70, Phillipsburg, Nov. 16, 2018.

Mary L. “Lavina” (Welch) Scheuerman ’67, Bison, Oct. 1, 2018.

Leanna K. (Yates) Wolfe ’67, ’70, Lakin, Oct. 29, 2018.

1970s

Mary W. (Orr) Bartholomew ’70, ’73, Asheville, N.C., Feb. 19, 2019.

Frank J. Darytichen ’73, Carteret, N.J., Oct. 16, 2018.

Mary L. (Bretz) Glad ’73, Green Valley, Ariz., Jan. 11, 2019.

George E. McNinch ’72, Pueblo, Colo., June 28, 2017.

1980s

Lonny P. Claycamp ’80, Hays, Sept. 27, 2018.

Jenny L. Crowe ’80, Salina, Aug. 2, 2018.

1990s

Mary G. (Juenemann) Braden ’91, Hays, Feb. 3, 2019.

Friends of FHSU

Sarah V. “Valara” (Brooks) Schoenfeldt, Nevada City, Calif., Nov. 15, 2018.

Maureen (Tipping) Schorzman, Southern Shores, N.C., May 8, 2018.

Eugene A. “Gene” Wellbrock, Victoria, Oct. 2, 2018.

GOFORTHAYSSTATE.COM

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY 2 0 1 8 - 2 0 1 9

EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAMS

F H S U

AT FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science (KAMS)

FOR yOU

Academy of Mathematics and Science (AMS) KAMS and AMS are Kansas’ premier, residential early-entry-tocollege programs for high school juniors and seniors. Students selected to an academy receive: • 60+ hours of college credit from Fort Hays State University.

• Hands-on research opportunities with Ph.D.-level faculty.

• Leadership experience and civic engagement opportunities.

• An unparalleled academic experience that distinguishes the student as they further their education.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all spots are filled. Freshmen may apply for early admission.

FOR YOUR FUTURE

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAMS

For more information or to schedule a campus visit, please contact us at 785-628-4690 or kams@fhsu.edu

Forward thinking. World ready.

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

Year-Round Program • Scholarships available • GTA positions available (tuition and $10,000 stipend for Writing Center experience) • Intensive summer courses enable one-year completion • Visiting authors

Summers-Only Program • Scholarships available

Seeking an MA in English?

Fort Hays State University offers Literature, Writing, Pedagogy, and TESOL courses and one of the lowest in-state and out-of-state tuition rates in the country.

Low $40 application fee; no GRE requirement. NCA and NCATE accredited.

Visit www.fhsu.edu/english/MA-Programs or call (785) 628-4285 for more information.

Fort Hays State University Department of English 600 Park Street Hays, KS 67601-4099

• One of the nation’s only summer programs • Completion in as few as two summers • Designed for in-service middle and high school teachers but open to all students

Creative students will soon fill the halls of the new two story high, 43,000 square foot art and design building

THE NEW ART AND DESIGN BUILDING WILL PROVIDE INVALUABLE OPPORTUNITIES AND INSPIRE CREATIVE STUDENTS TO DEVELOP AND SHARE THEIR UNIQUE TALENTS.

The building will include multiple lab spaces for graphic and interior design, drawing, painting, printmaking, art education, ceramics, art history and photography.

Sculpture is also a part of the department, housed across the street in the Center for Applied Technology.

Other renovations include a complete transformation of the 5,000 square foot Old Power Plant to house the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art as well as a second gallery space. The construction is scheduled to be complete by summer 2019.

LEARN MORE AT FHSU.EDU/ARTANDDESIGN.

CENTER FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGY Houses the Department of Applied Technology and the Department of Art and Design’s studio of sculpture, foundry and blacksmithing.

APPLY TODAY! PURSUE A DEGREE IN TECHNOLOGY STUDIES Construction Management Construction Technology Engineering Design Technology Industrial Technology Manufacturing Technology Technology and Engineering Education Teacher Technology Leadership

PURSUE A DEGREE IN SCULPTURE The Studio Art degree program at Fort Hays State University is well suited for students who are mainly interested in pursuing a career in visual arts. Students will develop their creative skills and produce work that demonstrates critical and creative thinking. Students will receive a well-rounded art education through studying painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, drawing, photography, graphic design, and interior design.

FHSU.EDU/appliedtechnology (785)628-4211 FHSU.EDU/artanddesign (785)628-4247 FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Applied Technology Department of Art and Design

STUDYING MASSAGE THERAPY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF THOSE YOU TOUCH. The massage therapy program at Fort Hays State University offers numerous oppurtunities for students, whether they’re just starting school or coming back to continue their education. The certificate program is flexible—it’s offered in a hybrid, online/on campus format and can be completed in just two semesters. Associate Degree and Bachelor in Health Studies now available with a concentration in Massage Therapy. www.facebook.com/tigermassagetherapy www.fhsu.edu/Massage-Therapy

“EVERYONE NEEDS A MINIMAL DAILY DOSE OF TOUCH.”

785-639-7218

cmowens2@fhsu.edu

DEEPAK CHOPRA ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE ADVOCATE

AVAILABLE ONLINE DESIGNED WITH WORKING PROFESSIONALS IN MIND

The FHSU Sociology Department offers an 8-week Grant Writing Certification three times per year.

OTHER CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS OFFERED ONLINE + Building a Career in a Nonprofit Corporation

+ Certificate in Life Stages and Transitions

+ Certificate in Community + Certificate in the Sociology of Medicine Development and Aging + Certificate in Cultural + Certificate in Women’s Anthropology and and Gender Studies Globalization

1-800-628-5840 sociology@fhsu.edu FHSU.EDU/Sociology/Academic-Programs/

TA K E T H E

IT’S YOUR TIME TO A DVA N C E YO U R C A R E E R W I T H T H E A DVA N C E D E D U C AT I O N P R O G R A M S ’ I N N OVAT I V E O N L I N E C O U R S E S .

Although you can participate in your courses from anywhere around the world, you will quickly become a part of our community of educational leaders.

Our programs will help you deepen your understanding of instructional techniques to take your leadership to new heights

S TA R T YO U R J O U R N E Y WITH US AT | fhsu.edu/AEP-lead

Move mountains Move

Mountains Make wetl ands Make Wetlands Visit the new hands-on exhibits at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center • Augmented reality watershed simulator • A one-of-a-kind wetland floor projection game • Wetland children’s activity area • Build-a-bird and build-a-plant stations • Shorebird and wetland plant adaptation magnetic boards • Aquatic invertebrate viewer • Wetland critter doors

592 NE K-156 Highway, Great Bend, KS 67530 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/ • 1-877-243-9268

Nature Programs • Museum Gift Store • Tours • Live Animals

BREAK NEW GROUND IN YOUR CAREER

EARN YOUR ONLINE DEGREE OR CERTIFICATE IN

GEOGRAPHY AND GIS Geosciences graduates enjoy a variety of exciting careers in education, government, and business and are in great demand. Start your salary above average, or increase your current salary, by adding a certificate to your resume.

L E A R N M O R E AT

fhsu.edu/GEO

≈ π

EARN Y OUR MASTE R OF SCIE N CE IN E D UCAT I ON W ITH AN E MPHASIS IN MATHE MATICS This online and on-campus degree will help you gain mathematical and pedagogical knowledge while meeting the requirements to teach dual credit or community college/university courses.

12-15 hours of core education courses

18 hours of graduate-level mathematics courses

LEARN MORE AT FHSU.EDU/MATH

BE THE CONNECTOR OF PEOPLE, INFORMATION, AND TECHNOLOGY Our department allows you to navigate all things data and digital as you dive into designing your curriculum and creating your ideal career path.

DEPARTMENT OF

INFORMATICS

Bachelor of Arts/Science: Information Networking and Telecommunications Concentrations in: Computer Networking and Telecommunications Digital Media Production and Journalism Web and Mobile Application Development Health Informatics Information Systems Cyber Security

Bachelor in Business Administration: Management Information Systems 600 Park Street Hammond Hall

785-628-5373 fhsu.edu/informatics

For a list of possible careers visit: fhsu.edu/informatics/careers You will benefit from receiving personalized instruction using the latest curriculum and labs based on today’s industry practices. The Department of Informatics is a designated: Cisco Networking Academy

Amazon Web Services Academy

Oracle Academic Academy

Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Academy

S O LV E R E A L W O R L D P R O B L E M S WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

HELP BUILD STUDENTS A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR THEIR FUTURE WITH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES AND HIGH-LEVEL SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS. Students thrive with dedicated faculty and get the chance to explore the world of research early on in their college careers with robotics, laser bio-effects, atomic physics and more.

The smaller class sizes allow students to develop personal relationships with faculty and get involved in innovative research right away.

Every gift given to FHSU can help change a student’s needs to be able to succeed.

TO D O N AT E V I S I T

fhsu.edu/physics/donate

Seek your passions and commit to your future Pursue your passion and invest in you - your curiosity, your skills, and your dreams with a Graduate degree from Fort Hays State University.

“To anyone who is afraid to make a jump for something they are passionate about, don’t be. I know that I'm in a position to land a fantastic career because of the supportive Fort Hays State community.”

At FHSU, we appreciate your commitment to graduate studies and match your personal investment with flexible on-campus and online programs, mentorship, financial support, and real-world experience. Choose from over 20 nationally-recognized graduate degree programs and start your journey with us.

Learn more about our programs at FHSU.edu/gradschl/programs

MELISSA SKELTON Biology

MUSIC & THEATRE AT FHSU Music and Theatre students work side by side with faculty and guest artists to produce inspiring theatrical and musical performances for the community. From game time to show time, and the classroom to the stage, Music and Theatre offers students the opportunity to make a difference in the cultural life of Kansas.

DEGREES IN THEATRE, MUSIC, MUSIC EDUCATION, AND COMPOSITION ARE AVAILABLE.

Malloy Hall 137 (785) 628-4533

musictheatre@fhsu.edu fhsu.edu/music-and-theatre

Find us on Facebook: FHSU Music and Theatre

SHOPPING • DINING • ARTS • HISTORY

785-628-8202

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FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

HONORS COLLEGE

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY’S HONOR COLLEGE PROVIDES UNIQUE LEADERSHIP AND CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES, SPECIALIZED HOUSING, COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIPS AND SO MUCH MORE. The Honors College at FHSU was built from the ground up with one goal: students and their success.

We deliver on that goal by understanding that students want to be challenged, deserve unrivaled personal and academic support, and love unique opportunities.

Honors College students individualize their honors curricular focus and design an academic program that truly represents their interests. We support them every step of the way with personal guidance from our innovative teacher-mentors.

We know students are more than a grade point average. That's why our admissions process is one that considers the whole person: their interests, experiences, passions, and inner drive.

Honors College students gain real-world experiences via opportunities with campus/community partners such as FHSU’s Institute for New Media Studies, Center for Civic Leadership, Department of Leadership Studies, and College of Education Honors in the Major Program, to name but a few.

“The FHSU Honors College was a game-changer for me. It provided a group of peers who support, challenge, and push me to be the best I can be, only asking that I do the same for them in return.

Without that support network, I likely would not have taken the chances that I now define my college experience by. I can say, without a doubt, that I would not be the same person I am today without the Honors College.”

LUCY PARTLOW-LOYALL Honors College Senior Social Work Major Colorado Springs, CO

fhsu.edu/Honors

Non-profit Organization US POSTAGE PAID FULTON, MO PERMIT 38

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS AND MARKETING 600 Park Street Hays, KS 67601

5 YEARS 2 DEGREES Earn your BBA and MBA while building your network and real world experience.

“The 4+1 Program at FHSU gave me the opportunity to work on master’s classes in my undergrad, as well as obtain a Master’s degree in one year. The RCOBE administration supports you throughout the program and offers services to help students find internships that will help them prepare for the future. This program not only saved me time and money, but also has provided me with the support and education needed to excel in my future career.”

- Kiera Schwarz ’17, ‘19

Get started on your future, visit : fhsu.edu/bba-to-mba