August 28, 2019
Volume 146, Issue 2
washburnreview.org
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New Face in Administration Could Mean Big Changes for Washburn Finance Office here on campus, where he has been working at for the past ten months. He has been working for over 30 years in the field of higher education and wants to bring his experience, engaging personality and other financial
Matt Self
Washburn Review
During the past two weeks, two candidates for Vice President of Administration and Treasurer have given a public presentation on describing their approach to strategic and financial planning, as well as considering the challenges higher education faces. The two candidates applying for the position are Gina Cregg and Chris Kuwitzky. Both candidates are experienced with the role of acting as senior administrators in a university setting and handling the financial requirements that are necessary for the role. The position of Vice President of Administration is currently held by Jim Martin who has been at Washburn for several years. Some of the qualifications that are required for the position include working collaboratively with the executive team in the areas of strategic planning, financial planning and forecasting, telecommunications, professional development and internal financial policy development. In short, this position will handle much of the budgeting for Washburn on a yearly basis, including how the university’s funds are spent and how income is collected for Washburn. Gina Cregg is a Kansas native who has experience in working at a university from her time at The University of Kansas. She worked with the financial department at KU and the state of Kansas early on in her career. She received her master’s degree in accounting from Kansas State University and graduated with something that many students are familiar with: student loan debt. This was a primary concern for her when she graduated and still remains one to this day, but presently that concern has shifted to the students attending Washburn. She hopes to increase opportunities for students on campus so that they can get the most out of their time
photo by Abbie Barth
Chris Kuwitzky:
Responsibilities
-Current Controller and Director of Accounting at Washburn -Worked for 24 years at the University of Oklahoma -Certified Public Accountant -Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting
-Collects all income for all funds for Washburn University. -Assures that sufficient funds are available for the University to maintain a positive cash flow. -Directs the supervision of the construction and payment for equipping new buildings, major renovations or major projects. -Provides leadership in planning for and the application of technology to serve University needs.
Gina Cregg: -Graduate of K-State: Masters in accounting -Works at KU for the financial department -Hopes to increase opportunities on campus at the university while not having to rely completely upon loans to pay for their education. “Making sure that we stay in touch with what the student’s needs are and giving the students those venues and the ability to voice their concerns. We need to hear what the students have questions about and what they’re passionate about,” said Cregg. “One thing I am passionate about is having student ambassadors sit in budget meetings so that they can be part of the budgeting process.” Chris Kuwitzky currently holds the title of Controller and Director of Accounting at our own
skills to the foreground with this new position. Much of his experience comes from the 24 years he spent at the University of Oklahoma. One of his primary concerns for our campus is the rising costs of tuition; he envisions finding ways to combat this slow increase by finding new sources of income and keeping a tighter budget. “I want to find ways to work with student leadership on campus at the university, like WSGA, that would be a great start and just go from there.” said Kuwitzky. New candidates may be considered for the position if they step forward but, at the moment, Cregg and Kuwitzky are the only candidates. The new VP will be chosen once a suitably qualified candidate has been selected, there is no set date for when this will occur.
Sing along: Students stand and sing along to Washburn’s alma mater sung by music education major Marisol Chavez. Chavez performed the song towards the end of convocation to send off the students.
Does convocation matter Nick Solomon Washburn Review
Every new school year, during the overwhelming first week of classes, students who are new to campus, professors and other faculty members gather in White Concert Hall to celebrate the new school year and what it has in store. Since convocation is a WU101 requirement, many of the students attending probably want to be anywhere else. Although it wasn’t voluntary for students, it was for faculty, and dozens came. Faculty members came to show support for their students. Professor in Criminal Justice Erin Grant spoke on the significance of faculty voluntarily attending convocation and the importance of the event. “To see that faculty are actually there to support them, because they don’t necessarily know that. Whether it’s now or somewhere down the line,” Grant said. “We are not required to do this. This is an optional thing.” One of the attendees, junior student orientation counselor Alex Yelland, believes that convocation is important for new students because it will help get them excited for the new school year. “There’s a lot of students from my perspective, who lose sight over the summer of why they’re going to college. Obviously, they are there to get a degree, however they get all excited about moving in, they get all excited about that first week, meeting all these people, maybe going
out to the events and activities, and they kind of forget, school is still a thing. It refocuses them, right the beginning of school just to make sure they’re focused on academics, and living healthy and being an adult and adapting to college,” Yelland said. Chris Jones, professor in religious studies, described his thoughts on convocation as well. “I like convocation, because as a professor of religion, it’s a ritual. It’s the thing we do to mark the beginning of the year and to reaffirm our values to re-establish our identity to integrate students into the collective, you know. I think it’s important for us to share that space together to do those things. I like the way that at Washburn, we have professors lined up and cheer on the students as they go in and come out. I think that’s a good way of ritually letting them know that we’re supporting them that we like them, we care about them that we are here for the students,” said Jones. The intention of professors coming to convocation and cheering on the students is to encourage students to talk to their professors and show them that they genuinely care about their students. Convocation gives students a refocus point as they enter into the school year. It essentially is a reverse graduation. Instead of telling students to go have a great life, and celebrate the success they had here, the goal is to celebrate the success they will have while they are here.
The new dorm experience unfolds Savannah Workman Washburn Review
As the doors of summer begin to close, students are opening a new door full of change and wonder called “the academics”. There is much to learn. As parents depart from their children, students are overcome with the rush of freedom. How are they going to decorate their room? What are their roomates like? This is the beginning of the first dorm room experience, which will continue to unfurl for the next nine months by how their perspective changes. The dorm rooms, a seemingly good option for freshman to stay in their
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first year, is now a requirement. Student Residential Living enforces mandatory on campus living for all freshmen. Those who choose to stay off campus must sign a special form that allows them to still attend Washburn. Residental Living did this in hopes of incorporating a study of students’ first year experiences which suggests a promising start to a new way of living. Freshman year is especially hard. Professors’ expectations increase and students are acclimating to a completely new environment. Then there’s the issue of getting enough sleep when a roommate stays up until 3 a.m. exuding a ca-
All Things Podcast: Importance of Traveling, Pilot
cophony of sounds when there is a 9 a.m. test to be taken the next morning. So, what does living on campus do for an incoming freshman? According to nss.indiana.edu, academic challenges, learning with peers, experiences with faculty, and having the opportunity to learn about the campus environment are important topics to observe when any student transitions into a college-life setting. “This is kind of two things: Washburn has data that supports that students who live on campus perform better in the classroom and persist at higher rates than students who live off campus,” Jack Van
All Things Podcast: Importance of Traveling, Episode 1
photo by Frankie Kelley
From best friends to roommates: Roommates and bestfriends Anna and Taylor have help from family moving into their new digs.
Dam Resident Life Coordinator said. “And then there is national data that supports that as well. Students who live on campus tend to get involved more. What we want to do here at Washburn is support students.” There are close to 2560 students per RA, and this is a large operation Washburn Sorority fall recruitment begins
to make sure everyone has their own space. The student residential living dorms have increased from 756 to 810 since last year. Senior Giovan Rodriguez, who majors in exercise and rehab science, and who helped some freshmen move in on moving day,
Continued pg2 Gallery: Football practice on Aug. 20