Let’s work together to shape a great future for WSU’s students, campus community and Kansas
Dear Shocker Nation,
Today we are starting a new tradition at Wichita State University. Every first Tuesday of the month we will communicate directly to our alumni and community leaders about what we’re doing as a university.
Hi, I’m Jay Golden, Wichita State’s new president. I sought and accepted this job because I believe Wichita State is on the trajectory to become one of America’s great public research universities known for our innovation and statewide impact.
Since the Kansas Board of Regents appointed me in October, I have been fortunate to have people from our campus and community reach out with their input on how Wichita State can become an even more impactful institution to benefit our students and the residents of Kansas.
Our TOP PRIORITY is the STUDENT EXPERIENCE
As an institution we will work tirelessly to provide a safe, diverse and inclusive environment where our students are provided the highest quality of education to prepare them for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We will do this through expansion of applied learning and research that helps students take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real-world settings, all the while giving our students competitive advantages in the job-market by building their professional skills.
In addition to the student experience we are investing our time in
five key engagement and economic development objectives
that we believe will benefit the people, businesses and communities of our state:
Number 1: ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT TO WSU AND KANSAS
Attracting larger numbers of students, not just from across our state but from across the Midwest and Southwest, to Wichita State is of great importance to the long-term health of our university and our region.
By attracting more students to Wichita State, we have the opportunity to expand our population and grow our workforce, which will help to develop the community infrastructure and culture to retain this new talent in our state.
Our job is to create the opportunities for them to stay in Wichita and in Kansas after graduating on time, career ready and with the lowest possible debt.
Number 2: INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
If we are to diversify and grow our economy, and importantly stop the flight of millennials from Kansas to other regions, we must develop the culture, infrastructure and support to keep our talent and attract new talent. We strongly believe innovation and entrepreneurship will play a key role to achieving that goal. That is why we will be rolling out in the very near-term a branding effort proudly promoting innovation at WSU.
Number 3: GROW AND DIVERSIFY RESEARCH AND OUR ECONOMY
Our focus will be for Wichita State University to be one of the fastest-growing research universities in the United States. We will do this by a continued emphasis on supporting our aviation and defense sectors while also rapidly expanding into new domains such as the digital transformation, health prevention and delivery, advanced manufacturing, renewable technologies and other fields to meet the changing economy.
We have already created the
President’s Convergence Sciences Initiative
to bring together the intellectual strength of faculty and students from multiple disciplines to work together to tackle the emerging challenges our country and planet will face in the future.
Having one of the nation’s strongest research universities will not only support companies based in Kansas, but will also help attract companies from outside of our region to Kansas. This includes our work to attract more leading companies from across the country to our Innovation Campus.
Number 4: APPLIED LEARNING / REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCES
Businesses and community organizations will greatly benefit by engaging our students in applied learning opportunities. Many of our students will benefit by having the ability to translate what they learned in the classroom and apply it in the real-world. This effort goes hand-in-hand with creating a stronger workforce.
Our goal is that Wichita State graduate the greatest number of students who are provided a real-world learning experience through partnerships with companies, community or government organizations. In many cases, this takes the form of a paid internship or sponsored research project for the student at your organization, which helps to lower student debt. It can also be an unpaid internship.
Either way, it exposes your company to your future talent, giving you a competitive advantage in hiring a prepared student. It also provides incentives for our graduates to stay in the region rather than leave the state.
Number 5: STRONGER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Wichita State University will be a catalyst in creating a healthier and more prosperous region and state. But we cannot do this alone, we all must work together. To achieve all that needs to be done will require stronger partnerships between our university and the communities we serve.
I want Wichita State University to be known as Wichita’s state university, meaning that it serves all of Kansas. It will be the Heartland’s most innovative research university, known for its impactful student experience and driving the prosperity for the people, communities and businesses of Kansas.
We will be reorganizing a number of units on campus to more effectively serve the local community and rural communities throughout south-central Kansas.
As an institution, we will be mission-driven and focused on delivering innovative strategies and services that drive economic, health and educational prosperity.
We will be fully engaged in our communities and our state, as one of Kansas’ most impactful institutions.
As you may have observed and read over the past couple of years, higher education is quickly evolving. The structures, programs and approaches that hallmarked American universities for the past 100 years are rapidly becoming outdated. Globalization, changing demographics, the transition to a digital economy and lowering public funding for colleges demand that Wichita State University adapt and create new models for the benefit of our students and state. That is my responsibility as your new university president.
Our focus is to create a new university model where we will be recognized as one the of most innovative universities in America for all that we are doing for our students, region and economy.
We are committed to working together with our alumni, industry and community leaders so that as Shocker Nation we will raise Wichita State University to even greater heights, impact and success. Let that be our shared future. I feel privileged to share that journey with you.
Go Shockers!
Jay
