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FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Nicole Frank’s father was more than influential in her life. He was incredibly giving of himself throughout the course of his life, so it only seemed appropriate to honor him with a gift to others. This led Frank, the coordinator of adjunct support and engagement with Fort Hays State University’s Virtual College, to work in conjunction with the Fort Hays State University Foundation to set up the Harold J. Frank Memorial Scholarship to support FHSU students.

“I had been thinking about creating a scholarship for several months. The catalyst was coming across a 2009 Washington Monthly article about how scholarships are often designed for the very people who don’t need them,” said Frank. “While I didn’t agree with everything in the article, I couldn’t deny that most scholarships I knew of prioritized students with resumés full of extracurricular activities, and I know there are students who often lack the time and the money for a lot of extracurriculars.”

Her father, Harold Frank, grew up very humbly in Hays — so humbly that he had permanently disfigured toes as a result of wearing hand-me-down shoes that were typically too small for him by the time they were passed down.

“My dad played in the band, because his school provided the instrument, but otherwise he worked. He started working as a child, throwing newspapers so that he could buy himself a bicycle. By the time he was 15, he was flipping burgers. In college, he worked at Top Notch Cleaners, Kuhn’s Diamond Jewelry and LK Dairy. After he finished his degree, he worked for nearly 30 years as an IRS officer,” Frank said of her father, who died in 2007. “By the time he retired, he had been called to Washington, D.C., to help write new tax code, and he was authorized to represent a taxpayer in court as a tax attorney. I was just so proud of what he made of himself, and I felt compelled to set up a scholarship that was truly designed for students from needy backgrounds — one that prioritized significant need and work experience over extracurricular activities.”

The Harold J. Frank Scholarship is available for students studying political science, education or business.

“My dad was a business major and a political science minor. He worked for the federal government and was passionate about politics. We drank coffee and talked politics, history and literature together regularly, sometimes for hours at a time,” said Frank. “My dad was more likely to pour me a cup of coffee and ask my opinion about a current event than he was to take me shopping or to a ball game. Both my mom and I were teachers, and my dad had a good deal of respect for compassionate but tough educators.”

Harold Frank’s legacy of kindness and service continue to influence Frank’s life.

“He taught me to respect myself and to respect my goals. He also taught me that there’s little point in knowledge or education if you don’t use it on behalf of others. He was a person of service; that’s just how he was built. Nearly anywhere you went with him — from the grocery store to the hardware store — you were taking a chance on running into someone who had a tax question for him. We kids would groan and roll our eyes because we knew we’d be standing around waiting for 15 minutes or more, but it was a good lesson for us, too,” Frank said. “We watched as he answered questions, gave out his work number and reassured people he’d help them. A lot of people are fearful of IRS officers, and he never wanted people to be afraid. He wanted to help them pay their back taxes, re-file, or whatever they needed to do, without fear. I’ve come to understand that he didn’t really know how NOT to be of service. He taught us that we belong to the world, not the other way around.”

Even in the classroom, her father’s guidance affected what she loved about her own education, “classes with Rose Arnhold, Richard Leeson, Steven Trout and Carl Singleton,” said Frank.

“The intellectual stimulation of some of my classes was just so great. I remember wondering why I couldn’t have had more classes like that in high school. I felt at home at college, almost immediately.”

As a graduate of FHSU, Frank also understands firsthand the effects scholarships can have on students’ lives. “The impact of my scholarships was palpable,” she said. “I was able to borrow a modest amount in loans and had paid off my loans within about six years of graduation.”

In her new role at Fort Hays State University, Frank employs many lessons she learned from her father. As the coordinator of adjunct support and engagement for the Virtual College, she works to create an environment which helps adjunct instructors feel support and encouragement. She collaborates with offices across campus to streamline onboarding protocols, designs and teaches training classes, and maintains regular communication with adjunct faculty.

“The best moments are the personal phone conversations with adjuncts, wherein I can see that I am, hopefully, making their jobs better and easier,” she said.

Scholarships such as the Harold J. Frank Memorial Scholarship are easy to establish through the FHSU Foundation. To learn how you can support the university and Tiger students, contact the FHSU Foundation at (785) 628-5620 or email their office at [email protected]. To learn more about the FHSU Foundation, visit http://foundation.fhsu.edu.

By Diane Gasper-O’Brien
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Incoming freshmen to Fort Hays State University will see a significant raise in ACT/SAT scholarships for the 2016-17 school year.

In the past, the top award to first-time freshmen with an ACT of 30 or higher was $3,200. That total included a one-time $2,000 presidential award and a $1,200 award renewable for three additional years.

Now, students with an ACT of 29 or higher will receive a $3,500 award, the Presidential Award of Distinction, with that total amount renewable for three more years by maintaining 3.3 FHSU cumulative GPA.

Students with an ACT score of 26 to 28 will receive the University Scholar Award of $2,000, and those with an ACT score of 23 to 25 will receive the $1,500 Hays City Scholar Award. Both are renewable for three more years.

The largest increases percentage-wise will go to students in the 21-22 ACT range. Before, students with 22 and 21 ACT scores, respectively, received one-time awards of $700 and $500. The new range for those two ACT scores is $1,000, the Traditions Scholar Award, renewable for three additional years.

The entire list of new ACT/SAT scholarship amounts, which also include SAT ranges, is listed in the accompanying table below.

“We’ve already heard lots of positive comments out in the schools,” said Tricia Cline, director of admissions. “There’s a lot of excitement about it.”

The ACT/SAT scholarship is just one of several programs that have boosted FHSU’s scholarship numbers. At the same time, numerous programs have been recognized by a variety of organizations as some of the best in the nation, making FHSU an even more attractive destination of choice.

The aggressive, one-year Power of One Scholarship Campaign that concluded in December 2014 resulted in an additional $12 million for scholarships.

In fiscal year 2015, FHSU awarded more than $5 million in scholarships.

In addition to the new ACT/SAT scholarship program, scholarship awards for incoming transfer students, which previously tapped out at $1,000, were increased considerably and now range from $1,000 to $3,000.

“It’s not just about recruitment. It’s about retention, and we’ve put resources together so you can get to the finish line,” said Dr. Joey Linn, vice president for student affairs. “We’re committing our resources to the students so they don’t have to go further in debt. That’s a big part of this, by making our scholarships renewable. We tweaked things and came up with what we think is a very awesome program. We were excited because it’s a difference maker.”

Cline said she already has seen the new numbers catching the attention of prospective students.

“Right after we decided this, we were at Hays High doing concurrent enrollment,” she said. “They were super excited to hear these numbers.”

There are numerous methods to earning financial assistance for college, and scholarships are a major part of helping with education costs.

“The awareness of budgetary needs of students has been at the forefront for several years based on the decrease in state funding,” said Tim Chapman, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation. “Due to this, all initiatives have scholarships as the number one priority.”

“What’s great about FHSU is that we’ve been able to keep tuition affordable,” Linn said. “Plus we’ve got first-class facilities and programs as well as outstanding faculty.”

FHSU President Mirta M. Martin agreed.

“While we do have the lowest tuition rate in the state and the second lowest in the country, our affordability does not equate to lack of quality in our programs,” she said. “Quite the contrary. Our small classes, individualized attention and state-of-the-art facilities yield impressive results.

“We want everyone to know we’re the destination of choice and that we want to attract to FHSU the bright minds of Kansas and of our nation,” she added. “To do so, we’ve taken a hard look at our scholarship funding and made the strategic decision to align our merit scholarships with our state and our national peers to attract and to welcome these bright minds.”

In addition to low tuition rates for Kansas students, the contiguous states tuition program — for students in bordering states Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri — has proved a popular drawing point.

However, Chapman said the fall 2015 semester is the first time in the university’s history that revenue from tuition surpassed the state funding allocation.

Therefore, he said, “tuition will continue to climb, and the weight and need for private support will also be at a premium.”

Thus, the need for more scholarships.

“Not only do scholarships ease the increasing financial burden of attending school,” Chapman said, “but they also attract and reward exceptional, highly motivated students who make up a well-rounded academic environment.”