By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
In its FY 2016-17 budget request to the Kansas Board of Regents, Fort Hays State University has asked for funding to expand capacities for the the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and Master of Secondary Education in Higher Education Student Affairs MSE programs. The university also is asking the board for funding to expand its freshman seminar programming, add staff to the virtual college, create a rural studies major and add funding for rural entrepreneurship.
According to the documents submitted to the Regents, the graphic design program is one of the biggest major programs the university offers exclusively on campus with a consistent enrollment of approximately 120 students. The administration said students who graduate from the program sometimes garner six-digit salaries within five years of graduation and, in some cases, are “workforce ready” before they complete all degree requirements. FHSU is asking for $334,000 to double the capacity of the program. Funds would be used to fund various operating costs and the salary and benefits for two staff members.
In the fall semester of 2012, the university began offering a graduate program in higher education student affairs and the program has expanded to 40 students. Its focus is to “serve entry-level student affairs professionals at the university or community college levels.” Recently, the program was forced to scale the program in order to accommodate students to the “limited amount of adjunct professors available.” FHSU has asked the board for $214,000 to hire two new new graduate-level faculty members and fund various operating expenses.
The university also asked for $200,000 to expand freshman seminar programming. Through various research studies, FHSU has found “college transition seminars with a holistic focus were especially more effective” as opposed to ones that are based on introducing students to a specific academic discipline. The funding would allow FHSU to create a “world-class retention seminar designed to dramatically improve the fall-to-fall retention of freshman students.” The funding would allow the university to hire several faculty members to facilitate the program and fund various operating costs including software that would provide detailed tracking of student participation.
The rural studies program would focus on issues such as rural development, food distribution, environmental limitations that affect the supply of food, agriculture productivity and other issues associated with rural areas. According to FHSU, the new program would “allow the university to be more responsive to new markets while attracting scholars and creating programs.” If the subsidy is approved, it would fund two faculty positions and operating and marketing expenses.
Funding for rural entrepreneurship would allow the university to continue to offer its minor and certificate programs in entrepreneurship. If allocated, the $236,000 would fund two faculty positions and operating expenses. The university is currently the operating center for the Kansas Small Business Development Center and NetWork Kansas/Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship.
Throughout the past decade, FHSU has experienced heavy growth in its virtual college and has been ranked highly in several distance learning lists. Recently, the university worked on a proposal that would “offset the growing reliance on adjunct faculty members through an innovative virtual college lecturer program.” The program would create eight full-time lecturer positions in high growth areas within the virtual college. In its proposal, the university asked the board for $680,000 to fund the salaries and benefits of those faculty members and operating expenses.
The Board of Regents will discuss the budget proposal at its meeting this week.