“ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — NELSON MANDELA
The College of Education and Kansas State University are aiming high — we have a goal of being a top 50 public research university by 2025.
The college is a recognized leader in professional development, academic advising and military education, as well as holding the distinction of producing more teachers than any of the other 24 professional education programs in the state. You, our alumni and friends, have helped us reach these high levels of success, and we call on you now to help us achieve this transformational goal.
Through the Innovation and Inspiration Campaign, we will raise $15 million for the College of Education to advance us toward our 2025 goals and to benefit five areas:
student success, faculty development, programmatic support, facility enhancement and excellence funding to support emerging needs. Through the process of identifying our goals and aligning them with K-State 2025, an important fact emerged: What is best for our pre-service teachers and faculty is best for K-State.
Student success
College is expensive, and costs are on the rise. The ability of
pre-service teachers to pay for college during their student-teaching semester is especially difficult as they are discouraged from being employed while having to pay for living expenses and purchasing a professional wardrobe. That is why scholarships are the college’s highest priority. Because a quality education extends beyond the classroom, scholarships will also help pre-service teachers participate in education organizations by attending professional meetings and conferences, conducting research, making academic presentations and pursuing opportunities that will ultimately enhance their ability to teach.
Faculty development
Quality faculty members are at the core of student success and program growth. With an emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) teachers, the ability to attract, hire and retain these sought- after professionals is vital. Offering endowed faculty positions allows us to do that while fulfilling K-State’s goal of being a top 50 public research university by 2025. The best and brightest students will be effectively THE MISSION OF THE
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION is to prepare educators to be knowledgeable, ethical, caring, decision makers in a diverse and changing world.
Our educators are prepared
for classrooms, schools and
organizations they will soon
lead. The College of Education
is where abstract concepts
rooted in research, teaching,
application and modeling
come to life. Teaching
techniques are infused with
the latest technology and
are designed to challenge
students and inspire them to
engage in lifelong learning.
challenged and mentored when we attract, retain and intellectually stimulate the most knowledgeable and engaging faculty. These individuals must successfully compete for grants to lead cutting-edge research and publish their findings. They advance the profession through scholarship and by bringing the research back to their classrooms where they instruct and mentor our students.
Programmatic support
Philanthropic gifts are the cornerstone of program enhancement and new program development designed to advance teaching, research and outreach. The College of Education has several programs worthy of support.
Service-learning/Civic engagement programming:
Service-learning and civic engagement programs encourage pre-service teachers to engage in the communities in which they live and teach through learning-focused service activities.
Office of Innovation and Collaboration: It is well documented that the first few years of teaching are challenging as half of all new teachers nationally leave the profession within the first five years. It is also well documented that the top predictor of K–12 student success is teacher effectiveness. In order to affect teacher retention and student achievement, the College of Education needed to take action. But how would we identify the top challenges new teachers face? We asked.
Focus groups, followed by surveys of recent graduates, their employers and input from school-based personnel, provided valuable insight. From this research, the Office of Innovation and Collaboration was established in the summer of 2015 and many new programs have been developed to address the top issues identified by early- career teachers. While the effort is in its infancy, this truly is just the beginning. Initial outreach includes deepening relationships with recent graduates, creating a blog for early-career teachers, producing a monthly electronic newsletter and encouraging networking through the robust use of social media.
Just like the profession, this initiative will expand as complex issues such as technology, school safety, new standards and curriculum assessment requirements arise.
The office will also provide many research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students alike.
Enrichment activities through summer camps and after-school enrichment: Gifts allow faculty and pre- service teachers to find innovative ways to positively impact students in summer camps and after-school enrichment programs.
Facility enhancement
Students learn best in spaces equipped with the tools needed to succeed. Access to the latest technology not only helps pre-service teachers with their course work, it also better prepares them for their classrooms. We envision a technology fund to support the purchase of required technology for our pre-service teachers and to buy new scientific equipment for training purposes. Our vision includes creating collaborative technology spaces where students and faculty can work together. Technology such as wireless display capacity, Apple televisions, electronic interactive bulletin boards, and digital room schedulers would all benefit faculty, staff and students in providing and receiving a premier educational experience and would advance our college in meeting K-State’s 2025 goals.
Excellence funds
Excellence funds provide deans and administrators with flexible resources to meet areas of greatest need as well as emerging opportunities. For example, excellence funds may support specific needs in curriculum areas, lectures, symposia, and professional development for students and faculty.
Endowed funds connect generations
Endowed funds create a lasting legacy and the assurance that your fund will make a difference well beyond your lifetime. The principal of the gift is never invaded and is expected to continually increase, while awards are made from the earnings. This means that the endowed fund you create today will reach into the future to continue to provide support for the purpose that is close to your heart. Whether you choose to support students, faculty, or another area, your heart goes with your gift to future generations.
Because the size of the endowment is directly
correlated to our capacity to serve future generations of
K-Staters, the endowment is an important benchmark
toward our goal to become a top 50 public research
university by 2025.
K-State faculty
creates technology gift for students
We often think of technology as impersonal, but for one educator, helping students acquire technology is deeply personal.
Doris Wright Carroll, associate professor in special education, counseling and student affairs, is following in her father’s footsteps.
Lawrence G. Wright was a human resources officer for the Santa Fe Railroad, and he instilled in his daughter the notion that each person has value.
The Wright family established the Lawrence G. Wright Scholarship in the College of Education to enhance opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds. But Carroll realized she could do more.
In 2011, she established the Doris Wright Carroll Multicultural Technology Award, which provides
the Lawrence G. Wright scholar with a laptop to aid in their academic pursuits.
“The purpose of the technology award is to give a deserving student access to technology so they can realize their dream of being a teacher,” Carroll said. “Students in our college have access to an amazing amount of technology support and instruction, but they also need the tool itself.”
Johnathan Lynk, social studies
’13, was the first recipient of both scholarships.
“I received the award at the beginning of Block 1,” Lynk said.
“Many of the assignments and projects assigned during Block 1 require constant collaboration with other members of the class. So not only was I able to use the laptop in the classroom for notes and lectures, but the laptop allowed me to be much more mobile as a student.”
Having access to a high-powered, lightweight, state-of-the-art piece of equipment made Lynk more prepared for his courses, but was it beneficial to his clinical semester?
“My laptop was at the center of all the planning and research I did for my clinical semester,” he said.
“One of the classes I taught was a contemporary issues course, which focused on world, national and social issues over the past 30 years. The laptop I was awarded gave me access to a vast amount of resources and materials that allowed me to compile articles, websites, video and audio that I used on a daily basis with my students.”
That’s precisely why Carroll established her scholarship.
“I hope the model of awarding a tuition scholarship with support for technology becomes more commonplace,” Carroll said. “This not only helps pre-service teachers get to and stay in school but gives them the tools to succeed.”
Doris Wright Carroll and Johnathan Lynk, Olathe, Kansas, check out his new laptop.
4
Scholarship creates ripple of change
Teachers touch many lives and their influence is felt throughout society. Lee and Barbara Harris wanted their gift to K-State to have the biggest impact possible. That is why they chose to support College of Education students and established the Tomorrow’s Teacher scholarship.
Scholarships are awarded to four freshmen each year and the scholarships can be renewed annually as long as the recipient meets the criteria. The Harrises wanted to attract and reward the “best and the brightest” young Kansans who wish to pursue a career in teaching and have a desire to attend K-State.
Emilie Taylor, from Hays, Kansas, says receiving the scholarship means the world to her. “K-State is my dream school, and I was not sure if I was going to be able to attend because of the cost,” she said. “When I received the scholarship, it was the deciding factor of which college I would attend.”
Besides getting good grades, Tomorrow’s Teacher
scholarship recipients must also participate in community service. “I think it is a great requirement,” Taylor said.
“We receive this generous scholarship for our education and it is the least we can do to help out in the community more. I feel more connected to the community when I do service.”
Emilie Taylor, like all current and future teachers, will pass on her class and life lessons to those she teaches. “There is something special I find in teaching children and watching them grow,” she said. “Teachers have been an important part of my life, and I can’t wait to pass what I’ve learned on to the children in my future classroom.”
That is exactly why Lee and Barbara Harris support teachers. “Teachers touch so many lives, and they do it over so many years,” Lee said. “You absolutely know when you’re educating teachers that there’s going to be a major-league difference made for decades to come, and we like that.”
Emilie Taylor (center) works with students at Eisenhower Middle School in Manhattan, Kansas.
5
Your gift will make a difference
The $1 billion Innovation and Inspiration Campaign supports K-State’s goal to become a top 50 public research university by 2025. Our success will depend in large measure on the support of alumni, friends, foundations and industry partners who believe in the power of education, the promise of research, and the principle of service to humanity. To learn more about K-State’s progress toward 2025 goals, please visit www.k-state.edu/2025.
Funding priorities: $15 million
Student success
• General undergraduate scholarships
• General graduate scholarships
• Student teaching tuition assistance
• Study abroad
$10,600,000
Faculty development
• Faculty/Partner professional development
• Distinguished professor (director of STEM Ed. Center)
• Distinguished science/math professor
$2,100,000
Programmatic support
• Service-learning/civic engagement programs
• Enrichment activities through summer camps and after-school enrichment
• Education Innovation Center
• New Educator Support Center
$1,000,000
Facility enhancement
• Technology
$1,000,000
Excellence funds
• Lectures and symposia $300,000
Contact us
Debbie Mercer, Ph.D.
Dean
College of Education 785-532-5525 dmercer@ksu.edu
Marty Kramer Director of Development College of Education 785-532-7578, 785-826-6131 martyk@found.ksu.edu
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