Dean’s Message

Student Life

Pat Bosco, dean of Student Life

Putting students first

Student Life is more than just a program at K-State — it’s a philosophy and an everyday emphasis both in and outside of the classroom. As a longtime administrator and a K-State graduate, Dean of Student Life Pat Bosco has a broad perspective for defining and enhancing the student experience at K-State.

“Historically, K-State has taken great pride in having student life be a centerpiece for everything we do at our university,” Bosco said. “We work very hard to ensure that every student has an opportunity to develop his or her niche and reach their full potential. We also make certain that through all of our student governments, whether in student senate, residence halls, fraternities, sororities, student activities and campus programs, we’re telling our students in everything we do that we’re putting them first.”

The philosophy of putting students first has reaped many benefits in helping K-State achieve its mission of being a top 10 land-grant university.

“People cite our increase in enrollments from approximately 17,000 to more than 23,000 students as a notable accomplishment,” Bosco said. “We’re also proud to have had the ability to bring about a significant addition to our recreation complex; renovate our student union including the plaza; provide cutting-edge technology for our students, such as KATS (K-State Access Technology System) or K-State online; and promote the leadership studies program from just an idea to becoming the largest leadership studies program in America. The most significant triumph was keeping our basic theme of putting students first during a period when almost 6,000 students were added to the residential atmosphere of the community.”

Parents and families

K-State continues to evolve in how it serves its student population. One of the newest programs is the Parents and Family Association.

“Our Parents and Family Association is an organization we started in an effort to bring K-State families together in a whole new way,” Bosco said. “We’ve always involved parents in the K-State undergraduate experience. This is a natural way for us to move toward a more formalized association to help improve communication and assist in recruiting and fundraising. The response has just been overwhelming.”

Part of the family atmosphere that permeates K-State can be attributed to the hometown impression that’s provided by Manhattan.

“K-State is fortunate to be located in Manhattan, and we’re a university town,” Bosco said. “When K-State has Family Day, Manhattan has Family Day. When we have homecoming, it’s a community celebration. When we have Open House, all of Manhattan is celebrating Open House and is part of our activities. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the Manhattan community and it adds significantly to the quality of the undergraduate experience that students have at K-State. The community provides student employment, entertainment, housing and a great welcoming environment for all of our students. When we have asked students why they chose to join the K-State family over the last 20 years, they’ve listed the same three reasons: academics, location and atmosphere. Manhattan is a great selling point for the student experience at K-State.”

Improving the student experience

Some new ways have been identified for improving the quality of student life. These include upgrading and/or adding new facilities and services to the campus.

“We are in the process of updating the Jardine Family Complex to offer a whole new housing option for our students that includes townhouses and apartments,” Bosco said. “There are plans for a student activities center and a prospective and current student welcome center in East Stadium. Making these plans a reality can be helped immensely through the generous support of our alumni, but more important yet, we are interested in raising money for general scholarships for our students.

“Our competitors have three and four times the number of scholarship dollars that we have — three or four times! K-State students deserve more. We have more than 700 students with grade point averages of 3.75 and above who are receiving no scholarship support. We desperately need scholarships for incoming freshmen and continuing students.

“We’re not competitive in terms of general scholarship dollars and yet we continue to announce record enrollments. That’s because of the quality of the academic and student life experience. Alumni can establish a commitment toward a general scholarship program to recognize their own achievements or to commemorate family members and other ties to K-State. We really value the help alumni provide by supporting the great K-State students who are having tremendous success here.”

Ensuring future success

Signs of success are numerous at K-State, which has been named “one of the best colleges” by the Institutional Research and Evaluation annual survey and the “best opportunity to maximize your education” in Rugg’s Recommendations on Colleges. It’s no wonder K-State is consistently the No. 1 choice among Kansas high school seniors and junior college transfers. K-State has also been recognized as the “student scholar capital of America.”

As a land-grant institution, K-State balances its mission of education to include research and extension, but for Pat Bosco, his mission remains steady.

“We hear from employers who interview students from other colleges that it is natural for a student to say they liked their undergraduate experience,” he said. “Often K-State graduates will say they loved it here.

“Our bottom line is producing a satisfied student. This is a student who has an experience at our university that is second to none. We take great pride in our ability to communicate that we’re a comprehensive Big 12 university that has great academic and student life programs. Many of our alumni understand that from their own experiences. That’s why it’s so important to get their help so we can ensure a great student experience for years to come.”