Dean’s Message
K-State at Salina
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Dennis Kuhlman, dean, |
Dennis Kuhlman, dean of K-State at Salina, is proud of his college that is short on history, but very long on tradition and excellence.
Heritage
K-State at Salina originally began less than 40 years ago as Schilling Institute, established on the former Schilling Air Base in Salina by the Kansas Legislature to provide science and technology education. During Schilling’s first semester in fall 1966, 112 students were enrolled. In 1969, Schilling Institute was renamed Kansas Technical Institute, and in 1988 it became the Kansas College of Technology. In 1991, the Kansas College of Technology merged with Kansas State University, making it the ninth college in the K-State system and the first to be located away from the Manhattan campus.
“Demand is so high for professionals in technology that job placement of graduates of K-State at Salina is 100 percent across all college programs.”
Since then, K-State at Salina has seamlessly become a member of the K-State family and a recognized state and national resource. From fewer than 674 students at the time of the merger in 1991 with a campus of only 14 buildings, today K-State at Salina has approximately 1,000 students and 17 campus buildings, including a Technology Center, Aviation Center, College Center and new residence halls. A robotics lab for mechanical engineering technology students, flight simulators for professional pilot students, and a virtual instrumentation lab for electronic engineering technology students are among the college’s many facilities for specialized study.
The college today
Just as the physical campus has expanded, enrollment has increased 84 percent in just five years. Student recruitment remains a goal and the college hopes to have 1,200 students in the near future. And, scholarships to meet the needs of those students remain a priority.
Student life has “exploded,” Kuhlman said, and having more students has further enhanced the closeness of the student body.
“Our students are very involved on campus and in the Salina community,” he said. “They are involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, Salina Rescue Mission, and are active in other community service. For instance, one volunteer group just installed a sprinkler system on a church lawn. This shows that students and faculty leaders have a great vision to take the next step up to a higher level. They are involved. They are active. I am so proud of them.”
K-State at Salina has made enormous strides in just over 10 years and Kuhlman feels the expectations raised by Salina community leaders at the time of the merger have been fulfilled. But, the college has many more goals to attain, Kuhlman said.
“K-State at Salina has a history of quality educational programs, faculty expertise, wonderful laboratory and learning environments, and productivity,” he said. “Nevertheless, history is not enough to support the continued growth and development that will be required well into the 21st century.”
Growth areas
K-State at Salina has identified several future areas of growth, including expanding opportunities for women and minorities; increasing student involvement in professional societies, interdisciplinary teams and student competitions; providing international experiences for students; continuous updating of the curriculum; increasing faculty and staff scholarly activities; and establishing centers of excellence such as the Certified Inspector Training Program being developed with the Kansas Department of Transportation.
“In short, our vision is the creation of an academic environment that not only supports success, but also encourages excellence,” Kuhlman said. “We strive to prepare our graduates for successful lifelong careers and to provide leadership in the engineering, technology and aviation industries.”
The college would like to explore enhancements to its programs, but recruitment and retention of qualified faculty is holding back those plans. “The number one long-term priority of the college is addressing inadequate faculty salaries,” Kuhlman said. “We just can’t compete. Faculty salaries must be made competitive with other universities and industry if we are to maintain top-level faculty expertise. We have tremendous needs in this area.”
The physical campus has bloomed in recent years, and although the college has $2.8 million in new equipment, the need for facilities and equipment remains high. K-State at Salina also faces challenges in identifying a large number of alumni who may be interested in supporting the college. The alumni base of graduates from K-State at Salina is small and relatively young when compared to other colleges in the K-State family, and because of the history of the college, creates a unique challenge.
A new tradition
“While other K-State colleges date back to Bluemont College and have graduates across the age spectrum who have given for many years, K-State at Salina is a very young college,” Kuhlman said. Graduates of Schilling Institute, the Kansas Technical Institute and the Kansas College of Technology have shown loyalty to their “new” alma mater, but it has only been since the early 1990s that K-State at Salina has had graduates.
“Though we have fewer numbers and younger alumni, the growth and outlook of the college has been wonderful. I’m very proud of what’s happened in the last five years,” Kuhlman said. “We’ve been extremely blessed. But alumni alone cannot meet the challenges we have.
“We need to identify corporate donors and rely on networking to meet our faculty enhancement, facilities and equipment needs, and scholarship support.”