Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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97 President Wefald

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President Meets Goals Wefald ' s initial goals have become a partial reality, but to reach them completely, the University will need help from the state. BY MINDY ROBERT President Jon Wefald came to K- State in 1986 with several goals: to increase enrollment, move K-State to one of the top three universities in the Big Eight academically, and make it one of the top 15 land-grant institutions in the country. We have stabilized the enrollment here at Kansas State and indeed turned it around, Wefald said. There was a 24 percent increase in the class, and the University boasts over 18,000 students for the first time in the last four years. Wefald said K-State ' s other goals were highly dependent on funding from the state. You cannot develop academic excellence without the resources. If we get the resources from the state of Kansas in the next five years, then I think we can make the kind of progress we want to make. The overriding goal needs to be academic excellence, and to have and outstanding academic programs, Wefald said. The Margin of Excellence, approved by the Kansas Board of Regents in June 1987, represented a strategic plan to revitalize the quality and of higher education in Kansas. In order to put the plan into effect, it must be approved by the state Legislature. Wefald said the Margin of would provide for making faculty salaries more competitive and also monies for areas such as the library and academic computing. There was also a program in the plan for a food- processing center. After one year, Wefald said his view was that we must be realistic about funding. Kansas is a very conservative state, and there are more fiscal restraints here than I ever dreamed possible, he said. KU and K-State and schools like that need funding and they haven ' t been getting it. There has been a decline in support for higher education since 1980, Wefald said. The key to the future of K-State and KU would be the funding by the the Legislature. The K-State football team may not have been a selling point of the with a 0-10-1 record, but there were many other to promote the image of K- State. K-State had more Truman Scholars than any other public university in America since the beginning of the program in 1979, Wefald said. The debate team ranked high in the nation and 104 of the 355 Governor ' s of 1987 came to K-State this year. Kansas State University has an excellent future, especially if the state decides higher education is important, Wefald said. K-State President Jon Wefald sees the Margin of Excellence program as vital to the quality of education offered by the University. (Photo by Gary Lytle) 96

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Although the deans find their jobs rewarding, they are faced with the task of maintaining excellence. BY JUDI WALTER Being a dean was more than sitting behind a desk signing endless amounts of paperwork, smiling and shaking hands at social events or dressing up in all that fancy garb for graduation ceremonies. For most of the deans at K-State, it was the and faculty that made their jobs rewarding. The ideal situation would be to spend less time dealing with the State Board of Regents and spend more time with the students, said David Byrne, dean of the College of Education. Dean of Engineering Donald said the element he en joyed most about his position as dean was the people — dealing with the people — the students, faculty and alumni. That ' s the fun part of the job. The deans were attracted to K-State for various reasons. Dean of Business Administration Randolph Pohlman received his bachelor ' s and master ' s degrees from K-State and said he returned because the faculty that I had as a student was impressive when I was looking at the job market. Mark Lapping, dean of the College of Architecture and Design, said the reason he came to K-State four years ago was that he liked the University because it was very solid. It ' s loaded in all faculties and colleges with high- quality folks that have a strong commitment to the people of the state. Thomas Isenhour, dean of the of Arts and Sciences, left Utah State University for K-State this fall because I found exciting faculty in all es areas of scholarship in arts and and I wanted to participate in the development of the University into a truly excellent comprehensive University. The College of Human Ecology at K-State has a long, proud history and a good reputation among colleges of its kind across the United States, said Barbara Stowe, dean of human ecology. It was looking for leadership to help address important issues. I saw a lot of potential for the c ollege at K-State and I have not been disappointed. Trying to maintain the high level of excellence at K-State has proved to be the most challenging aspect of the deans ' responsibilities. Rathbone said he found it difficult to build an outstanding program on limited funds because he believed the state does not give the University adequate funding. Dean of Agriculture Walter Woods said, ...more funding is needed to allow faculty to pursue creative ideas in research and teaching, to provide students the best instruction and equipment, and to reward to those who significantly contribute to the programs. I think the most challenging aspect is trying to help the college move forward during a period of resource deficiency, Lapping said. College of Human Ecology Dean Barbara Stowe meets with the Human Ecology Council to plans for the college. (Photo by Steve Wolgast)