CAMPUS NEWS FHSU graduates 4,533 this year, up 11.2% from 2017 Fort Hays State University graduated 4,533 students this year – the total from summer and fall 2017 and spring 2018 – an increase of 11.2 percent from last year’s total of 4,075. The spring 2017 commencement was the first time that Fort Hays State had graduated more than 4,000 students in a year, and this year’s graduating class was the first in which doctoral degrees were awarded. The recent tradition of two commencement ceremonies continued. The ceremony on May 11 featured graduate and undergraduate students from the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the College of Education, and the Peter Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics. The ceremony on May 12 was for graduate and undergraduate students from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences. Numbers change slightly after the verification process, but preliminary graduation numbers are 615 from the summer 2017 term; 854 from the fall 2017 semester; and 3,064 from the spring 2018 semester. That is 103 associate degrees; 3,525 bachelor’s degrees; and 905 graduate degrees – doctorates, master’s degrees and education specialist graduates. The doctoral graduates are the first six from the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.
McPherson student is 2018 Torch winner; Florida artist wins first Lighthouse Award Keshawn Sewell, McPherson, was the recipient of the Torch Award as the outstanding graduating senior from the class of 2018 at Fort Hays State University, and Herrick Smith, St. Augustine, Fla., was named the recipient of the first Lighthouse Award for an outstanding student completing graduate studies. Sewell, a native of Jamaica who was raised in McPherson, received a Bachelor of Science degree in health and human performance during Commencement May 12. Smith received a Master of Fine Arts degree. The announcement of the Torch and Lighthouse awards came at the annual Graduate and Faculty Luncheon on May 11, sponsored by the FHSU Alumni Association. The Pilot Award for outstanding faculty member and the Navigator Award for outstanding faculty advisor were also announced. Dr. Robert Channell, professor and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, was the Pilot Award recipient, and Dr. Craig Smith, associate professor of agriculture, was the recipient of the Navigator Award. Sewell is a 2014 McPherson High School graduate. Smith works as a ceramics laboratory technician at the University of Northern Florida. Sewell was praised for his leadership and service, especially for founding Tiger Pals, a student organization to serve young people with disabilities.
FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY
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The organization now has 50 active volunteers, is active in five local schools and serves 100 students. Research into ceramics techniques by Smith, winner of the Lighthouse Award, was selected by the FHSU Graduate School as the outstanding non-thesis research project. It won first place at the 2017 John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activities Day. The Torch and Pilot awards were started in 1974 to emphasize the importance of excellence in teaching and learning. Torch Award candidates are nominated by members of the faculty on the basis of classroom excellence, participation in professional organizations and involvement in student or civic activities. The Lighthouse Award, approved by the Alumni Association last year, was created this year to honor an outstanding student who is completing graduate studies. The award was named the Lighthouse in honor of the late Dr. James Forsythe, a former dean of the Graduate School and the university historian. His book, “Lighthouse on the Plains,” documents the history of Fort Hays State. The Pilot Award is given on the basis of classroom excellence, ongoing research and service activities. Candidates are nominated by graduating students. The Navigator Award was created in 1998. Candidates are nominated, interviewed and selected by graduating seniors in a process conducted by the Student Government Association.