14 minute read
The Passing of the Baton
Forward Focused, Future Ready
Enrollment declines. Loss of student experience during COVID. Cost of higher education. These are the topics we see in the media every day. Topics that can mire us in doom and gloom. Yet, that is not the attitude at Emporia State University. Under the leadership of President Ken Hush (BSB 1982), we have a new perspective that sees opportunities in the challenges facing higher education. Today at Emporia State University, we are listening to our current and future students to discover what today’s modern students — and their families — are looking for from higher education. More and more, they desire to earn an education that will translate to a career after they walk across the stage at graduation. We are looking at the types of careers our students imagine for themselves and analyzing data to look for new career paths that will open up. We are taking action to embrace adaptability and creativity to meet the needs of our students and the employers who hire them. We call our new outlook Forward Focused, Future Ready. You will be hearing much more about our new direction. Until then, below are a few highlights of initiatives already in motion.
More than a year ago, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) began a discussion with Emporia State about cybersecurity as an area of growth. On July 6, Moran returned to campus to announce a grant of $1.5 million to explore and develop cybersecurity opportunities in the School of Business. Plans include enhancing the cybersecurity concentration in the computer science and information system degree programs as well as expanding opportunities beyond our campus. ESU’s new Cybersecurity Center in Cremer Hall will host cybersecurity competitions for high school students, present community awareness seminars for residents in the Emporia area and across Kansas and create partnerships for faculty-student research. The goal is to provide resources and access for businesses and others in rural Kansas impacted by cybercrime.
The nursing program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is poised for further success as our students graduate into a job market with high demand. With two cohorts starting each year — one in fall and one in spring — we can graduate up to 100 new nurses with their bachelor’s degrees every year. The online master of science in nursing program is designed for nurses in the field, particularly in rural areas, who want to move into education and management positions. Our newest project for nursing is moving the academic program from Newman Regional Health in Emporia to our own campus. The Kansas Legislature allocated $5 million last year toward the move, which also includes renovation of Central Morse Hall as the new campus home for nursing. This location in the middle of campus brings our students closer to related academic programs in the sciences as well as the library and other student success programs. We are elevating disc golf, long a popular hobby for students, to a new competitive program beginning this semester under the ESU Intercollegiate Athletics umbrella. This initiative has funding support from the City of Emporia. It also is a significant partnership with Dynamic Discs, which was founded by alumnus Jeremy Rusco (BSB 2006) while he was an undergrad at Emporia State. Students participating in the competitive team will train under the direction of the 2010 Professional Disc Golf Association world champion, course designer and manager of Dynamic Discs professional team, Eric McCabe. The student-athletes who make up the competitive team will compete in local, regional and national intercollegiate competitions. Scholarships are available based on athletic aptitude determined by the coach, and gear will be provided to student-athletes with support from Dynamic Discs.
We recognize that esports is now big business and a potential future career for our students. Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. With the spread of broadband internet and multiplayer games, the esports industry was valued at more than $1 billion last year. Emporia State already had 140 students involved in the ESU esports recognized student organization. In 2023, thanks to a grant from the City of Emporia, we will launch competitive esports with students regularly practicing and honing their skills for competition against teams from other colleges and universities. Our new esports initiative also includes an academic component as we develop classes that teach the skills needed to develop electronic games as well as work in management.
An exciting new initiative is kicking off now as we recruit students to start in fall 2023. Emporia State University is the first Kansas Board of Regents institution to offer its in-state tuition to students from anywhere in the continental United States. Students pursuing undergraduate degrees full-time on our campus will pay in-state tuition. Our focus on students who will study on our campus rather than remotely benefits our campus, our community and our state when they decide to live and work in Emporia and Kansas after graduation.
Under the leadership of Cory Falldine (BSB 2006, MBA 2006), vice president for infrastructure, and Bill McKernan (BSB 2001), executive director of University Facilities, our space optimization project evaluates our entire campus to determine the most effective use of our physical footprint. Moving the nursing program into Central Morse is part of space optimization, as is moving counseling and art therapy programs from the Earl Center to Visser Hall on campus. This move allows Emporia State to sell the Earl Center.
Remembering Steve Coen
His Life’s Work Improving the Health of Kansans
Distinguished Alumnus Steve Coen (BSB 76Business Administration) was a man who spent his life working to improve the health of Kansans through public and community health. He dedicated his life to developing leaders within Kansas to serve their communities. He perfectly embodied what it means to change lives for the common good. It was Coen’s guiding principle in all his endeavors. He began his career as a lawyer in his hometown of St. John, Kansas, where he worked as legal counsel for the local school, hospital and city. In 1982, he became a regional representative for then-Senator Bob Dole. Over the next few years, he rose through the ranks becoming state director and then legislative assistant, a position based in Washington, D.C. Coen enjoyed the work but also longed to return to Kansas. In 1987, he was approached about a new opportunity. The newly formed Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) thought he would be an asset to their efforts and asked him to come on as their director of public affairs. He seized the opportunity to return to his home state and put his energies into serving Kansans at a more grassroots level. It was a fortuitous decision, as he would stay with KHF until he retired in 2019. Throughout that time, he worked his way up to serving as president and CEO of the public health non-profit. He centered his efforts on holistically removing challenges to health. KHF Board President-Elect and friend of Coen, Junetta Everett, said, “’No amount of providing care for the sick or underserved is better than preventing the problems before they occur.’ Those were some of the words I recall hearing from and discussing with Steve time and time again. This was the passion he exuded. Seeing the work the Kansas Health Foundation is currently focusing on, addressing the root causes of health disparities, shows he was a true visionary. He believed improving quality of overall life always impacted overall health.” Over the course of his career, he advanced numerous programs focused on a wide array of health and well-being issues. He played an essential part in the passage of the Indoor Clean Air Act. He worked on the Physical Dimensions Program to help high school students develop healthy lifestyles, for which he received a national award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). The nature of his work meant serving the needs of many constituencies, and his projects ranged from nutrition in school lunch programs to the Giving Resources to Our World (GROW) initiative to develop philanthropic resources for foundations in Kansas. GROW’s objectives were to keep local philanthropic dollars in Kansas to support Kansans and to help small local foundations grow so they could do more in service to their communities.
GROW was a stellar example of Coen’s understanding that those closest to the problems best understood the right solutions. “Steve made change possible. He used his role at the Kansas Health Foundation to empower changemakers across Kansas. He understood his work wasn’t to be the change, but to empower and equip those who were the change agents. That distinction might seem trivial, but it made all the difference. He understood his role and lived fully into it,” said Ed O’Malley, the new president and CEO of Kansas Health Foundation and a close friend and colleague of Coen’s. Through his work for Dole, Coen had already logged countless hours visiting communities throughout Kansas. He knew most towns and counties firsthand and had a keen sense of the shared and unique issues these communities faced. His wife, Monica Coen, said of his travels throughout the state, “I think it gave him such an appreciation for the people of Kansas and the state’s resources. I think once he started with Kansas Health Foundation, he brought that experience and knowledge and used it to continue reaching out to communities across the state.” His approach went beyond developing a firsthand understanding of issues. He included those most affected in developing solutions. Coen had a gift for encouraging people to engage in local issues and rallying them to the cause, helping them become the leaders their communities needed.
“He knew solutions to tough issues—whether that’s developing statewide health initiatives or making sure there is a grocery store in a food desert—emerge when the people closest to the problem or opportunity are the ones doing the leading,” said O’Malley. His vision and belief in the value of developing leaders would bring him to one of his most notable achievements; the creation of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC). The non-profit’s mission is to ‘offer leadership development programs to foster stronger, healthier and more prosperous communities to serve the common good.’
“Steve understood leadership can come from anyone. He was passionate about helping those outside traditional authority roles realize they too can lead, and that, in fact, their leadership is necessary for progress on our state’s toughest challenges,” said O’Malley. “Steve was a real changemaker and that has become his legacy. One has to describe Steve as passionate, courageous and connected, inspiring action in every faction of his life, both personal and professional… KLC and KHF are clear examples of his ability and passion for developing leaders. Both leading institutions have, and continue to provide Kansas with the state-of-the-art programs and information that help foster stronger, educated, engaged, healthier and more prosperous communities,” said Everett. Coen focused his career on lifting others. Through his work for KHF and KLC, and his service as a trustee with the Emporia State University Foundation, Coen tirelessly shared his gifts. He not only acted to help Kansans; he spent his life creating and fortifying the organizations needed to build a brighter future for the state, the region and all who call it home. He will be missed, but what he built in his lifetime will continue to grow and evolve long into the future. Coen passed away in February of 2022.
Svendblad to Surgery
A Future Doctor Dreams of Serving Kansas
Amaya Svendblad wants to be a surgeon. When you meet her, you realize she is precisely the person you would want as your surgeon. She is incredibly bright and focused, with the kind of curiosity that gives you the feeling she would read medical journals for fun. Even before starting classes at Emporia State, Svendblad had already spent time shadowing doctors and observing surgeries in the operating room. Through an opportunity in her high school after-school program, she was able to attend a surgery summer camp in California. Even at that young age, she was determined to learn all she could about medicine.
Svendblad is now a senior majoring in biology and on Emporia State University's pre-medical track. Since her studies began at ESU, she has been a recipient of the Pre-Medical Fellowship. The fellowship was created in 2017 by medical professionals, including ESU alumni, who wanted to recruit and support Emporia State students beginning their studies on the path to becoming a medical doctor. Awarded to one incoming first-year student per year, the Pre-Medical Fellowship is a $10,000 fellowship award that provides $2,500 a year for four years. The fellowship also provides recipients with a six-week internship at Newman Regional Health in the form of paid clinical hours. Over the summer, Svendblad spent 20 hours a week doing rounds and observing all areas of care, from the emergency room and maternity ward, to the family medicine practices and the specialty areas like orthopedics and cardiology. An internship like this for undergraduate students is incredibly unique and sets Emporia State pre-medical graduates apart from other aspiring medical students. Svendblad said this internship was remarkably immersive. "My experience was really interactive. I had the opportunity to shadow people in many different positions. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. They took the time to answer all my questions, explaining to me what they were doing and why. They showed me all the intricacies of the work, down to how to do the paperwork. It's handson without being hands-on because, of course, I can't touch the patients." The internship has provided her with valuable insights into the profession and fueled her passion for the work. It also affirmed two things for her: why she wants to be a doctor and where she wants to be a doctor.
Service is a core component of her career motivations. She is eager for the day when she has completed her studies and licensure and can begin to practice medicine and give back. She wants her name to be synonymous with helping and healing, and she wants to make that impact close to home. "My plan is to either go back to my hometown, Salina, or work in a more rural community. I want to be in Kansas, and I'd prefer to go somewhere I can truly help. I feel like a rural area would need doctors more than a big city. I would much rather work where there's a need," said Svendblad. Svendblad's goals are admirable on their own, but even more so because there is a critical need for future doctors like her. Staffing shortages exist in numerous health-care fields in Kansas, especially in rural areas. The health of Kansans is dependent upon having enough health-care professionals to serve the medical needs of everyone in the state. That is why, now more than ever, students like Svendblad are vital to the future and our collective well-being.
Know someone who wants to get hands-on learning to prepare them for their future career? Visit emporia.edu/referahornet and Refer A Hornet today!
