Section A · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, June 9,1999
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Faculty members watch a herd of buffalo on the Great Plains.Last month, a bus load of new faculty and staff faculty members traversed Kansas to learn more about the state. University Relations contributed photo
New University staff take journey across wheat state
By Jason Beaver
Kansan staff writer
For the past three years, new staff members at the University of Kansas have been exposed to Kansas by participating in the Wheat State Tour.
This year was no exception. Janet Payne, assistant tour director, said the goal of the tour was to give faculty hands-on experiences in Kansas.
"The only thing most people can say about Kansas is that it is flat, and that is silly," Payne said. "The professors come back with a better understanding of the students, and that makes them better teachers. The bonding that takes place between faculty and staff is also important."
For seven days and six nights, May 21 through May 28, 54 faculty and staff members hit the trail.
The first of the 28 stops was breakfast at Chancellor Robert Hemenway's house.
Hemenway, who came to Kansas from the University of Kentucky, had promoted a similar tour in Kentucky. At Kansas, he also wanted staff members to get to know firsthand the state in which they teach.
Because 70 percent of the students
"The professors come back with a better understanding of the students, and that makes them better teachers."
Janet Payne
Wheat State Tour assistant director
at the University are Kansas residents, the Wheat State Tour has become a vital part of the new staff's transition to Kansas.
This is not a mandatory requirement for new staff members. Only staff members who signed up and wrote an essay explaining their interest in the tour were chosen to go.
"The joke on the bus were the 'magic badges' that we all wore," Payne said. "As long as you had that on, everything was open to you."
The magic badges Payne referred to were the name tags that all the members of the tour wore on their chests. For some, the magic worked.
David Bennett, assistant professor of geography, said he was interested in learning more about Kansas for his research for the geography department. Bennett, who moved to Kansas from Iowa, said he had spent most of his traveling time in Kansas on Interstate 70 and never had a chance to experience Kansas off the highways.
"I cannot say that I had one favorite spot during the trip, but I was always amazed at the hospitality of the people that opened their homes and businesses to us." Bennett said.
Ruth Ann Aatchley, assistant professor of psychology who recently arrived from California, said one of her favorite experiences was roaming with the buffalo near Keystone.
"It was wonderful," she said. "We got to run with a herd of buffalo on the great plains."
Paul Atchley, assistant professor of psychology, had another favorite.
“It's hard to pick a favorite spot, but if I had to, Big Brutus, the biggest steam shovel ever built, was my favorite.” Atchley said. “It was a clear day with a blue sky on the day we went up, and we could see the entire state of Kansas up there.”
—Edited by Kimberly Erb
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