THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015
PAGE 7A
ANNA WENNER/KANSAN
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little discussed her excitement for the upcoming Commencement ceremony in May on Wednesday afternoon. She also said tuition increases would occur because of recent budget cuts.
TALK FROM PAGE 1A
concerned there will be more reductions for higher education"
Additionally, she said the Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education recommended cuts for next year regardless of the extension of the allotments. Usually, a block grant is given to the Board of Regents and is passed on by a formula to the universities, but this reduction bypassed the Regents and took aim at the University of Kansas.
"There is no reason for cutting us in comparison to the other universities," she said. "The rationale is not clear. That's a dangerous precedent. There's not any performance issue that can justify this."
The $4.7 million that was to be transferred from the Lawrence Campus to the University Medical Center, particularly in Wichita, is now being completely eliminated altogether. Gray-Little said she sees no reason for this, either.
"For me to say why it is, I'd have to have some logical or justifiable reason, and I do not" she said.
One of the more recent rejections in Topeka came when the University requested $5 million in funds for the Drug and Vaccine Discovery Institute at the University. Gray-Little said while the University has a process of evaluating which programs are essential to the programs we currently have in place, concerns are whether more cuts or denials will come.
"To me to have this institute to develop vaccines for humans and animals is very reasonable," she said. "In some ways, the cuts and the decisions have already been made and there have been effort to take those cuts to not interfere with ongoing programs, that's how they've been taken, whether there will be further cuts this year, I don't know."
TUITION HIKES
As budgets are cut, concerns over tuition hikes arise. Gray-Little said every year there are tuition conversations, and this year is no exception.
"The reduction will affect the university in one of two ways." Gray-Little said. "Either you lose funding for opportunities that are here now or you have to pay more money to keep them, and that's one of the very unfortunate things about the loss of funding for higher education in the last few years."
Increases in tuition could mean less student enrollment thus less tuition for the University. This cycle is something Gray-Little said she and faculty are mindful of.
CAMPUS DIVERSITY CHALLENGES
Given the University of Oklahoma incident of racism in its Sigma Alpha Epilion chapter
and previous incidents at the University of Kansas, including the controversy at Rock Chalk Revue over a character's stereotypical portrayal, Gray-Little said diversity and the way people relate to one another is of immense importance.
"It is a time on university campuses where the question of diversity and the way men and women relate to one another are really very important," she said. "Topics are being discussed in a vivid way I haven't seen in a number of years, and I think partly because we kind of assume some things are settled until varied incidents occur and we find they're not settled and we still have work to do."
"It's being discussed,but there are groups looking at how we can be a better community for each other," Gray-Little said.
University groups are working to better the University's diversity programs, and are looking at how students and
faculty to all better relate to one another.
Greek life at the University and its inclusion of more diversity is something Gray-Little said is a concern of hers, given its influence on campus.
"Often the students in sororities and fraternities come from very established families and have been here awhile," she said. "I think it's very important to look at how they're encompassing diversity. When things go south, it can be really destructive for the University as well."
Gray-Little said she expects leadership is having conversations with their chapters to ensure respectable behavior within their members.
"I believe that many of our
fraternities are having this conversation and trying to patrol the behavior of their members in a way that is responsible," she said. "I think with some of the things that have happened here and other places, they recognize they're under scrutiny."
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Gray-Little said it may seem as though the tone is negative, but she insisted there are a multitude of events and projects she's looking forward to. From Commencement to performances to the success of the softball team, she said the rest of the spring semester will be an exciting time.
"I look forward to Commencement," she said. "It's not just because it's the end. It is a very fine experience over the weekend with students, and their families are very happy. April is kind of the culmination of the teaching and research activity. October and April are the biggest events of the year."
"I like being able to participate in and be part of achievements whether it's faculty or staff. It's beneficial to [Limbocker], but it's also beneficial to the University because what he does well, it reflects well on us," she said. "I sometimes think for our alum that one of the greatest things that can do is do well, and we can congratulate them and reflect in their glory. The better you do, the better it is for the University."
She said she relishes being able to participate in student and alumni achievements. Ryan Limbocker, a senior from Overland Park, recently was awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for his research on the neurodegeneration progress and featured in the Chancellor's Report for his variety of accolades and achievements. He is just one of many students Gray-Little said make the University as highly-regarded as it is.
FACULTY, STUDENTS AND
CLASSES
Between the growth in freshman class sizes over the last three years, the 12 new foundation professors set to be hired and the changes in courses, the future for the University looks bright and future growth should continue to be strong. Three of the 12 professors began teaching at the University this year, and five were hired for next year.
"We have, as we do every year, faculty that are receiving awards for their research. We should stop and celebrate those things too," she said. "We received funding about three to four years ago to hire 12 distinguished professors, to bring in 12 faculty members who in their fields have very high reputations and high regard."
The recruitment process has also changed over the last few years because Gray-Little said she received feedback that the University was lacking in the areas of responsiveness and personalization.
frankly, a lot of people told us we did a bad job," Gray-Little said. "People used to tell me how much better X was than KU, and I thought 'How can that be?' We were not very active and we waited for students to come, and we needed to go out and make them know we really wanted them. We weren't showing enough love."
Additionally, Gray-Little emphasized the implementation of learning teams in the classroom instead of traditional lectures.
"It's primarily to have the students be active participants in learning," she said. "I don't think lectures are so bad, I think a good lecture can be really good. But, the concern with lectures is students learn and then forget it because they're not interacting with the information."
Edited by Laura Kubicki
2015 Robert Hemenway Public Service Award now open to applicants.
AWARD DESCRIPTION:
The Dole Institute of Politics established the Robert Hemenway Public Service Award in May of 2009, in honor of the 16th Chancellor of the University of Kansas upon his retirement. The $1,000 award is given annually to a junior student who has demonstrated a commitment to making a difference for KU students and furthering the ideas of service on campus and within the community; the overriding criterion for this award is commitment to public service with demonstrated leadership.
2014 Hemenway Public Service Award winner and runners-up with Dole Institute Director and Associate Director
ELIGIBILITY:
• Junior status for the Spring 2015 semester, with at least one year to complete at the University of Kansas
• Enrolled as a full-time University of Kansas undergraduate student during the 2015-2016 academic year
• Complete the full application and write a 250 word essay to be hand-delivered to the Dole Institute by the posted deadline
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION:
Friday, April 10, 2015 by 4:00 p.m. Hand-deliver to the Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Dr., Lawrence, KS.
Applications are available at the Dole Institute or online at www.doleinstitute.org. You may find more info on our website or by calling 785-864-4900.
ROBERT J. DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
The University of Kansas
Dole Institute, University of Kansas, 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045
www.DoleInstitute.org
Facebook/Twitter
Dole Institute, University of Kansas, 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence KS 66045
785.864.4900 www.Doleinstitute.org Facebook/Twitter